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MariaDB on CentOS vs Windows Server comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
3.7
MariaDB on CentOS streamlines deployment, enhances performance, and reduces admin reliance, saving time and costs significantly.
Sentiment score
5.4
While complex, Windows Server offers efficiency, reliability, and integration benefits, enhancing competitiveness and delivering strong ROI through cost savings.
I have seen a return on investment with MariaDB on CentOS; the management is easy.
Support Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
I have seen a return on investment through specific improvements in performance optimization for the application, resulting in a better user experience.
Senior Cloud Engineer at Globant
Overall, the gains in productivity, security, and operational efficiency have provided a strong return on investment.
IT at a retailer with 11-50 employees
You get a standard platform that is very secure and stable.
Manager, Information & Cloud Systems at a consultancy with 1,001-5,000 employees
The return on investment is evident as having efficient resources to manage our infrastructure means we are less dependent on costly external support from Microsoft.
Executive Vice President Technology at InfoEdge India Ltd
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.1
MariaDB on CentOS sees mixed reviews, with many relying on community support and some finding customer service lacking for complex issues.
Sentiment score
6.3
Windows Server support varies, with some experiencing prompt service while others rely on forums and documentation for help.
The communities and the blogs are already available, and we referred to those to accomplish what we needed.
Senior Software Developer at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
When we have some big problem on the database, we need to have a database administrator, not a person who reads instructions on the screen.
Performance Testing And A PM Expert at ADM
Customer support for MariaDB on CentOS is excellent and very good.
Principal Data Infrastructure Engineer at Susquehanna International Group
They resolved our problems within the defined SLA.
Relationship Manager at Cognizant
When I had an issue with Hyper-V, the support was excellent.
Systems technician. IT Office at LNU
The technical support from Microsoft is one of the best, though there can be challenges when it comes to priority zero or critical issues, where the queue can be longer.
Executive Vice President Technology at InfoEdge India Ltd
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
5.3
MariaDB on CentOS is praised for scalability despite challenges, with efficient replication and resource management reported by most users.
Sentiment score
7.4
Windows Server is highly scalable, supports diverse user needs, but has resource demands and improvement potential in cloud environments.
MariaDB on CentOS's scalability is impressive, as it easily handles the growth in data, users, and workload.
D V A 3 at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
The scalability of MariaDB on CentOS depends on the use case.
Performance Testing And A PM Expert at ADM
Regarding the scalability of MariaDB on CentOS, it's pretty scalable.
Support Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
I've worked in companies with 20,000 to 100,000 users, and it scales beautifully without issues.
Manager, Information & Cloud Systems at a consultancy with 1,001-5,000 employees
Active Directory and Group Policy make it easy to manage a growing number of users and systems from a centralized platform.
IT at a retailer with 11-50 employees
We use it everywhere, and it serves approximately two thousand users in our company as a backend service.
System Engineer at Alnajat charity
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
MariaDB on CentOS is praised for its stability, ease of management, superior documentation, and reliable clustering capabilities.
Sentiment score
7.5
Windows Server is highly stable and reliable, praised for seamless performance and improvements over previous versions, despite update concerns.
I rate the reliability and stability level of MariaDB on CentOS as very high; it is among the best databases that I have ever seen.
Owner at Syntlogo GmbH
Regarding stability, I have been working on my project for the last year and, while the project has run for four to five years, I have not seen any technical glitches from MariaDB on CentOS that caused downtime.
Software Developer at Apptom
MariaDB on CentOS is very much stable in my experience.
Senior Software Developer at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
It provides reliable performance for critical services such as Active Directory, file service, DNS, and user authentication.
IT at a retailer with 11-50 employees
The stability is better with the newer versions like 2019.
System Engineer at Alnajat charity
Very rarely do I see any blue screens or crashes.
Senior Consutant at HCLSoftware
 

Room For Improvement

AI-enhanced optimization, compatibility updates, and deployment improvements are crucial for MariaDB on CentOS amidst repository management challenges.
Windows Server needs improved security, stability, cloud integration, simpler UI, better pricing, easier configuration, and broader compatibility support.
Postgres is easier to work with because you can use the explain plan to see directly and immediately if your new request is good or not.
Performance Testing And A PM Expert at ADM
For potential improvements that could be made in the future for MariaDB on CentOS, I think two or three things are needed; one is AI to support rewriting queries because at this stage every database supports AI.
Software Developer at Apptom
I think MariaDB on CentOS needs improvements in some memory-level implementations within the operating system, as I have noticed issues related to memory orientation, such as out-of-memory problems.
D V A 3 at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
The support team is getting worse in terms of expertise.
Manager, IT Security at Averis Sdn Bhd
We can work with both virtual and physical setups.
AVP at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
The current diagnostic logs have not seen much improvement in the last ten years and aren't very helpful in addressing network-related issues specific to individual customer locations.
Team Manager at Waters Corporation
 

