Armonk, NY — (press release excerpt) — IBM today announced plans to deliver two new dedicated Linux servers, including a first-of-its-kind Linux only mainframe that requires no traditional mainframe operating system experience, built from the ground up for consolidating 10, 20 or even hundreds of Sun and Intel servers.

The IBM eServer zSeries offering for Linux brings the bullet-proof performance, superior total cost of ownership and reliability of the IBM mainframe to an entirely new class of customers. The announcement follows a year of remarkable growth and interest in Linux on the mainframe at IBM, with customers around the world moving to Linux, historic double-digit mainframe growth, and triple-digit growth in the number of companies running Linux in pilot or production.

IBM also announced plans to deliver a quick-to-deploy, easy-to-manage Linux server specifically for small and medium-sized businesses. The IBM eServer iSeries offering for Linux uses IBM's advanced “partitioning” technology to help customers to reduce cost and complexity by consolidating up to 15 standalone Linux and Windows servers onto a single physical server. It supports the SuSE and TurboLinux distributions of Linux. 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.

“These new Linux servers are built specifically for customers without traditional mainframe operating system experience who are serious about reducing server sprawl and dramatically improving their total cost of ownership,” said Bill Zeitler, senior vice president and group executive, IBM eServer. “Companies large and small are turning to 'virtual' Linux servers to save 'real' dollars and gain better control over their e-business infrastructure.”

Running IBM's industry leading z/VM virtualization technology, the eServer zSeries offering for Linux offers an ideal platform for server consolidation, utilizing the mainframe's ability to create as few as 20 and up to hundreds of virtual Linux servers on a single physical box, saving customers substantially on energy, floor space, and maintenance expense.

IBM continues to offer the industry's broadest support of Linux with services, software and financing to create a reliable infrastructure that will easily scale to support a growing business.

 
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