Linux joins mainline server OSes
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A few years ago, Linux was considered a novelty that belonged in the province of hackers and enthusiasts.
| SPECIAL TO GCNA few years ago, Linux was considered a novelty that belonged in the province of hackers and enthusiasts. Sure, you would find it in university research labs as a way to keep budgets down, but you rarely saw a private enterprise or government agency using it for mission-critical systems.That is no longer the case. As Linux demonstrated its stability in running Internet applications, the largest computer manufacturers started coming into the fold, preloading it onto their Web servers.Linux is now being used increasingly for print, e-mail, file and application hosting as well. Companies such as Advanced Micro Devices Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif., Compaq Computer Corp., Dell Computer Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co., IBM Corp. and Intel Corp. are making a push for their Linuxware.The accompanying chart () lists a variety of midrange servers, many of them scalable, that support the Linux OS.Linux has long had the reputation of being the antithesis of Microsoft Corp., for whom the consumer OS came first. Microsoft's 90 percent-plus penetration of the desktop PC market gave it a foothold into the server sector, because agencies wanted to have both client and server running on the same system. Microsoft Windows is now the most popular server software in the world.Linux is taking the opposite route. Starting with developer workstations and small servers, it is now the second most popular server OS and is making its way into a small but growing number of desktop PCs.Though Apple Computer Inc. maintains its niche of serving artists, Linux is a plausible option to Microsoft in the larger government, business, finance and manufacturing markets. That's why Microsoft president Steve Ballmer said Linux is Windows' greatest threat. Nevertheless, even Microsoft is putting some of its money into Linux. Last October, the company invested $135 million in competitor Corel Corp. with the agreement that Corel would assign at least 20 full-time developers and 10 full-time testers to porting Microsoft's .NET to Linux.According to the Framingham, Mass., information technology research firm IDC, Linux in 1999 surpassed Novell NetWare as the No. 2 server OS. That year, 1.3 million Linux units were shipped; the number grew by 24 percent last year. IDC predicts new Linux server shipments will reach 4.7 million units in 2004. Linux servers have a 33 percent share of the Web server market.With projects for porting enterprise resource planning and database programs to Linux, it's likely that some managers will adopt Linux as a means of enhancing service while cutting costs. The Justice Department's Antitrust Division will likely be among the first to switch from Windows.Although there are Linux-only manufacturers, such as VA Linux Systems Inc. and Penguin Computing, the major manufacturers producing Linux servers are the same ones dominating the rest of the server market.Dell was the first major player to announce in 1999 that it would install Linux as an option on all its servers. And SGI has 300 people developing and supporting Linux products from workstations to supercomputing clusters.IBM announced in April last year that it would make three commercial versions of Linux software'Red Hat, Caldera and TurboLinux'available on its servers. The company also is investing heavily in developing Linux applications. XXXSPLITXXX-
BY DREW ROBB
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Coming on strong
Drew Robb of Tujunga, Calif., writes about information technology.
 | Sun Microsystems' Cobalt RaQ XTR holds up to four 30G hard drives, with either a 733-MHz or 933-MHz Pentium III processor and expandable RAM. Its price ranges from $4,799 to $5,999. |
 | Compaq's ProLiant DL380 holds up to six 9.1 G hard drives and has 128M of RAM. The server, which comes in a 3U rack, uses a 1-GHz Pentium III processor and is priced at $4,443. |
' What is it? A server running Linux is a low-cost, high-reliability alternative to servers running proprietary operating systems.
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Drew Robb of Tujunga, Calif., writes about information technology.
| Company | Model | CPU | CPUs available | RAM | Hard Drive; number available | Chassis* | Price |
| Compaq Computer Corp. Houston 800-727-5472 www.compaq.com | ProLiant DL380 | 1-GHz PENTIUM III | Two | 128M | 9.1G; six | 3U rack | $4,443 |
