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 | Centralized Management of Cluster Nodes Promote worker node to leader Audit trail |
|
SELinux / AppArmor | (SELinux available but disabled by default) |
|
Local AD | ||
Remote AD | ||
Local OpenLDAP | Not accessible outside the cluster |
|
Remote OpenLDAP | ||
Password Policy | ||
Account Provider Replicas | On different cluster node AD: SysVol/GPOs not synched |
|
Set Hostname / FQDN | ||
System Timezone / NTP Settings | (Cockpit / CLI) |
|
System Network Configuration (IP, Gateway, DNS, Proxy, Interfaces…) |
(Cockpit / CLI) |
|
Network - Add Logical Interfaces | NethSecurity |
|
Network Zones/Roles | NethSecurity |
|
Trusted Networks | ||
Network Testing Tools | ||
Routing Info | NethSecurity |
|
DNS Server | AD Account Provider OR DNSMasq NethSecurity |
|
DHCP Server | DNSMasq NethSecurity |
|
PXE/TFTP Server | (CLI) |
? (CLI) NethSecurity |
SSH / SFTP Manager | (Cockpit / CLI) |
|
System Information | ||
Hardware Monitor | ||
Services Monitor | (Partial) (Cockpit / CLI) |
|
Services Manager | (Cockpit / CLI) |
|
Storage Monitor | ||
Storage Manager | (Cockpit / CLI) |
|
System Shutdown / Reboot | (Cockpit / CLI) |
|
Web Terminal | (Cockpit) |
|
Certificate - Self-Signed | ||
Certificates - Let’s Encrypt | ||
Certificates - Upload | ||
Certificates - Wildcard | ||
Server Manager - 2FA | ||
Server Manager - Access Restrictions | WAN/LAN IP Whitelist |
|
Server Manager - Language Selection | Auto-Detection Planned |
|
Log Viewer | Single/Dual-pane |
|
Log Rotation | ? | |
User Portal | ||
E-mail Smarthost | Planned |
|
E-mail Notifications | ||
Configuration Backup | Manual Automatic |
Manual Automatic with Scheduled backups |
Configuration Restore | From URL From File From Backup Repository |
(Disaster Recovery) |
Data Backup | On Schedule Inclusions Exclusions |
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 | (Depends on the Engine) |
|
Backup Deduplication | (Depends on the Engine) |
|
Data Restore | Selective File/folder level restore | App Restore (App + Data) |
Disaster Recovery | ||
MinIO | ||
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 | Manual Automatic |
Subscription Cockpit / CLI |
Fail2Ban | Ban Unban Whitelist Notifications |
(CrowdSec) |
CrowdSec | (Fail2Ban) |
(use of central API requires free registration) |
Nextcloud | Account Provider Integration CalDAV/CardDAV auto-discovery |
Account Provider Integration |
VPN | IPSEC OpenVPN roadwarrior/net2net Account Provider Integration |
wg-easy (WireGuard) (3rd-party) No Account Provider Integration or NethSecurity |
Firewall/Gateway | (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 |
(Minimal: Firewalld) Open Ports (CLI) (Firewalld: Cockpit / CLI) (More complete: NethSecurity) |
Bandwidth Monitor | (ntopng) |
|
IPS | (suricata + EveBox) IPS Bypass |
|
Thread Shield | IP Blacklist DNS Blacklist IP/CIDR Whitelist Geo-blocking (CLI) |
NethSecurity |
Mattermost | Import Users |
LDAP / Account provider integration: in discussion |
Print Server | ||
SNMP | Net-SNMP project (from old server manager) |
NethSecurity |
UPS Support | ||
Collectd - Statistics/Monitoring | ||
NetData | (partially integrated) |
(NethForge/3rd-party) |
Reports | (Dante) |
|
Instant Messaging (XMPP/eJabberd) |
Account Provider Integration |
Account Provider Integration |
Fax Server | (HylaFax) (accessible from old server manager) |
|
File Server | (SMB/CIFS) |
(SMB2/3) |
Local AD | ||
Shared Folders | ||
Recycle Bin | CLI |
|
Home Share | ||
ACLs | limited to a group, + options through 3rd-party tools |
|
Authenticated Access | ||
Guest Access | ||
Auditing | ||
Remote AD | ||
Local OpenLDAP | ||
Shared Folders | ||
Recycle Bin | ||
Authenticated Access | ||
Guest Access | ||
Auditing | ||
Remote OpenLDAP | ||
No Account Provider | ||
Shared Folders | ||
Recycle Bin | ||
Authenticated Access | ||
Guest Access | ||
Auditing | ||
Web Server | (LA |
(LE (NethForge/3rd-party) |
FTP(S) | ||
SFTP | SFTPGo SFTP Web Client Custom Users Multiple storage backends Access restriction |
|
Virtual Hosts | Access Restrictions: - trusted networks - HTTP authentication Certificate Selection FTP access restriction PHP versions Custom PHP Settings |
Let’s Encrypt Certificate PHP versions Custom PHP Settings |
MariaDB | (NethForge/3rd-party) (from software collection) |
(NethForge/3rd-party) |
PostgreSQL | * | (NethForge/3rd-party) pgadmin WebUI |
Reverse Proxy | (Apache Proxy Pass) Access Restriction: CIDR networks |
(Traefik “HTTP Routes”) |
E-mail Server | ||
Account Provider Integration | ||
IMAP | ||
POP3 | ||
SMTP | ||
Antivirus | ||
AntiSpam (Rspamd) | ||
Mail Filter | ||
Whitelist | ||
Blacklist | ||
Block Attachments | ||
Multi-Domain | Aliased |
|
DKIM | ||
Domain Status Check | ||
Mailboxes | ||
Global SPAM retention policy | ||
Quarantine | ||
User impersonation | ||
Group aliasing | ||
Global Quota | ||
Per-user quota | ||
Per-user spam retention | ||
Public Mailboxes | ||
Shared seen | ||
Custom Addresses | ||
E-Mail Connectors | ||
-POP3 | ||
-IMAP | ||
E-Mail Synchronization (imapsync) |
||
E-Mail Queue Manager | ||
E-Mail Relay | ||
-Custom HELO | ||
Mail Disclaimer | (deprecated) |
