IBM Goes Linux with New Servers

Linux is the little penguin that could. While it certainly has limitations in the desktop PC market, it continues to make its way into the server world, set-top boxes, and even PDAs . Even IBM is now catering to supporters of Open Source as evidenced by its announcement last week of plans to deliver two new dedicated Linux servers, including a Linux-only mainframe. The IBM eServer zSeries for Linux consolidates from 20 to hundreds of Sun and Intel servers. IBM also plans to deliver a Linux server targeted specifically at small and medium-sized businesses. The IBM eServer iSeries for Linux uses IBM's "partitioning" technology to consolidate up to 15 standalone Linux and Windows servers onto a single physical server. It supports the SuSE and Turbolinux distributions of Linux and includes an installation wizard. Both servers are intended for infrastructure applications such as firewall, web serving, file and print serving, and mail serving and are expected to be available in the first quarter of this year.