[WIP] NS7 vs NS8 Feature Comparison

Howto
1
NS7 NS8
Minimum Hardware 64 bit CPU
x86-64 architecture
1 GB of RAM
10 GB disk		 2 vCPU/cores
x86-64 architecture
2GB RAM
20GB disk
Linux distribution CentOS 7 Rocky Linux 9
CentOS Stream 9
AlmaLinux 9
Debian 12
Type Server Distribution Container Orchestrator
(for Apps rebuild for NS8)
Cluster :x: :white_check_mark:
Centralized Management of Cluster Nodes
Promote worker node to leader
Audit trail
SELinux / AppArmor :x:
(SELinux available but disabled by default)		 :white_check_mark:
Local AD :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
Remote AD :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
Local OpenLDAP :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
Not accessible outside the cluster
Remote OpenLDAP :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
Password Policy :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
Account Provider Replicas :x: :white_check_mark:
On different cluster node
AD: SysVol/GPOs not synched
Set Hostname / FQDN :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
System Timezone / NTP Settings :white_check_mark: :x:
(Cockpit / CLI)
System Network Configuration
(IP, Gateway, DNS, Proxy, Interfaces…)		 :white_check_mark: :x:
(Cockpit / CLI)
Network - Add Logical Interfaces :white_check_mark: :x:
NethSecurity
Network Zones/Roles :white_check_mark: :x:
NethSecurity
Trusted Networks :white_check_mark: :x:
Network Testing Tools :white_check_mark: :x:
Routing Info :white_check_mark: :x:
NethSecurity
DNS Server :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
AD Account Provider OR DNSMasq
NethSecurity
DHCP Server :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
DNSMasq
NethSecurity
PXE/TFTP Server :white_check_mark:
(CLI)		 ?
(CLI)
NethSecurity
SSH / SFTP Manager :white_check_mark: :x:
(Cockpit / CLI)
System Information :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
Hardware Monitor :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
Services Monitor :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
(Partial)
(Cockpit / CLI)
Services Manager :white_check_mark: :x:
(Cockpit / CLI)
Storage Monitor :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
Storage Manager :white_check_mark: :x:
(Cockpit / CLI)
System Shutdown / Reboot :white_check_mark: :x:
(Cockpit / CLI)
Web Terminal :white_check_mark: :x:
(Cockpit)
Certificate - Self-Signed :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
Certificates - Let’s Encrypt :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
Certificates - Upload :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
Certificates - Wildcard :x: :x:
Server Manager - 2FA :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
Server Manager - Access Restrictions :white_check_mark:
WAN/LAN
IP Whitelist		 :x:
Server Manager - Language Selection :white_check_mark: :x:
Auto-Detection
Planned
Log Viewer :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
Single/Dual-pane
Log Rotation :white_check_mark: ?
User Portal :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
E-mail Smarthost :white_check_mark: :x:
Planned
E-mail Notifications :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
Configuration Backup :white_check_mark:
Manual
Automatic		 :white_check_mark:
Manual
Automatic with Scheduled backups
Configuration Restore :white_check_mark:
From URL
From File
From Backup Repository		 :x:
(Disaster Recovery)
Data Backup :white_check_mark:
On Schedule
Inclusions
Exclusions		 :white_check_mark:
Manual
On Schedule
(Backup contains App + Data)
Data Backup Engine Restic
Duplicity
Rsync		 Restic
Backup Destination Backblaze B2
Amazon S3
Generic S3
Windows File Share
Local Storage
NFS
WebDAV
SFTP
(NOTE: Backup Destination Limited by Engine)		 Backblaze B2
Amazon S3
Generic S3
Windows File Share
Local Storage
Azure Blob Storage
Backup Encryption :white_check_mark:
(Depends on the Engine)		 :white_check_mark:
Backup Deduplication :white_check_mark:
(Depends on the Engine)		 :white_check_mark:
Data Restore Selective File/folder level restore App Restore (App + Data)
Disaster Recovery :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
MinIO :x: :white_check_mark:
Software Center Install Apps
Update Apps (Manual / Auto)
Uninstall Apps (Partial)		 Install Apps
Update Apps (Manual / Subscription: Auto)
Uninstall Apps (Removes Data!)
Multiple App Instances
Clone Apps
Move Apps between Cluster Nodes
OS Updates :white_check_mark:
Manual
Automatic		 :x:
Subscription
Cockpit / CLI
Fail2Ban :white_check_mark:
Ban
Unban
Whitelist
Notifications		 :x:
(CrowdSec)
CrowdSec :x:
(Fail2Ban)		 :white_check_mark:
(use of central API requires free registration)
Nextcloud :white_check_mark:
Account Provider Integration
CalDAV/CardDAV auto-discovery		 :white_check_mark:
Account Provider Integration
VPN :white_check_mark:
IPSEC
OpenVPN roadwarrior/net2net
Account Provider Integration		 :white_check_mark:
wg-easy (WireGuard) (3rd-party)
No Account Provider Integration
or NethSecurity
Firewall/Gateway :white_check_mark:
(Shorewall)
Multi-WAN
Traffic Shapping (QoS)
Port Forwarding
Firewall Objects
Firewall Rules
Routing Rules
Deep packet inspection (DPI)
Firewall/Network zones/roles
Hairpin NAT
Application Layer Gateway (ALG)
MAC validation (IP/MAC binding)
Logging
SNAT		 :x:
(Minimal: Firewalld)
Open Ports (CLI)
(Firewalld: Cockpit / CLI)
(More complete: NethSecurity)
Bandwidth Monitor :white_check_mark:
(ntopng)
IPS :white_check_mark:
(suricata + EveBox)
IPS Bypass		 :x:
Thread Shield :white_check_mark:
IP Blacklist
DNS Blacklist
IP/CIDR Whitelist
Geo-blocking (CLI)		 :x:
NethSecurity
Mattermost :white_check_mark:
Import Users		 :white_check_mark:
LDAP / Account provider integration: in discussion
Print Server :white_check_mark: :x:
SNMP :white_check_mark:
Net-SNMP project
(from old server manager)		 :x:
NethSecurity
