It is really Unix, and particularly Sun Solaris, that is most feeling the heat of competition from Linux in the server operating system arena, notes Dave Rosenberg in a recent CNET article. Rosenberg adds that during a recent IBM analyst meeting, Inna Kuznetsova, director, Cross-IBM Linux Strategy and IBM Power Systems Business Development, said the Linux business is growing in size. More than 1,800 clients have moved from other platforms to IBM and almost 50% of those migrations included Linux. In addition, IBM doubled its Sun customer wins between Q1 and Q3 of this year.

Speaking to LinuxLine about the advantages of moving to Linux on IBM, Kuznetsova observes that by migrating to Linux on IBM the customers can take advantage both of Linux intrinsic qualities and of the underlying capabilities of IBM servers. "In general, Linux offers exceptional cost reduction possibilities, through the increased flexibility of subscription-based pricing, no payments to upgrade versions and small footprint. In addition, Linux running on all IBM servers takes the full advantage of underlying platform capabilities, such as live partitions mobility on Power Systems or dynamic memory upgrade on mainframes-providing the customers with high performance, virtualization and system management capabilities."

As a result, Kuznetsova says, "Customers can select the best platform for each workload, staying within the same operating system environment." Any migration project is a major risk, Kutznetsova adds, so customers must look for companies with experience to plan and execute such projects. "IBM Migration Factory that has been providing assistance with migration to Linux for years and has a proven track of success."

To read Dave Rosenberg's CNET article, go here. For information on Linux and IBM, go here.