Setup Cost

Enterprise users find MariaDB on CentOS cost-effective, with favorable pricing, eliminating licensing fees and flexible project-specific resource allocation.
Enterprise users find Windows Server costly and complex to license, preferring simpler, more competitive pricing compared to Linux.
Regarding pricing, setup cost, and licensing, in our case, it was just the open-source MariaDB, so we did not require any licenses or setup costs; we just use it directly.
Software Engineer at a outsourcing company with 201-500 employees
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing has been positive since it is open source, and we did not have any issues with licensing and pricing.
Senior Cloud Engineer at Globant
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for MariaDB on CentOS has been that we use MariaDB Enterprise Edition, so the cost and pricing are very competitive.
Principal Data Infrastructure Engineer at Susquehanna International Group
On a scale of one to ten, with ten being the most expensive, I rate it ten out of ten.
Manager, IT Security at Averis Sdn Bhd
Microsoft offers product pricing with licenses per processor and CAL licenses for accessing.
Manager, Information & Cloud Systems at a consultancy with 1,001-5,000 employees
The cost associated with Windows Server—considering pricing, licensing, and setup—is expensive, no doubt.
Executive Vice President Technology at InfoEdge India Ltd
 

Valuable Features

MariaDB on CentOS is praised for its performance, compatibility, advanced features, and cost-effectiveness, enhancing organizational workflows.
Windows Server excels in integration, ease of use, security, scalability, and supports enterprise applications with features like Hyper-V and PowerShell.
Many functionalities are not available in MariaDB on CentOS, so those aspects needed to be rewritten, particularly Oracle proprietary features.
Architect at LTIMindtree
We set it up for high availability in the production environment using the 2.x version and the latest version with a GUI, making it an advanced feature for high availability, especially when the master goes down, allowing the slave to take over read and write mode automatically, without any interaction or impact on the application side.
D V A 3 at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
The primary thing that we got from MariaDB on CentOS is the connection handling capability.
Senior Software Developer at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
I can manage the firewalls on the server easily, open or close ports to manage security traffic, and use encryption on the hard disk to keep data secure.
Systems technician. IT Office at LNU
If you need to include an email server, you can't ask about features individually since all features are necessary.
Manager, IT Security at Averis Sdn Bhd
We use it to connect to client systems and are happy with the performance and its features.
Relationship Manager at Cognizant
 

Categories and Ranking

MariaDB on CentOS
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
22nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.5
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Windows Server
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
197
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category, the mindshare of MariaDB on CentOS is 0.2%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Windows Server is 6.7%, down from 9.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Operating Systems (OS) for Business Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Windows Server6.7%
MariaDB on CentOS0.2%
Other93.1%
Operating Systems (OS) for Business
 

Featured Reviews

DM
Performance Testing And A PM Expert at ADM
Performance tests have been streamlined for analysis while query tuning still needs improvement
The technical support or community support for MariaDB on CentOS is bad. There is a main problem with all the companies that sell this kind of tool and services. The first level of support is the first one you reach. When you begin to have a more difficult problem, there is no one available because sometimes you need to update the call and recall on it. This is not good because when we have some big problem on the database, we need to have a database administrator, not a person who reads instructions on the screen. It is always the same problem. My rating is two.
reviewer2848875 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT at a retailer with 11-50 employees
Centralized controls have improved security and simplify user management across our environment
One area where Windows Server could be improved is in simplifying administration and troubleshooting. While Windows Server is powerful, diagnosing issues related to group policy, DNS, replication, and authentication can sometimes be complex and time-consuming. I would prefer to see more intuitive management dashboards, better built-in monitoring and reporting tools, and integration with cloud service-enhanced automation features for routine administrative tasks. This would further reduce manual effort and improve efficiency. Overall, Windows Server is a reliable platform, but making management and troubleshooting more streamlined would help IT teams save time and improve productivity. Another area for improvement is documentation and update management. While Microsoft provides extensive documentation, finding the most relevant troubleshooting information can sometimes be challenging for complex issues involving Active Directory, DNS, or group policy. Updates are important for security, but some updates require careful testing and planning to avoid unexpected impacts on production environments. More detailed pre-update impact analysis and simplified rollback options would be beneficial. Overall, Windows Server is a robust platform, but improvements in documentation, troubleshooting guidance, update management, and administrative automation would further enhance the experience for IT professionals.
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909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
37%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Transportation Company
7%
University
6%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Construction Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business1
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise7
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business79
Midsize Enterprise41
Large Enterprise89
 

Questions from the Community

What is your primary use case for MariaDB on CentOS?
My main use case for MariaDB on CentOS is as a database for my application. A quick specific example of how I'm using MariaDB on CentOS for my application includes Laravel-based applications and Wo...
What advice do you have for others considering MariaDB on CentOS?
I would rate MariaDB on CentOS a nine on a scale of one to ten. I choose a nine because there is always room for improvement for any software, but in general, it is a reliable, stable, and easy-to-...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for MariaDB on CentOS?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing has been positive since it is open source, and we did not have any issues with licensing and pricing. My costs are based on resource allocation...
What needs improvement with Windows Server?
One area where Windows Server could be improved is in simplifying administration and troubleshooting. While Windows Server is powerful, diagnosing issues related to group policy, DNS, replication, ...
What is your primary use case for Windows Server?
Windows Server serves the primary use case of Active Directory administrator, user and groups management, file and print service, management service, maintenance, and IT infrastructure support.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Windows Server?
I think the licensing model of Microsoft products, including Windows Server, is not cheap. Microsoft has been guiding us for all the products toward a subscription model instead of a buying model. ...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Rakuten, Rackspace, Tyco
Find out what your peers are saying about MariaDB on CentOS vs. Windows Server and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.