Compare
Every platform makes trade-offs. Here's where Peios sits relative to the alternatives.
| Peios | Windows Server | Linux + Samba | Proxmox | TrueNAS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unified identity model | Built in | Built in | Bolted on | None | None |
| Security descriptors on all objects | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Domain federation | Built in | Built in | Manual | No | No |
| Centralized config registry | Built in | Built in | No | No | No |
| Group policy | Built in | Built in | Partial | No | No |
| Installable roles | Yes | Yes | Packages | No | Plugins |
| Hypervisor | Peios only | Hyper-V | KVM/libvirt | KVM | Bhyve |
| Web management | Admin console | WAC | Cockpit | Built in | Built in |
| Mandatory integrity control | Built in | Built in | SELinux | AppArmor | No |
| Built-in audit trail | Built in | Built in | auditd | auditd | Middleware |
| Licensing cost | Free | Expensive | Free | Free | Free |
| One security vocabulary | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
Windows Server has the best infrastructure management story of any operating system. Active Directory, Group Policy, and the unified security model are genuinely excellent. Peios takes the same design principles — tokens, security descriptors, a centralized registry, installable roles — and implements them on a Linux foundation.
The result is the management experience of Windows Server without the licensing cost, without the closed ecosystem, and with the Linux software library available natively. If you've ever wanted AD-style domain management but couldn't justify the Windows Server licence, Peios is what you're looking for.
You can build an AD domain controller on Linux with Samba. Plenty of people do. The problem is that identity stops at Samba's boundary. The underlying Linux system still uses UIDs, mode bits, and PAM — a completely separate security vocabulary. Managing this patchwork means maintaining two mental models, two sets of tools, and hoping they don't disagree.
Peios eliminates the seam. The kernel understands tokens and security descriptors natively. Samba compatibility is built on top of a coherent foundation rather than wedged between two systems that speak different languages.
Proxmox is an excellent hypervisor platform. If all you need is VM management with a web UI, it's a great choice. But Proxmox has no identity model, no domain federation, no centralized configuration, and no unified access control. Each VM is its own island.
Peios (full edition) includes a hypervisor, but it also includes everything else — the identity model, the registry, the management plane. VMs participate in the domain, inherit access policies, and are managed through the same tools as everything else. The hypervisor is a feature, not the whole product.
TrueNAS is a storage appliance. It does one thing — serve files — and does it well. If file serving is all you need, TrueNAS is purpose-built for it. Peios is a general-purpose server operating system. File serving is one role you can install, alongside DNS, certificate authority, and everything else. They solve different problems at different scales.