| ProLiant ML330 | 866-MHz PENTIUM III | One | 64M SDRAM | 9.1G Wide Ultra 2 SCSI; five | Tower | $1,356 | |
| ProLiant DL580 | 700-MHz PENTIUM III Xeon | Four | 512M ECC SDRAM | 9.1G Ultra 2 SCSI; four | 4U rack | $7,703 | |
| ProLiant ML570 | 700-MHz PENTIUM III Xeon | Four | 512M ECC SDRAM | 9.1G Ultra 2 SCSI; 12 | Tower or 7U rack | $13,840 | |
| ProLiant DL760 | Dual 700-MHz PENTIUM III Xeon | Eight | 1G | 9.1G Ultra 2 SCSI; four | 7U rack | $22,022 | |
| Dell Computer Corp. Austin, Texas 800-694-3355 www.dell.com | PowerEdge 1550 | 1-GHz PENTIUM III | Two | 1G SDRAM | 9G Ultra 3; three | 1U rack | $3,683 |
| PowerEdge 2450 | 866-MHz PENTIUM III | Two | 128M SDRAM | 9G U160M; four | 2U rack | $4,941 | |
| PowerEdge 6450 | 700-MHz PENTIUM III Xeon | Four | 256M SDRAM | 9G Ultra 3 SCSI; four | 4U rack | $7,745 | |
| PowerEdge 8450 | 700-MHz PENTIUM III Xeon | Eight | 256M | 9G Ultra 3 SCSI; two | 7U rack | $15,899 | |
| PowerEdge 300 | 800-MHz PENTIUM III | Two | 64M SDRAM | 10G IDE; three | Tower | $2,099 | |
| PowerEdge 1400 | 866-MHz PENTIUM III | Two | 128M SDRAM | 9G U160M; four | Tower | $1,672 | |
| PowerEdge 2400 | 866-MHz PENTIUM III | Two | 128M SDRAM | 9.1G SCSI; six | Tower | $3,448 | |
| PowerEdge 4400 | 866-MHz PENTIUM III Xeon | Two | 128M SDRAM | 9G Ultra 3 SCSI; eight | Tower | $5,702 | |
| PowerEdge 6400 | 700-MHz PENTIUM III Xeon | Four | 256M RGT DIMMs | 9G SCSI; eight | Tower | $6,892 | |
| PowerApp.web 120 | 866-MHz PENTIUM III | Two | 128M SDRAM | 9G Ultra 3 SCSI; three | 1U rack | $1,815 | |
| Hewlett-Packard Co. Palo Alto, Calif. 800-613-2222 www.hp.com | NetServer E 800 | 866-MHz PENTIUM III | One | 128M ECC SDRAM | 9.1G SCSI; four | Tower | $1,599 |
| NetServer LH 3000r | Dual 866-MHz PENTIUM III | Two | 128M ECC SDRAM | Not included; up to 12 hot-swap bays | 7U rack | $4,095 | |
| IBM Corp. Armonk, N.Y. 800-746-7426 www.ibm.com | xSeries 300 | 800-MHz Celeron | One | 128M ECC SDRAM | 20.4G; one | 1U rack | $1,549 |
| xSeries 340 | 1-GHz PENTIUM III | One | 128M ECC SDRAM | 20.4G; six | 3U rack | $2,588 | |
| Netfinity 5100 | 866-MHz PENTIUM III | Two | 128M ECC SDRAM | 18.2G Ultra 160 SCSI; six | Tower | $2,622 | |
| xSeries 370 | 700-MHz PENTIUM III | Four | 512M ECC SDRAM | 18.2G Ultra 160 SCSI; two | 8U rack | $16,533 | |
| Penguin Computing San Francisco 888-736-4846 www.penguincomputing.com | Relion 120 | 866-MHz PENTIUM III Coppermine | Two | 256M | 9.2G; one | 1U rack | $2,632 |
| Relion 100 S | 733-MHz Celeron | One | 128M | 18G; two | 1U rack | $1,878 | |
| Relion 220 | 866-MHz PENTIUM III | Two | 256M PC133 | 9.2G; six | 2U rack | $2,665 | |
| Relion 200 X | 850-MHz PENTIUM III | Two | 256M PC100 | 18G; four | 2U rack | $2,495 | |
| Relion 400 S | 850-MHz PENTIUM III | Two | 256M PC100 | 18G; five | 4U rack | $3,265 | |
| Magnus 4500 | 700-MHz PENTIUM III Xeon | Four | 512M PC100 | 9G; five | 4U rack | $8,711 | |
| Magnus 4800 | 700-MHz PENTIUM III Xeon | Four | 512M EDO ECC | Dual 9G; eight | 9U rack | $13,295 | |
| Altus HA | 850-MHz PENTIUM III | Two | 128M ECC PC100 | 9G; five | Tower | $2,380 | |
| SGI Mountain View, Calif. 650-933-8000 www.sgi.com | SGI 1200-Linux | 550-MHz PENTIUM III | Two | 128M SDRAM | 18.2G Ultra 2 SCSI; four | 2U rack | $3,299 |
| SGI 1450-Linux | 700-MHz PENTIUM III Xeon | Four | 256M SDRAM | 9.1G Ultra 2 SCSI; five | 4U rack | $8,999 | |
| Sun Microsystems Inc. Palo Alto, Calif. 800-786-0404 www.sun.com | Sun Cobalt RaQ XTR | 733-MHz PENTIUM III | One | 256M-2G SDRAM | 30G Ultra ATA; four | 1U rack | $4,799 |
| Sun Cobalt RaQ XTR | 933-MHz PENTIUM III | One | 512M-2G SDRAM | 30G Ultra ATA; four | 1U rack | $5,999 | |
| Sun Cobalt Qube 3 | 300-MHz AMD K6II | One | 32M-512M | 10.2G Ultra ATA; one | 7.5 x 7.63 x 7.75 in. | $1,149 | |
| Sun Cobalt Qube 3 Business Edition | 300-MHz AMD K6II | One | 64M-512M | 20.4G Ultra ATA; one | 7.5 x 7.63 x 7.75 in. | $1,499 | |
| Sun Cobalt Qube 3 Professional Edition | 450-MHz AMD K6II | One | 128M-512M | 20.4G Ultra ATA; two | 7.5 x 7.63 x 7.75 in. | $2,099 | |
| VA Linux Systems Inc. Fremont, Calif. 877-825-4689 www.valinux.com | 1220 | 800-MHz PENTIUM III | Two | 256M ECC SDRAM | 18.1G Ultra 3 SCSI; two | 1U rack | $1,981 |
| 1120 | 700-MHz Celeron | One | 256M SDRAM | 20.5G; two | 1U rack | $1,812 | |
| 2230 | Dual 800-MHz PIII | Two | 256M ECC SDRAM | 9G; four | 2U rack | $2,373 | |
| 4450 | Quad 700-MHz PIII Xeon | Four | 4G | 9.1G Ultra 3 SCSI; five | 4U rack | $17,960 | |
| * 1U rack = 1.75 inches | |||||||
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