UPS Support :white_check_mark: :x:
Collectd - Statistics/Monitoring :white_check_mark: :x:
NetData :x:
(partially integrated)		 :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)
Reports :white_check_mark:
(Dante)		 :x:
Instant Messaging
(XMPP/eJabberd)		 :white_check_mark:
Account Provider Integration		 :white_check_mark:
Account Provider Integration
Fax Server :white_check_mark:
(HylaFax)
(accessible from old server manager)		 :x:
File Server :white_check_mark:
(SMB/CIFS)		 :white_check_mark:
(SMB2/3)
    Local AD :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
        Shared Folders :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
        Recycle Bin :white_check_mark: :x:
CLI
        Home Share :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
        ACLs :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
limited to a group,
+ options through 3rd-party tools
        Authenticated Access :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
        Guest Access :white_check_mark: :x:
        Auditing :white_check_mark: :x:
    Remote AD :x:
    Local OpenLDAP :white_check_mark: :x:
        Shared Folders :white_check_mark: :x:
        Recycle Bin :white_check_mark: :x:
        Authenticated Access :x: :x:
        Guest Access :white_check_mark: :x:
        Auditing :white_check_mark: :x:
    Remote OpenLDAP :x:
    No Account Provider :white_check_mark: :x:
        Shared Folders :white_check_mark: :x:
        Recycle Bin :white_check_mark: :x:
        Authenticated Access :x: :x:
        Guest Access :white_check_mark: :x:
        Auditing :white_check_mark: :x:
Web Server :white_check_mark:
(LAMP)		 :white_check_mark:
(LEMP)
(NethForge/3rd-party)
    FTP(S) :white_check_mark: :x:
    SFTP :x: :white_check_mark:
SFTPGo
SFTP Web Client
Custom Users
Multiple storage backends
Access restriction
    Virtual Hosts :white_check_mark:
Access Restrictions:
- trusted networks
- HTTP authentication
Certificate Selection
FTP access restriction
PHP versions
Custom PHP Settings		 :white_check_mark:
Let’s Encrypt Certificate
PHP versions
Custom PHP Settings
MariaDB :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)
(from software collection)		 :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)
PostgreSQL :white_check_mark: * :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)
pgadmin WebUI
Reverse Proxy :white_check_mark:
(Apache Proxy Pass)
Access Restriction: CIDR networks		 :white_check_mark:
(Traefik “HTTP Routes”)
E-mail Server :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
    Account Provider Integration :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
    IMAP :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
    POP3 :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
    SMTP :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
    Antivirus :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
    AntiSpam (Rspamd) :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
    Mail Filter :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
        Whitelist :white_check_mark:
        Blacklist :white_check_mark:
        Block Attachments :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
    Multi-Domain :white_check_mark:
Aliased		 :white_check_mark:
        DKIM :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
        Domain Status Check :white_check_mark:
    Mailboxes :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
        Global SPAM retention policy :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
        Quarantine :white_check_mark:
        User impersonation :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
        Group aliasing :white_check_mark:
        Global Quota :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
        Per-user quota :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
        Per-user spam retention :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
        Public Mailboxes :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
        Shared seen :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
        Custom Addresses :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
        E-Mail Connectors :white_check_mark: :x:
            -POP3 :white_check_mark: :x:
            -IMAP :white_check_mark: :x:
        E-Mail Synchronization
(imapsync)		 :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
        E-Mail Queue Manager :white_check_mark: :white_check_mark:
        E-Mail Relay :white_check_mark:
            -Custom HELO :white_check_mark:
        Mail Disclaimer :white_check_mark:
(deprecated)
Webmail
(Roundcubemail)		 :white_check_mark:
Plugins
Account Provider Integration
Access Restriction		 :white_check_mark:
Plugins
Account Provider Integration
WebTop5 Groupware :white_check_mark:
Account Provider Integration,
Nextcloud Integration,
Chat Integration,
2FA,
E-mail,
Contacts,
Calendars,
Tasks,
ActiveSync (EAS),
CalDAV / CardDAV sync,
- etc.		 :white_check_mark:
PBX Server :white_check_mark:
(FreePBX/Asterisk)		 :white_check_mark:
NethVoice
Hotspot :white_check_mark:
(requires a cloud server)		 :x:
NethSecurity
(requires a cloud server)
Virtual Machines (KVM / libvirt) :white_check_mark:
(CLI)		 :x:
(Cockpit)
MRP/ERP/CRM :white_check_mark:
Business Cube Integration - Paid
Dolibarr
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :white_check_mark:
Odoo
Dolibarr (3rd-party)
Microsoft SQL Server :white_check_mark:
(required by Business Cube)
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :x:
Collabora Online :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)
Nextcloud Integration
WebTop 5 Integration		 :white_check_mark:
Nextcloud Integration
WebTop 5 Integration
SoGo Groupware :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)
Account Provider integration		 :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)
