AIX > Trends > Linux

Value is King

Although Linux* has enjoyed steady growth in the server realm, particularly on IBM* eServer platforms, the OS has never had the auspicious honor of having a server specifically tuned to natively run the open-source OS. Linux, traditionally, has had to content itself with running alongside other OSs.

Linux can run on the pSeries* server, for example, but most clients today run it along with AIX*. The same holds true for the iSeries* server and OS/400* or i5/OS*, and the zSeries* server and z/OS*, where most clients choose to add Linux to their systems. And, while Linux popularity with xSeries* businesses has grown dramatically, Windows* is still the most popular environment for xSeries clients. Linux is supported on all these platforms, but it never had the ability to show itself off on a server that was tuned for it, until now.

With the new IBM eServer OpenPower* Model 720 server announced in September, there's a server tuned for Linux. And, with more OpenPower servers and software offerings on the horizon, Linux is poised to play an even more prominent role in the business server market.

"This is the first server in the marketplace tuned to run Linux natively," says Chuck Bryan, eServer Linux marketing program director, IBM. "No other server can say that it's tuned to run Linux natively. We've developed a new category of server, and we're excited by how well it's being received by clients."

The OpenPower 720 is built on IBM's new POWER5* microprocessor technology, an innovation that has also spurred major advances in the iSeries and pSeries server lines in the form of new eServer i5 and eServer p5 platforms. POWER5 technology is particularly well-suited toward Linux compatibility, making it an ideal environment on which to create a Linux-tuned server.

The OpenPower 720 is (up to) a 4-way, 4-U rack or tower-server option, offering processor speeds of 1.5 GHz to 1.65 GHz and maximum memory of 64 GB. It features eight bays for Ultra320 SCSI drives, five PCI-X slots and optional on-board RAID. It features software support for SLES 9 from Novell SUSE LINUX and RHEL AS 3 from Red Hat. Because it's based on POWER5 technology, it's 64-bit capable, but it's also 32-bit compatible, allowing clients to run both 32-bit and 64-bit applications.

"This is the first server in the marketplace tuned to run Linux natively. We've developed a new category of server, and we're excited by how well it's being received by clients." -Chuck Bryan, eserver Linux marketing program director, IBM

Tweet