ClearOS (also known as the ClearOS System, formerly ClarkConnect) is a
Linux distribution
A Linux distribution (often abbreviated as distro) is an operating system made from a software collection that includes the Linux kernel and, often, a package management system. Linux users usually obtain their operating system by downloading one ...
by
ClearFoundation, with network gateway, file, print, mail, and messaging services.
History
ClearOS is based on
CentOS
CentOS (, from Community Enterprise Operating System; also known as CentOS Linux) is a Linux distribution that provides a free and open-source community-supported computing platform, functionally compatible with its upstream source, Red Hat En ...
and
Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is a commercial open-source Linux distribution developed by Red Hat for the commercial market. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is released in server versions for x86-64, Power ISA, ARM64, and IBM Z and a desktop version ...
, designed for use in
small and medium enterprises
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are businesses whose personnel and revenue numbers fall below certain limits. The abbreviation "SME" is used by international organizations such as the World Bank ...
as a
network gateway
A gateway is a piece of networking hardware or software used in telecommunications networks that allows data to flow from one discrete network to another. Gateways are distinct from routers or switches in that they communicate using more than on ...
and network server with a web-based administration interface. It is positioned as an alternative to
Windows Small Business Server
Windows Server Essentials (formerly Small Business Server or SBS) is an integrated server suite from Microsoft for businesses with no more than 25 users or 50 devices. It includes Windows Server, Exchange Server, Windows SharePoint Services, and ...
. ClearOS is the successor to ClarkConnect. The software is built by
ClearFoundation, and support services can be purchased from
ClearCenter. ClearOS 5.1 removes previous limitations to mail,
DMZ
A demilitarized zone (DMZ or DZ) is an area in which treaties or agreements between nations, military powers or contending groups forbid military installations, activities, or personnel. A DZ often lies along an established frontier or bounda ...
, and MultiWAN functions.
As of the ClearOS 6.1 release, the distribution is a full-featured operating system for gateway, network and servers built from source packages for Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
ClearOS aims to replace, as a small business server,
Windows SBS.
[
]
Features
Features include:iptables
iptables is a user-space utility program that allows a system administrator to configure the IP packet filter rules of the Linux kernel firewall, implemented as different Netfilter modules. The filters are organized in different tables, which ...
), networking and security
* Intrusion detection and prevention system ( SNORT)
* Virtual private networking (IPsec
In computing, Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) is a secure network protocol suite that authenticates and encrypts packets of data to provide secure encrypted communication between two computers over an Internet Protocol network. It is used in ...
, PPTP
The Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) is an obsolete method for implementing virtual private networks. PPTP has many well known security issues.
PPTP uses a TCP control channel and a Generic Routing Encapsulation tunnel to encapsulate PP ...
, OpenVPN
OpenVPN is a virtual private network (VPN) system that implements techniques to create secure point-to-point or site-to-site connections in routed or bridged configurations and remote access facilities. It implements both client and server appl ...
)
* Web proxy, with content filtering and antivirus (Squid
True squid are molluscs with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight arms, and two tentacles in the superorder Decapodiformes, though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also called squid despite not strictly fitting t ...
, DansGuardian
DansGuardian, written by SmoothWall Ltd and others, is content-control software: software designed to control which websites users can access. It also includes virus filtering and usage monitoring features. DansGuardian must be installed on a ...
)
* E-mail services (Webmail, Postfix, SMTP
The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is an Internet standard communication protocol for electronic mail transmission. Mail servers and other message transfer agents use SMTP to send and receive mail messages. User-level email clients typical ...
, POP3
In computing, the Post Office Protocol (POP) is an application-layer Internet standard protocol used by e-mail clients to retrieve e-mail from a mail server. POP version 3 (POP3) is the version in common use, and along with IMAP the most common p ...
/s, IMAP
In computing, the Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) is an Internet standard protocol used by email clients to retrieve email messages from a mail server over a TCP/IP connection. IMAP is defined by .
IMAP was designed with the goal of per ...
/s)
* Groupware (Kolab
Kolab is a free and open source groupware suite. It consists of the Kolab server and a wide variety of Kolab clients, including KDE PIM-Suite Kontact, Roundcube web frontend, Mozilla Thunderbird and Mozilla Lightning with SyncKolab extensio ...