Account Provider integration
Docker :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :x:
(althought many apps are build from Docker)
Hotsync (beta) :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :x:
phpVirtualBox :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :x:
NethSecurity Controller :x: :white_check_mark:
DokuWiki :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)
Prometheus
(Monitoring)		 :x: :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)
Grafana :x: :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)
Wordpress :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)
Paperless NGX :x: :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)
Automysqlbackup :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)
Awstats :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :x:
BackupPC :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)
Bareos :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :x:
Clamscan Antivirus :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :x:
Cockpit-machines (KVM virtualization) :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :x:
(Cockpit)
Crontab (cron manager) :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :x:
Ddclient (dynamic dns client) :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)
or NethSecurity’s DDNS
Discourse :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :x:
Email Client Autoconfiguration
(automx)		 :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :x:
Glances (system monitoring) :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :x:
Glpi :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)
Guacamole :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :white_check_mark:
(beta version - NethForge/3rd-party)
LemonLDAP::NG :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :x:
acme-dns :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :x:
MeshCentral :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)
Moodle :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :x:
NFS :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :x:
(Cockpit - NFS Mounts)
Nginx (reverse proxy webserver) :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)
Onlyoffice :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)
PhpLDAPadmin :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :x:
LAM - LDAP Account Manager
(NethForge/3rd-party)
LAM - LDAP Account Manager :x:
phpLDAPadmin
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)
PhpMyAdmin :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :white_check_mark:
Built-in in some Apps
PhpPgAdmin :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :x:
(built-in pgadmin in PostgreSQL App Instances)
Pihole :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)
Piler :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :white_check_mark:
Rainloop :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :x:
SambaStatus :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :x:
Savapage :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :x:
Self-service-password :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :x:
Built-in User Portal (same purpose)
Shell In A Box :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :x:
Sympa (mailling list) :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :x:
Transmission :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :x:
TT-rss :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :x:
Urbackup :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :x:
Zabbix :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)
Zammad :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)
Ampache :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :x:
Madsonic :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)		 :x:
IT-Tools :x: :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)
Joplin Server :x: :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)
Matomo :x: :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)
N8N :x: :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)
Stirling PDF :x: :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)
Homarr :x: :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)
Kimai :x: :white_check_mark:
(NethForge/3rd-party)
  • In some aspects, due to the different architecture/design (NS7 more near to bare-metal and VM while NS8 further away from hardware, from OS, and more close to VM/cloud…), a direct comparison between NS7 and NS8 is not that simple.
  • Comparable user-base (although NS8 can extend its reach) and comparable feature-wise, to some extend.
  • Note many fine-grained features/options of NS8/NethSecurity are not yet listed.
  • Note there are Apps provided by third-parties, some apps could be outdated, some NS8 missing features can be found on Cockpit or NethSecurity…
  • Including Third-Party Apps or NethSecurity (not a part of NS8) on the comparison is not completely fair but can help some users to find some features or know about them.
  • It is quite possible for the list to contain errors, missing things, etc. Please, correct as you see fit. The post is WIKIfied so any community member can edit it.
  • There are NS8 features missing in the comparison.
  • Not all old NS features are required anymore.
  • NS7 soon will cease to be a real option.
  • NS7 has many years on its back. NS8 not so. It’s normal that NS7 has more 3rd-party apps, at the moment.
  • Organization/arrangment can be improved or re-thinked. (it originated from NS7 features and NS8 were added later…)
  • If not interesting for anyone or don’t find much sense/value in it, consider deleting it altogether.
  • For any future reader, this is a Work In Progress and can become outdated (so take anything here with a grain of salt)
  • Please share and be civil. No flame war intended.
20 Likes
2

