Most of you are family with GPL/GNU Open Source Software.  I wanted to recommend a highly stable and cheap to free open source server.  Ubuntu meaning ethic or humanist philosophy focusing on people’s allegiances and relations with each other.  The meaning behind the them is something quite intrinsic to the creation of the technology.  In a humanity sense open source software allows individuals, groups, or entire communities to contribute in some way to the development of the software.  The overall output of the product is of higher quality, testing, and also more in line with what the user wants. 

Since Ubuntu open source you have the option to change it.  So yes this is Linux.  I wanted to state however that Ubuntu is the most supported version of Linux out there, and that you can do anything with it as you would a Windows Server.  You have have the option to turn it into a desktop with a simple command line entry such as this:

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop

The wonderful thing about open source is you feel or get empowered through the transparency of what you observe.  Also how you can customize and change things to better suit the needs of your IT department or Organization.  So now on to the advantages.  Ubuntu is a light weight server out of the box, or you can make it more robust.  It can easily be converted into any type of back end server ie: File, Web, Email, Media, Authentication, Proxy, Code Repository, Load Balancing.  Just about anything you want it can be turned into that.  So let me point you to the documentation for reference so you will be able to observe and learn or consider the cost savings you can benefit from. 

Ubuntu Home Page

At HPD Global IT Consulting we run Ubuntu and several other open source solutions on top of traditional Microsoft Windows.  We feel this brings greater value to our customers as they have the option to tailor the technologies we offer to better suit their needs.