)
* Database and web server (easy to deploy LAMP
Lamp, Lamps or LAMP may refer to:
Lighting
* Oil lamp, using an oil-based fuel source
* Kerosene lamp, using kerosene as a fuel
* Electric lamp, or light bulb, a replaceable component that produces light from electricity
* Light fixture, or li ...
stack)
* File and print services (Samba
Samba (), also known as samba urbano carioca (''urban Carioca samba'') or simply samba carioca (''Carioca samba''), is a Brazilian music genre that originated in the Afro-Brazilian communities of Rio de Janeiro in the early 20th century. Havin ...
and CUPS
CUPS (formerly an acronym for Common UNIX Printing System) is a modular computer printer, printing system for Unix-like computer operating systems which allows a computer to act as a print server. A computer running CUPS is a Server (computi ...
)
* Flexshares (unified multi-protocol storage which currently employs SMB, HTTP
The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is an application layer protocol in the Internet protocol suite model for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. HTTP is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide Web, ...
/S, FTP
The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard communication protocol used for the transfer of computer files from a server to a client on a computer network. FTP is built on a client–server model architecture using separate control and data ...
/S, and SMTP
The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is an Internet standard communication protocol for electronic mail transmission. Mail servers and other message transfer agents use SMTP to send and receive mail messages. User-level email clients typical ...
)
* MultiWAN (Internet fault tolerant design
Fault tolerance is the property that enables a system to continue operating properly in the event of the failure of one or more faults within some of its components. If its operating quality decreases at all, the decrease is proportional to the ...
)
* Built-in reports for system statistics and services (MRTG
The Multi Router Traffic Grapher (MRTG) is free software for monitoring and measuring the traffic load on network links. It allows the user to see traffic load on a network over time in graphical form.
It was originally developed by Tobias Oetik ...
and others)
Awards and recognition
*August 2009: CompTIA Breakaway — ClearCenter's ClearOS wins 'Best New Product' at CompTIA
The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) is an American non-profit trade association that issues professional certifications for the information technology (IT) industry. It is considered one of the IT industry's top trade associ ...
Breakaway.
*August 2010: CompTIA Breakaway — ClearCenter's ClearOS repeats win for 'Best New Product' at CompTIA
The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) is an American non-profit trade association that issues professional certifications for the information technology (IT) industry. It is considered one of the IT industry's top trade associ ...
Breakaway.
*July 2012: Softpedia — An Open Source, free and powerful network and gateway Linux server operating system
*February 2014: IDG Security Firewall Distributions Review
*June 2015: Small Business Computing — The 5 Best Linux Servers for Small Business
*September 2015: LinuxVoice Service Distro — Group Test (see pages 58-63)
See also
* Windows SBS
ClarkConnect
* SmoothWall
Smoothwall (formerly styled as SmoothWall) is a Linux distribution designed to be used as an open source firewall. Smoothwall is configured via a web-based GUI and requires little or no knowledge of Linux to install or use.
Smoothwall is also a ...
* m0n0wall
m0n0wall was an embedded firewall distribution of FreeBSD, one of the BSD operating system descendants. It provides a small image which can be put on Compact Flash cards as well as on CD-ROMs and hard disks. It runs on a number of embedded pla ...
* SME Server
Koozali SME server (also known as the SME Server, formerly e-smith server and gateway) is a Linux distribution based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux and can act a server-only or server and Gateway. Core features include internet services such as HTTP, ...
* Zentyal
Zentyal (previously known as eBox Platform) is an open source email and groupware solution based on Ubuntu Linux.
Zentyal used to implement Microsoft Exchange Server protocols on top of standard open source components (such as Dovecot, Postf ...
* ClearFoundation
References
External links
*
*
Clark Connect
at DistroWatch
DistroWatch is a website which provides news, distribution pages hit rankings, and other general information about various Linux distributions as well as other free software/open source Unix-like operating systems. It now contains information on ...
clarkconnect.com
clarkconnect.org
''recycle a tired old computer into an Internet gateway''
PointClark Networks
ClarkConnect becomes ClearOS
!-
Announcement of ClearCenter and ClearFoundation by Point Clark Networks
-->
ClearFoundation
ClearCenter
Enterprise Linux distributions
Firewall software
Free routing software
Gateway/routing/firewall distribution
Linux distributions
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