Linux on Power is full of applications

Armonk (USA) – IBM continues to focus heavily on the Linux / Power combination, a 64-bit platform to which the giant and its partners claim to have just brought application number 2,500. This great interest is also justified by the success of Linux on Power (LoP) with the developer community.

The big of Armonk states that the number of native applications tested and available for the LoP platform grew by over 200 percent in the last two years. Such applications can run on System p, System i and BladeCenter JS21 servers, all of which are natively designed to run Linux.

“With the emergence of business-critical applications and key components such as Sybase Unwired Accelerator and IBM WebSphere Business Services Fabric, businesses can increasingly rely on 64-bit Linux systems to run their core business,” said IBM. “By combining the flexibility and savings of using Linux with the scalability and robustness of the Power platform, customers from various industries are integrating their environments using LoP as a means to reduce costs and consolidate workloads.”

IBM also announced that its new Express Advantage software solutions for midsize businesses, which run on the Power architecture, support the Linux operating system. These include Solution Edition Express for mySAP ERP, which provides an infrastructure to run mySAP ERP, and System i IP Telephony Solution, defined by the giant as the first IP telephony solution designed to run on a single system.

Compared to servers based on its proprietary operating systems, AIX and OS / 400, IBM has less revenue from the sale of Linux-based systems . However, the giant claims that part of the gap is compensated by the sale of support services, and Linux also offers it the possibility of reach a wider circle of users such as those in the educational and academic sectors, developing countries and public administrations.

Last year IBM deeply restructured its Linux division with the aim of giving greater centrality to this operating system. The American giant is in fact convinced that in the future Linux will play an increasingly important role also in the sector of mission critical applications, such as financial and medical ones.