|
Webmail (Roundcubemail) |
Plugins Account Provider Integration Access Restriction |
Plugins Account Provider Integration |
WebTop5 Groupware | Account Provider Integration, Nextcloud Integration, Chat Integration, 2FA, E-mail, Contacts, Calendars, Tasks, ActiveSync (EAS), CalDAV / CardDAV sync, - etc. |
|
PBX Server | (FreePBX/Asterisk) |
NethVoice |
Hotspot | (requires a cloud server) |
NethSecurity (requires a cloud server) |
Virtual Machines (KVM / libvirt) | (CLI) |
(Cockpit) |
MRP/ERP/CRM | Business Cube Integration - Paid Dolibarr (NethForge/3rd-party) |
Odoo Dolibarr (3rd-party) |
Microsoft SQL Server | (required by Business Cube) (NethForge/3rd-party) |
|
Collabora Online | (NethForge/3rd-party) Nextcloud Integration WebTop 5 Integration |
Nextcloud Integration WebTop 5 Integration |
SoGo Groupware | (NethForge/3rd-party) Account Provider integration |
(NethForge/3rd-party) Account Provider integration |
Docker | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
(althought many apps are build from Docker) |
Hotsync (beta) | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
|
phpVirtualBox | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
|
NethSecurity Controller | ||
DokuWiki | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
(NethForge/3rd-party) |
Prometheus (Monitoring) |
(NethForge/3rd-party) |
|
Grafana | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
|
Wordpress | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
(NethForge/3rd-party) |
Paperless NGX | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
|
Automysqlbackup | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
|
Awstats | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
|
BackupPC | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
(NethForge/3rd-party) |
Bareos | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
|
Clamscan Antivirus | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
|
Cockpit-machines (KVM virtualization) | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
(Cockpit) |
Crontab (cron manager) | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
|
Ddclient (dynamic dns client) | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
(NethForge/3rd-party) or NethSecurity’s DDNS |
Discourse | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
|
Email Client Autoconfiguration (automx) |
(NethForge/3rd-party) |
|
Glances (system monitoring) | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
|
Glpi | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
(NethForge/3rd-party) |
Guacamole | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
(beta version - NethForge/3rd-party) |
LemonLDAP::NG | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
|
acme-dns | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
|
MeshCentral | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
(NethForge/3rd-party) |
Moodle | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
|
NFS | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
(Cockpit - NFS Mounts) |
Nginx (reverse proxy webserver) | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
|
Onlyoffice | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
(NethForge/3rd-party) |
PhpLDAPadmin | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
LAM - LDAP Account Manager (NethForge/3rd-party) |
LAM - LDAP Account Manager | phpLDAPadmin (NethForge/3rd-party) |
(NethForge/3rd-party) |
PhpMyAdmin | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
Built-in in some Apps |
PhpPgAdmin | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
(built-in pgadmin in PostgreSQL App Instances) |
Pihole | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
|
Piler | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
|
Rainloop | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
|
SambaStatus | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
|
Savapage | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
|
Self-service-password | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
Built-in User Portal (same purpose) |
Shell In A Box | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
|
Sympa (mailling list) | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
|
Transmission | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
|
TT-rss | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
|
Urbackup | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
|
Zabbix | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
(NethForge/3rd-party) |
Zammad | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
(NethForge/3rd-party) |
Ampache | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
|
Madsonic | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
|
IT-Tools | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
|
Joplin Server | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
|
Matomo | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
|
N8N | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
|
Stirling PDF | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
|
Homarr | (NethForge/3rd-party) |
|
Kimai | (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.