Hi @dnutan

Good work!

Small correction: Neither NS7 nor NS8 have an Option for a SNMP Server. Both can only run SNMP (Client).
Both can answer SNMP, when queried with SNMP, but both can not evaluate SNMP…

Zabbix can be a SNMP Server, as an example.

My 2 Cents
Andy

3 Likes
3

Hello Marc,

Thank you for this very complete overview of functionalities, it will help me greatly in planning (the what and when part of) the transition from NS7 to NS8 (and maybe NethSecurity)!

2 Likes
4

hello @dnutan wow, what a wonderful work on the comparision metric.

netdata is now moved to core in ns8.
I am curious why the nextcloud comparison is the way it is.

also what did you use to make the comparisions metric

1 Like
5

Not comparing the App features but what is implemented on NS side.
CALDav/CardDAV auto-discovery not put on NS8 side as I haven’t tested it or found no note on documentation.

nothing fancy, just plain-old markdown and html

3 Likes
6

Great! Just remember the list on NS8 is not complete, so you have to do some research.

7

Dolibarr is implemented on ns8, only Ldap is not yet implemented, and has been giving us some headaches we don’t understand the source, we’ll figure it out, but we also welcome a member of core to help us figure it out as well, provided they have the time.

We hope to close the software gaps together with my team and Markuz who mentioned he might be available this April to work on ns modules.

8

Exactly what was needed, transparent overview. Thanks a heap!!

I completely concur and endorse that!

3 Likes
9

Such a great doc. We should highlight pages like that, it would be great for people who are moving the first steps toward ns8

4 Likes
10

In relation to a mailing list manager for NS8, What do you guys think about Listmonk knadh/listmonk: High performance, self-hosted, newsletter and mailing list manager with a modern dashboard. Single binary app. (github.com)

Considering that Sympa, which was used in NS7 is not actively maintained.

11

Wow man, this is a huge work!
Thanks Marc for keeping this doc updated

Well Done Reaction GIF

2 Likes
12

Hi Marc @dnutan,
Is this list still up to date, or does it need to be updated?
Sincerely, Marko

13

Not up to date. But anyone can edit it.

2 Likes