Boston, MA — (press release excerpt) — A recently published research report from market analyst Aberdeen Group, states that Linux will dominate most segments of high performance computing (HPC) by 2004. The report is a result of Aberdeen's Linux and Open Source Software practice, which covers emerging and established Linux hardware and software suppliers.

According to Bill Claybrook, Research Director at Aberdeen Group, “there is growing interest in Linux clusters for hosting HPC applications because of the relatively large price/performance advantages that clustered Linux systems have over proprietary systems. With the same amount of money that users are willing to spend on proprietary systems, they often get several times the computing power with Linux clusters.”

According to the report, the high-end of the HPC market is currently dominated by proprietary systems often running Unix and/or Unix cluster software from large system vendors, such as Compaq, Hewlett Packard, IBM, SGI, and Sun, and large supercomputers such as the T3E from Cray. Aberdeen research indicates that more than 70% of the revenue generated from HPC sales activities comes from the high-performance mid-range and technical servers areas, where systems cost $1M or less. These are the two areas where Linux is expected to rapidly dominate. As growing evidence of the impact that Linux is having on the HPC market, the Top500 list of the world's most powerful computer systems has Linux clusters ranked as the 30th and 31st most power computer systems in the world. The report, entitled “Is Linux Domination of the High Performance Computing Marketplace Imminent?” examines and profiles the primary competitors in the HPC marketplace. Currently, Compaq leads the HPC market share race, but IBM dominates the Top500 list with 200 systems, followed by Sun with 81 systems.

 
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