Why should you care about Linux?

Today Linux is being used by many large and medium size organizations to run web sites and mission critical applications alike.

Three primary reasons may account for the popularity of Linux as an operating system for business applications: First, cost savings are an obvious draw for enterprises, as Linux is a far less expensive alternative to other operating systems.

Second, Linux runs on lower-cost, non-proprietary hardware computer systems, so organizations can deploy it on low-cost commodity hardware. Third, Linux is open source, so dependence on a single vendor is replaced with greater innovation. As with any new, low-cost, non-proprietary technology, Linux gets cheaper over time.

More over Linux is widely believed to be much more stable, robuts, scalable and secure in comparison with some of today's widely used operating systems.

This enables enterprises to deploy large scale business applications with relatively fewer administrators and higher application availability leading to a significant reduction in total cost of ownership.

In 1998, Oracle became the first vendor to release a commercial database available for Linux. Today, Oracle makes Linux 'unbreakable,' delivering solutions that are stable, reliable, secure, and manageable, with all of the inherent business benefits of the Linux platform.

There are a number of ways that Oracle supports Linux as a viable choice for its customer base. First, the company supports the open Linux architecture by contributing significant open source code to the Linux community, which accelerates the power, performance, ease of use, and dependability of Linux.

At the same time, Oracle provides enterprise-level, seamless technical support for Red Hat Linux and all operating systems powered by UnitedLinux.

Through the company's technical contributions, front-line support, and strategic partnerships, Oracle makes Linux 'unbreakable' so customers can safely, securely, and reliably deploy Linux in mission-critical, enterprise environments.

As more customers in the Middle East come forward to discuss the advantages they have received as a result of deploying Linux-based solutions, the popularity of Linux in the region will continue to grow.

Case Study: Al Ghurair Group Migrates to Linux
Recently, Al Ghurair Group announced that it has migrated its Oracle E-Business Suite applications from Windows to Linux in order to achieve higher availability and improved security at a lower cost of ownership.

The group, which uses Oracle E-Business Suite to streamline business processes across its diverse real estate and manufacturing holdings, runs Oracle Financials, Oracle Property Manager, Oracle Enterprise Asset Management and Oracle Supply Chain Management to integrate and consolidate its operations, while reducing administrative costs.

'Our decision to migrate enetrprise applications from Windows to Linux was driven by the need to achieve higher uptime for our business while improving information security and reducing cost of ownership,' commented Hatem Al-Sibai, group IT manager, Al Ghurair Group. 'Oracle's commitment to Linux made it easier for us to make the right decision to move to Linux.. We believe Linux is the way forward.'

Case Study: Oracle as a Linux User
Many Oracle customers have learned firsthand that Linux costs less and-thanks in part to Oracle-it's faster and more reliable than ever before. Oracle runs Linux internally, which enables Oracle to test and prototype its software on Linux well in advance of new releases, thus ensuring reliability

By running parts of its own business on Linux, Oracle makes its infrastructure more efficient and less expensive. There are several Linux-based pilots and operational systems at Oracle. For example, Oracle Outsourcing runs a large part of its business on Linux.

The company recently converted its application demo systems-consisting of several hundred servers-to Red Hat Advanced Server; these demo systems are used by Oracle's global sales organization to give demonstrations of Oracle products to prospects, customers, and partners.

By deploying Linux, Oracle has discovered firsthand that Linux on low-cost, commodity hardware is a proven technology for mission-critical applications such as Oracle E-Business Suite and Oracle9i Database with Real Application Clusters.

In fact, Oracle runs Oracle E-Business Suite on a Linux/Intel middle tier. This Global Single Instance (GSI) in Oracle's Austin, Texas data center provides mission-critical applications to more than 40,000 Oracle employees worldwide; the Oracle E-Business Suite GSI on Linux is five times cheaper and three times faster than conventional UNIX/RISC.

Looking more closely at Linux inside Oracle worldwide, the company runs more mid-tier Linux servers including most of Oracle University, the Oracle e-mail system, the Oracle web site, Oracle's ERP/CRM application middle tiers, and the Oracle File System.

