Sample Configuration

As a cost illustration, consider the following setup (taken from a real customer example): A regional office of 2000 users, each with a 1GB mailbox; business continuity requires that email data be replicated back to HQ in near real time, and also requires a standby server at HQ with automated failover in case regional server fails.

PostPath provides an excellent solution for these requirements. It is difficult to provide exactly this service with Exchange™, but taking the closest approximation, the two solutions cost as follows (note that this is purchase costs only, it does not include savings in operating costs):

Cost Comparison PostPath
 Exchange
Breakdown
Hardware Costs $19,579 $95,252
Software Costs $92,094 $503,788
Grand Total $111,673 $599,040

Reasons for the PostPath cost advantage are primarily as follows in this case:

Exchange™ struggles with a 2TB store and 2,000 users, so the configurator has selected 2 servers at the regional office, and 2 backup servers at HQ, whereas PostPath works fine with one server in each place. PostPath is also able to manage with lower cost servers, thanks to more efficient processing. On the storage side, the PostPath Server™ is able to use much lower cost storage - $1300 per TB for PostPath vs. $9700 per TB for Exchange™ in this particular setup. In the Exchange™ case, there is Windows™ and Windows™ CALs to pay for. For Exchange™ CALs vs. PostPath CALs, PostPath is lower cost, and benefits from free CALs for the redundant server. Finally, for replication PostPath uses DRBD, which is an open source distributed storage system, whereas Exchange™ is using XOSoft to replicate. Further details are provided below.

Details

PostPath

Exchange™

 
Main Servers Unit (Avg.) Num. Total Unit (Avg.) Num. Total
    Server Hardware $3,593 2 $7,187 $7,053 4 $28,211
    Storage subsystem $2,602 2 $5,205 $9,707 4 $38,829
    OS (CentOS 4.3/Windows Adv. Srv 2003) $0 2 $0 $3,999 4 $15,996
    OS client CALs $0 2 $0 $38,025 4 $152,100
    PostPath Server™/Exchange Server™ $4,000 1 $4,000 $3,999 4 $15,996
    Server CALs (PostPath/Exchange™) $87,750 1 $87,750 $65,325 4 $261,300
    Backup Tool (Veritas) $344 1 $344 $1,200 2 $2,400
    Replication SW (FS-level/XOsoft WanSyncHA) $0 1 $0 $20,000 2 $40,000
Web Access Server            
    Server Hardware $3,593 2 $7,187 $7,053 4 $28,211
    OS (CentOS 4.3/Windows™ Adv 2003 +IIS) $0 2 $0 $3,999 4 $15,996
Total     $111,673     $599,040