The Initial Tally Book

As we continue in the Building a Business on Open Source, we should take time occasionally to look at the cost analysis of using Open Source software versus the Closed Source popular alternative(s).  I believe this is valualbe for a few reasons. 

 

 We should be true to ourselves about whether there is any monetary cost savings in running / utilizing Open Source software. 

 We should make sure we understand that in order to support the software we use, we need to help thata software effort continue by paying for their services / support, etc.  

 We can track how much we may really save over time, or how much more it may cost us over time.j 

 

 Below, you'll find a table (apologies in advance for the formatting, but it's pulled from a spreadsheet) that compares initial, estimated, startup costs for a business aiming to provide basic IT / MSP support for small business / home users. 

 The hardware portions are assumed to be the same cost regardless of using Open or Closed source software solutions.  The estimated costs on each side are as accurate as I could find at the time of writing / making the associated video, with today's date being November 20, 2022. 

 

 

 

 All pricing will be added into the sheet as an annual cost basis except hardware which will be split out on a 5 year expected lifetime. The server I”m pricing against is 2 CPU with 12 Cores each 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Open Source Option 

 Pricing 

 Annual Cost 

 Closed Source Options 

 Pricing 

 Annual Cost 

 

 

 1 Server Machine On Prem 

 1,600.00 USD 

 320.00 USD 

 

 Same Hardware 

 1,600.00 USD 

 320.00 USD 

 

 

 Domain Name 

 15.00 USD 

 15.00 USD 

 

 Same for Domain 

 15.00 USD 

 15.00 USD 

 

 

 VPS Rental for things like Email, VPN Server outside network 

 12.00 USD 

 144.00 USD 

 

 Same VPS Rental 

 12.00 USD 

 144.00 USD 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Proxmox VM Orchestrator 

 1,790.00 USD 

 1,790.00 USD 

 VMWare 

 Windows Server w/ Hyper V 

 5,596.00 USD 

 5,596.00 USD 

 

 

 US $ 875.00 / CPU Socket 

 

 

 5,596.00 USD 

 6,432.00 USD 

 

 

 

 

 Premium (most expensive) 

 

 

 Up to 3 Physical servers w 2 CPUs each 

 1 phys server / 2 CPU / 12 Cores each 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Includes vSphere and ESXi 

 Max of 8 VMs 

 

 

 

 

 Netmaker 

 

 

 NordVPN 

 iVPN 

 85.00 USD 

 85.00 USD 

 

 

 OPNSense / pfSense 

 399.00 USD 

 399.00 USD 

 Cisco 1010 Series 

 Price + 25% for support 

 1,600.00 USD 

 720.00 USD 

 

 

 Mail-in-a-box 

 0.00 USD 

 0.00 USD 

 

 Proton Mail – US $ 7 / user / month 

 6.00 USD 

 

 

 

 NextCloud Enterprise / per user per mo 

 3.00 USD 

 36.00 USD 

 Google Workspace = US $6 / user/ month 

 

 6.00 USD 

 72.00 USD 

 

 

 Zentyal Server Enterprise – 25 Users 

 190.00 USD 

 190.00 USD 

 Azure Active Directory = US $6 / user / month 

 @25 users (same as Zentyal plan) 

 6.00 USD 

 72.00 USD 

 

 

 Cost Totals 

 4,009.00 USD 

 2,894.00 USD 

 

 

 8,926.00 USD 

 7,024.00 USD 

 

 

 

 Pricing Calculator for Windows Server I used: 

 https://wintelguy.com/windows-server-licensing-calc.pl