Ken Popovich, editor of eWEEK, reports on IBM's emerging strategy of supporting Linux-based supercluster systems . . .

“IBM's powerful RS/6000 SP may be the world's most prevalent supercomputer, but the king of terraflop processing faces a new threat to its crown from a relatively low-cost newcomer, the Linux supercluster. Despite the threat it poses, IBM will soon begin offering support for Linux superclusters, according to an IBM official interviewed this week here at SP World. Such support may ultimately fuel faster adoption of Linux supercluster systems.”

“Once prevalent only in academic and government research, supercomputers have recently seen dramatic growth in the commercial sector, driven in large part by the explosive growth of the Internet. In fact, more than half of IBM's sales of new supercomputers in the last two years have been to customers that use them as commercial Web-hosting servers, according to IBM. While details of IBM's program weren't revealed, one executive said the decision is in keeping with the company's strategic initiative to support Linux.”

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