The Linux Executive Report from IBM
June 2012
The Linux Executive Report from IBM: June 2012. 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
The Fedora Project, a Red Hat-sponsored and community-supported open source collaboration, has announced the availability of Fedora 17, the latest version of its free open source operating system distribution.
Long-time IBM partner Red Hat is organizing its annual Red Hat Summit, taking place June 26-29 in Boston at the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center. The theme for this year's Red Hat Summit is "Transform Your IT." As part of IBM's participation, opening night, Robert LeBlanc, senior vice president, IBM SWG, will deliver a keynote on the next wave of open computing. In addition, IBM will be at booth #2506 showcasing the latest and greatest IBM technologies, including IBM PureSystems, PowerLinux, System x, System z, IBM SmartCloud Services and a KVM Hot Spot.
Jean Staten Healy, director, WW Linux and Open Virtualization, IBM, writes about why KVM merits a closer look: Virtualization is all about sharing resources of IT systems to get better usage out of them — to lower costs and to make it a more productive environment, with a better return on investment. Of course, you need a sufficiently large server with enough power and capacity so it is worth sharing the resources between different workloads. But once you have decided to virtualize, a key issue to consider is how the source code for the virtualization hypervisor is developed. That brings us to the importance of open source hypervisors, and in particular, KVM (the Kernel-based Virtual Machine).
Adam Jollans, program director, Linux and Open Virtualization Strategy, IBM, provides answers to frequently asked questions about KVM. "In the early days of Linux, it was often the technical people in organizations who knew about it and were already implementing, while management had little awareness of Linux. We are seeing that same trend occurring now with KVM," writes Jollans. "To help further the overall understanding and awareness of KVM and fill in the information gap, here is a list of the most frequently asked questions that we at IBM have encountered in recent panel discussions, conversations, and interviews."
Clabby Analytics has just released its latest research paper entitled "VMware vs. KVM: A Functionality/Price Discussion." The report dives into functionality and cost comparisons as they pertain to VMware and KVM hypervisor, infrastructure, and management stacks.
The Open Virtualization Alliance will also be active at Red Hat Summit to promote awareness of KVM and the solutions of its members. Twenty-seven OVA members are exhibiting at Summit and OVA will be onsite at booth #2432. In the booth, conference attendees can pick up a "passport" to participate in a fun journey that guides them past OVA member booths at Red Hat Summit to learn more about their solutions and get a stamp in the passport. Full passports are eligible to participate in a drawing for which participating OVA members have pledged exciting prices such as an iPad, Kindle Fire, Starbucks gift cards, and more.
Join SUSE and IBM for a North American road show, Linux Days, in which SUSE technical experts present and demonstrate the latest open source technologies from SUSE that benefit a data center. IBM, a premier sponsor of this event, is also participating in the events, showcasing System z, System x and Power solutions.
IBM is working with Syracuse University to help college students build computing skills to manage traditional and new systems in large global enterprises. As business value creation increasingly shifts to software, the skills needed to tackle disruptive technologies like cloud and mobile computing, particularly for enterprise-class, large industrial systems, have become critical. Lack of employee skills in software technologies is cited as the top barrier that prevents organizations from leveraging software for a competitive advantage, according to initial findings in IBM's Institute for Business Value 2012 Global Study on Software Delivery.
In a blog about the long-standing partnership between IBM and Red Hat, Jean Staten Healy, director, WW Linux and Open Virtualization, IBM, writes about IBM's participation at Red Hat Summit and the importance of cost-effective, open source solutions to help "Transform Your IT": At IBM, we know you can't have open source without choice, and there is no choice without committed partners and a rich ecosystem.
The Linux Foundation, the non-profit organization dedicated to accelerating the growth of Linux, has announced the availability of The Linux Foundation FOSS Bar Code Tracker. Released as an open source project under the MIT license, the new software tool is intended to simplify the way open source components are tracked and reported by using an auto-generated, custom QR code for each product. The QR code contains important information on the Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) stack contained in a product, such as component names, version numbers, license information and links to download the source code, among other details.
Inside Linux at IBM
What is PowerLinux? In his latest blog post, Scott Handy, vice president, PowerLinux Strategy and Business Development, IBM, writes about the benefits of combining Linux and Power - including strong support for virtualization, performance, scalability, flexibility, support for clouds, efficiency, reliability, security and availability: When we talk about PowerLinux, what we mean is industry-standard Linux available on IBM Power Systems servers.
Case studies and videos showcase how customers are benefiting from IBM technologies and KVM.
Virtualization is relatively new - but not for the IBM mainframe. In a new blog post, Gregory Lotko, vice president & business line executive, System z IBM Systems & Technology Group, reflects on the heritage and features of the IBM mainframe, including a refrigerator-size, energy-efficient footprint and ability to consolidate large numbers of servers into one: Here at IBM, we often smile when we hear some new buzzword around virtualization. The IBM mainframe has a long history of virtualization. We were doing it before there was a name for it.
Inside IBM's Linux Partners