Canonical MAAS vs Serva
Canonical MAAS
canonical.comServa
vercot.comSide by side
| Figure | Canonical MAAS | Serva |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $2.50/mo | $7.67/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 8 | 2 |
| Spec score · OS Deployment Software | 9.3 (#1) | 7.6 (#15) |
| Spec score · Bare Metal Provisioning Software | 9.3 (#1) | 7.6 (#16) |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom | Denver, Colorado, U.S.A. |
| Purpose | MAAS is an open source platform for centrally managing and provisioning physical servers as cloud resources. | Serva is an automated PXE server solution for network booting and installing operating systems. |
Plans
Canonical MAAS
- FreeFree
- Self-supportFree
- Essential$30 a year
- Essential$30 a year
- Standard$50 a year
- Standard$50 a year
- Advanced$100 a year
- Advanced$100 a year
In their own words
Canonical MAAS
Canonical MAAS is an open source platform for provisioning physical servers as centrally managed cloud resources. It automates server discovery, inventory, commissioning, deployment, and decommissioning, and lets operators manage nodes through a web interface, command line, or API. Hardware discovery uses PXE boot and supports IPMI-enabled machines, as well as subnets, VLANs, and switch fabrics. MAAS integrates with Terraform, Juju, and Ansible for infrastructure automation. It can configure networking and storage, run hardware tests, and manage LXD and KVM virtual machines. Listed images include Ubuntu, CentOS, Windows, and RHEL; images can be synchronized or served from an onsite mirror for offline use. Canonical describes MAAS for private cloud with OpenStack, server automation, and bare-metal Kubernetes. A free self-support plan covers all machines but excludes HA support, RBAC, Knowledge Base, a Sev 1 response SLA, phone support, and ticket support. Paid plans start at $30 a year per managed machine. Ubuntu Pro is required for MAAS controllers; Canonical says it provides security patching and enterprise support for controllers and Ubuntu machines.
Serva
Serva is a Windows application for automated PXE network booting and operating-system installation. Its portable package bundles HTTP, FTP, TFTP, DHCP, proxyDHCP, BINL, DNS, SNTP, and SYSLOG services, plus a TFTP client. It delivers Windows and non-Windows assets to BIOS and UEFI systems, including ARM 32-bit and 64-bit UEFI. ProxyDHCP is intended to provide PXE service without changing existing DHCP infrastructure settings. For Windows deployment, Serva offers a WAIK/ADK-independent alternative to RIS and WDS and includes a Task Sequence Manager for capturing and deploying PC images. It requires no installation and does not save keys in the Windows registry. The free Community edition is for personal, non-commercial use, limits PXE/BINL service to 50 minutes and two PXE clients, and excludes WinPE booting and Task Sequence Manager. Professional costs $92 a year, permits commercial use, supports 50 PXE/BINL clients, and provides unlimited PXE/BINL service time.