The Linux Executive Report from IBM
June 15, 2011
The Linux Executive Report from IBM: June 15, 2011. A monthly summary of important trends and market research, case studies and information about IBM's Linux initiatives of interest to senior management.
Linux News
IBM and SARA, the Dutch National High Performance Computing and e-Science Support Center, have signed a joint research collaboration agreement focused on petascale computing. The agreement allows for joint research in a number of areas to enable applications to run on next-generation petaflop supercomputers, and builds upon a long-standing relationship between SARA and IBM in the field of high-performance computing.
The Fedora Project, a Red Hat, Inc.- sponsored and community-supported open source collaboration, has announced the availability of Fedora 15, the latest version of its free open source operating system distribution.
IBM will take an active, supportive role in the new OpenOffice.org code base submitted to The Apache Software Foundation Incubator. IBM will contribute staff resources to collaborate with the Apache community during the project's incubation period to further the Open Document Format standard.
The Open Virtualization Alliance, a consortium committed to fostering the adoption of open virtualization technologies including Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM), has been formed by IBM, Red Hat, SUSE, Intel, BMC Software, Eucalyptus Systems, and HP.
Red Hat, Inc. announced the general availability of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.1, the first update to the platform since the delivery of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 in November 2010. According to the company, the new release provides customers with improvements in system reliability, scalability and performance, coupled with support for upcoming system hardware. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.1 also delivers patches and security updates, while maintaining application compatibility and OEM/ISV certifications.
SUSE, a new business unit of The Attachmate Group, announced its organizational focus on developing, marketing and supporting a portfolio of solutions centered around SUSE Linux Enterprise, an interoperable platform for mission-critical computing across physical, virtual and cloud environments.
Inside Linux at IBM
Red Hat hosted its annual EMEA Partner Summit in Dublin, Ireland, last week and IBM was a premier sponsor. Jean Staten Healy, director for Cross-IBM Linux and Open Virtualization, delivered a keynote on open virtualization and provided an update on the recently announced Open Virtualization Alliance.
In this research report, Clabby Analytics takes a closer look at IBM's Linux market positioning, and at how Linux is a general purpose operating environment that can operate on all three of IBM's server platforms.
Interested in finding out what IBM software is available for Linux?
Linux Running on IBM System x and IBM BladeCenter provides an open, reliable and secure IT environment that can scale as workloads demand. Solution briefs from IBM highlight the advantages.
Inside IBM's Linux Partners
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for System z, a WorkloadIQ product from Novell, is the market share leader for Linux on IBM System z, and has been the platform of choice for mission-critical computing.
One of the most widely available alternatives to the Sun's SPARC-Solaris platform is the IBM System x or BladeCenter and Red Hat Enterprise Linux-based platform.