Linux on POWER

More and more, companies in this region are looking for less expensive, more easily managed, scalable and stable platforms for their IT strategies and infrastructures. They want a choice of vendors, they want to stamp out their security problems and they want to fuel innovation.

Hence the recent growing interest in Linux, the fastest growing operating system in the world according to IDC. In 2002, Linux had 2.8 percent of the desktop space and 23.1 percent of the server market-and its market share continues to grow both globally and in the Middle East.

Recognising customers' needs for a highly secure, low-cost and scalable IT platform from which they can spur innovation and growth, IBM has over the years become a leading proponent of Linux. It has ported all of its middleware families to Linux and, working with some of the leading Linux distributors, has optimized Linux to run across all of its IBM eServer families-notably the 64-bit POWER chip servers.

IBM's POWER chips have a long and venerable history, with development beginning in 1989 and the first commercial POWER-based system, the RS/6000, shipping in 1996. This history of development, improvement and deployment has continued since, with the POWER chip now being found in one of IBM's most popular servers, the IBM eServer pSeries range.

POWER is proving to be the microprocessor of choice for organizations that have mission-critical infrastructures and need the highest levels of memory and performance in small devices and technologies. IBM's world-renowned Blue Gene supercomputing project is based on IBM's microprocessor technologies.

The microprocessor chip created for Blue Gene is providing IBM's researchers with a vision for next-generation POWER chip roadmaps. When fully completed, Blue Gene is expected to be four times faster than the Earth Simulator Center's supercomputer at a third of the cost.

At the Supercomputing Conference in Austin, Texas, in November, IBM demonstrated 1/128th of the Blue Gene system, and it's already among the top 100 supercomputers in the world. Yet, unlike all other supercomputers, which are incredibly large, Blue Gene is small enough to slide under a desk. And it runs on Linux.

If we look at the telecommunication sector, we have an environment running mission -critical applications where one cannot afford downtime. Telecommunication servers need to be extremely reliable and extra rugged to give customers the uninterrupted service they expect.

IBM offers a complete line of Linux-based, Network Equipment Building System (NEBS) Level 3-compliant POWER servers and storage products, specifically designed to handle the intensive demands of the telecommunications industry.

There are more notable applications of POWER. The technology scales down, powering everything from PDAs to laptops to gaming devices. It has demonstrated significant savings in total cost of ownership, especially as it pertains to server consolidation.

The IBM eServer pSeries systems allow users to run logical portioning (LPARS) of not only the core operating systems, but also instances of Linux. Organisations using LPARs can effectively eliminate extraneous boxes running Linux and the administrative costs that go with them.

Over five years, for example, pSeries customers can save, according to some estimates, 25 percent to 56 percent on hardware, software, maintenance, personnel and facilities costs when compared to competitive approaches using LPAR.

Linux on POWER clearly adds choice for customers as it allows Linux users to take advantage of POWER's 64-bit architecture and this is where IBM has a clear advantage, with POWER's proven history of openness, pervasiveness and scalability.

This point becomes particularly important when one considers that Linux continues to scale at voracious rates and is fast becoming an enterprise-class operating system in this region.