Linux continues inroads into server market

Computerworld - The Linux server platform is becoming more varied -- and more capable, according to a recent report by IDC. The report noted that Linux is already well entrenched as a Web-centric server platform, in IT infrastructure roles and in the high-performance computing arena. In 2005, the report predicted, Linux will take on more workloads in the enterprise, such as hosting independent software vendor applications and databases.
"A lot of vendors in the server space are really embracing Linux and driving it deeper" into the enterprise arena, said IDC analyst Jessica Yang, a co-author of the report, titled "Linux Servers Shipping in Many Form Factors to Take On New Workloads."
IDC reported that Linux server shipments are growing at a faster rate -- in terms of revenue and unit shipments -- than any other market segment. The annual growth rate of Linux server unit shipments has been increasing over the past three years from 15% in the second quarter of 2001 to 40% in the second quarter of 2004.
The Linux 2.6 operating system kernel, released in late 2003, supports more scalability than the previous version and is a key factor contributing to the operating system's growth. Other driving factors include the availability of more independent software applications, strong support from enterprise middleware players and the availability of 32- and 64-bit versions of major database products, such as Oracle and IBM's DB2.
The growth of blade servers is also an important contributing factor, Yang said. "2005 will be a big year for blades," she said, noting that about half of all blade servers shipped today run Linux.
Initial users of blade servers were those who embrace new technology first and tended to be in the high-performance computing arena, which is a stronghold of Linux, Yang said. That contributed to the high rate of Linux servers in the blade market. Although that high percentage will decrease as more organizations adopt blade servers, the blade server market will continue to be an important driver of Linux shipments, Yang said.
The increased scalability of the Linux kernel Version 2.6 has resulted in more multiprocesscor Linux server shipments, the report said, and dual-processor systems are now the predominant configuration, followed by uniprocessors and four-processor systems. Yang said IDC is seeing more funding for Linux servers using four and more processors, and she expects that segment to see much higher growth in 2005.
"Customers will be able to deploy Linux workloads on scale-out clusters of small Linux servers, on Linux servers with larger form factors, orin partitions of high-end enterprise scalable servers," the report concluded.