According to an article in CIO Journal by Steven Norton, in an effort to lower software costs and become more agile, Avis Budget Group Inc. will run open-source Linux software over its IBM mainframe. Avis is using an integrated facility for Linux (IFL), “essentially a processor that runs Linux workloads on an IBM mainframe,” writes Norton.
“The speed of the IFL on IBM’s servers lets Avis host more virtual servers per processor than other platforms, and increases processing capacity. Besides dramatically lowering software costs, it also reduces operational expenses, energy and floor space.”
Read the article, “Avis Budget Shifts to Linux to Cut Software Costs in Half,” here.