IBM, Red Hat widen Linux mainframe promotion

IBM and Red Hat are broadening a partnership to promote Linux on Big Blue's mainframe computers.

The two companies said this week they're packaging Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 with IBM's Integrated Facility for Linux, a feature Big Blue sells to let customers run the open-source operating system within a mainframe partition.

Customers didn't want to have to order the technology as two separate items, said Scott Handy, vice president of worldwide Linux at IBM. In addition, "they can expect attractive pricing for this offer," he said--though customers will have to contact IBM or a partner if they want to find out how much of a discount they'll get.

On a mainframe, Linux is relatively expensive. An annual Red Hat subscription costs $18,000 for round-the-clock support.

Most Linux is used today on servers using x86 processors such as Intel's Xeon and Advanced Micro Devices' Opteron. However, Hewlett-Packard and Silicon Graphics are working to popularize the operating system on systems with Intel Itanium processors, and IBM likewise promotes Linux on mainframes and its two Power processor-based server lines.

Linux and mainframes are a curious combination of new and old technology, but IBM has a strong financial incentive to merge the two.

"Linux has had a significant impact in rejuvenating sales in the zSeries (mainframe-server) line overall," Handy said. More than 10 percent of IBM's mainframe revenue is from Linux on the high-end servers, he added.

IBM and Red Hat also will jointly market their products, Handy said.

One key hurdle for reaching new domains is software support. There now are 700 applications available for Linux on the mainframe, Handy said. IBM has a program called Chiphopper to help companies move their programs to mainframes or Power servers. So far, software companies have released 100 applications with the Chiphopper program, he said.

[scdecade]

in the history of bad ideas...

this one ranks right up there with wax wings.

[sidboyce]

RE: IBM RedHat widen Linux mainframe promotion

I wonder what the reference to old and new meant, I suspect the old referred to the mainframe as usual, it shows a lack of understanding of what a mainframe delivers, small wonder as most of the statements are made by people who have no current knowledge. Commentators including Sun's bosses often refer to mainframe technology as old when their own hardware's brand new features are where the mainframe was over 20 years ago. You can put together a mainframe and have it up and running in 8 hours against 40 odd hours for a Sun E*K - I never complain as Sun boxes earn far more money for the installation and admin teams. When you go to an unfamiliar site, the mainframe is very difficult to find because of its small size. For hardware performance, resilience and maintainabilty, nothing else competes with mainframes, I know, I have firsthand and in-depth knowledge and hands-on experience of both.