In fact, Oracle's own development organization uses Linux servers and the company even runs its demonstration environment-where performance is critical-on Linux. Finally, more than 1,000 developers at Oracle use Linux as their development environment.

These deployments demonstrate Oracle's commitment to Linux because running the company's own production systems on it means that Oracle trusts and is serious about the business benefits Linux delivers.

Oracle's Linux Commitment
Open systems play a vital role in Oracle's strategy, and the company's commitment to Linux is a hallmark of this strategy. Over the years, Oracle and its customer base have learned a lot about running Oracle on Linux in the enterprise.

This knowledge, and an opportunity to dramatically reduce IT infrastructure costs, are the catalysts behind Oracle's decision to provide front-line technical support for the Linux operating system-both Red Hat Advanced Server and UnitedLinux-in addition to Oracle products.

Oracle has a quantifiable commitment to Linux; today, more than one million Linux-related downloads have been downloaded from Oracle's developer network, Oracle Technology Network (OTN), and that number continues to grow.

More than 4,000 Oracle Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) are using Oracle products on Linux, and 550 ISVs have certified to run their applications on Oracle9i Database on Linux.

Oracle's Customer Support for the Linux Operating System
Support is one of the areas in which companies have expressed reservations. Because of the open-source nature of Linux, some organizations have felt that the necessary level of support required for enterprise Linux deployments was not available.

However, vendors including Oracle offer direct, front-line technical support for the Linux operating system. Oracle offers this support for customers who are running Red Hat Linux Advanced Server and UnitedLinux, which includes Conectiva Linux Enterprise Edition, SCO Linux Server 4.0, SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8, and Turbolinux Enterprise Server 8.

Oracle not only certifies and supports its applications on these Linux distributions - the company also supports the Linux operating system itself. This is incredibly significant because Oracle, working closely with Red Hat and UnitedLinux, is a single point of contact for customer support.

As a result, Oracle customers on Red Hat Advanced Server or UnitedLinux get improved response and faster resolution of critical issues. Oracle, as a single support organization, ensures the highest level of support and availability to our joint customers.

Oracle Unbreakable Linux
One of the latest innovations in Linux is Oracle's 'Unbreakable Linux' strategy. Oracle's Unbreakable Linux is the fastest-growing enterprise computing environment and offers a unique combination of innovative technologies like a modern open-source operating system and database clustering technology that dramatically reduces the cost of computing while achieving the highest levels of performance, reliability and security.

To reduce integration challenges and provide faster return on investment, Oracle also offers thousands of compatible Linux-based solutions from partners. Oracle-in conjunction with Dell and HP-delivers easy access to high-performance servers that are ready to run Oracle9i Database technology out-of-the-box, allowing customers to deploy high-performance, enterprise-class solutions on the lowest cost hardware and operating system infrastructure available today.

Only Oracle has its complete infrastructure and applications product lines available on Linux, and strategic partnerships with Red Hat and UnitedLinux. Together, Red Hat and UnitedLinux serve more than 95 percent of the Linux OS Server market worldwide. Oracle customers everywhere can now take advantage of Oracle's front-line support for the Linux operating system.

The Future of Linux
From a technology perspective, developers, network administrators, and database administrators all have high hopes for Linux and are following its adoption rate closely.

At the same time, decision-makers are enthusiastic about the business benefits of Linux, including its lower cost of ownership and non-proprietary nature.

As Linux continues to be the fastest growing enterprise computing environment, much attention now is focused on its future.

One of the most important growth areas for Linux today is scalability. The platform is set to scale to many thousands users in a clustered environment.

From a business perspective, Linux growth can be fostered in the Middle East by organizations looking to reduce their IT operating expenses. Governments and private sector organizations alike are looking to take advantage of Linux to deploy secure and scalable computing infrastructure at lower cost of ownership.

As the business community shares more insight into the benefits that companies here are receiving from Linux, more organizations will begin deploying it.