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Thread: First Linux-Only Mainframes

  1. #1

    Talking First Linux-Only Mainframes

    I thought some of you linux lovers would like to read this.
    This article came from Yahoo! and the full story can be viewed by clicking here.

    IBM on Friday said it is launching its first mainframe computers that will only run Linux, saying the alternative operating system is gaining ground as companies tighten purse-strings in the tough economy.
    - Penny pinching corporate #@*$%!!! just switched to linux cause it's cheaper and not cause of the stabality and performance.

    IBM said the two new machines, the iSeries for small businesses and the more powerful and costly zSeries, can replace racks of smaller server computers made by rivals like Dell Computer Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc.

    ``This is really a first for IBM. It is the first time we are introducing new mainframe technology designed for Linux and server consolidation. This is really the first pure Linux mainframe,'' Peter McCaffrey, director of product marketing for the machines, said in an interview.

    The support for Linux comes as IBM is seeing a resurgence in mainframe sales. IBM mainframes, large, multi-processor machines, ruled the computing world in the 1960s and '70s but were usurped by cheaper PCs and servers.

    Yet IBM says the business is once again booming as companies find it is costly to link dozens or even hundreds of servers together to meet their corporate networking needs.

    The Armonk, New York-based company says its eServer zSeries mainframes have been the fastest-growing platform in the industry and the only one to post five consecutive quarters of growth.

    IBM has offered Linux as an alternative platform on its mainframes for some time, and says Linux accounts for 11 percent of the computing capacity, as measured in millions of instructions per second, it shipped in its last quarter.

    But the new products are its first Linux-only mainframes.

    ``It (Linux) is becoming an important and growing part of the overall mainframe business. Many IT organizations are cutting costs, and what they found is they can use the mainframe to cut costs by sweeping the floor of the Dell-Intel or Sun-Unix servers,'' McCaffrey said.
    - Isn't it some what annoying that these corporations only use linux cause it's free and not because it's a better OS than windows?

    The lower-end iSeries could replace up to 15 regular servers and would cost around $50,000, while the powerful zSeries could replace hundreds of servers and would cost about $400,000, McCaffrey said. He said that compares with an average mainframe cost of about $750,000.
    - Damn, that's alot of $$$

    The mainframes would also be configured so technicians with little or no experience on traditional IBM mainframes could easily set them up, McCaffrey said.
    - Your still going to need Tech. support 'cause there's ALWAYS some one out there that's going to be "in the dark" on the subject.. Especially the people with no experience.

    ``It does allow us to reach different customer sets and different audiences that we couldn't reach with traditional full-blown mainframes,'' McCaffrey said. ``We've really hidden and eliminated the complexities sometimes associated with that and made it more of a load-and-go package.''

    Remote_Access_

  2. #2
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2001
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    This field is interesting and perhaps a good solution for many companies areound the world . I felt forced to add som news aswell as a compliment to the good post by RA.

    "SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 7 For S/390" Ready for IBM eServer zSeries
    Oakland, California, 11/12/2001.

    SuSE offers ideal solution for consolidation of mission-critical e-business applications with kernel 2.4, HiperSockets support, Logical Volume Manager and Journaling Filesystem

    Today, SuSE Linux, the international Open Source technology leader and solutions provider, announced the release of SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 7 for S/390, the latest version of its server operating system for deployment in enterprise mainframes. Based on kernel 2.4, this SuSE server version now supports S/390 servers as well as IBM eServer zSeries z900.

    The full press release from SuSE can be read here.

    ---

    Red Hat Linux 7.2 for S/390.

    Red Hat Linux 7.2 for IBM®'s S/390 mainframe architecture offers the flexibility and value of Linux combined with availability and reliability of S/390. The result is an industrial, enterprise strength Linux environment that lets you cost effectively manage your mission-critical IT workloads.

    The full press release from Red Hat can be read here.


  3. #3
    PHP/PostgreSQL guy
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    Right on, this is just a few of the things to come that will definitely give MS and Sun a run for their money. Now only if MS was forced into separating because they're a monopoly by the DoJ, Compaq/HP both fell apart with the merger (hence ending both companies PC market), AOL didn't buy out RH, and IBM supports the OS movement to the point to where Java and the frontends for linux support has everyone going to a version of linux of their choice!
    We the willing, led by the unknowing, have been doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much with so little for so long that we are now qualified to do just about anything with almost nothing.

  4. #4
    AO Curmudgeon rcgreen's Avatar
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    Thumbs up

    Now, if I could only scrape up enough
    change to get one of those puppies.
    I came in to the world with nothing. I still have most of it.

  5. #5
    Senior Member linuxcomando's Avatar
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    mugghahahah i think were going to take over the world
    or at least try

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