Author: Will Singleton
Date: 06:03:15 05/23/01
Go up one level in this thread
On May 23, 2001 at 07:46:57, Geo Disher wrote: >Got this information from ZDnet today!. Maybe someone could run a some Linux >chess software on this. > >IBM says it will offer Linux supporters the next best thing starting this week: >free access to one of the computing giant's powerful mainframe sytems. > >IBM will announce late in the week that it has made one of its 10-processor >zSeries mainframe computers available via the Internet for access by people >interested in working with the Linux operating system. > >The mainframe has been set up to give people "virtual servers," allowing them to >log in, explore Linux features and test heavy-duty applications designed to run >on Linux. > >The mainframe, whose resources will be split among a large number of >simultaneous users, will be able to allocate processing power and storage space >to more than 1,000 people at a time, IBM executives said. However, the number of >potential users who can sign up via IBM's Web site to use the machine is >virtually unlimited. > >Aside from its 10 processors, the mainframe is equipped with 2.1 terabytes of >storage. > >"There are many folks...who would like to get access to a mainframe and can't," >said Joann Duguid, director of marketing for Linux for IBM's zSeries server. >"What we'd like to see is more development of Linux applications." > >Analysts said shared mainframe access using Linux is popular among universities >but so far has not been offered by big businesses--certainly not for free. > >"We always think that everyone who has heard of Linux has used it, but that's >not true," said Bill Claybrook, research director for Linux and open source at >Aberdeen Group in Boston. > >This is "an opportunity for people who haven't used Linux to...get to try it >out," he said. > >Claybrook, a former Unix programmer, set up his own account, spent time getting >the lay of the land, and then surfed the Web using a text browser called Lynx, >"just to see if it works," he said. > >Many people will likely do the same, just to see how Linux works. Still others, >IBM hopes, will test applications. > >But what might seem like a grand experiment is also a shrewd marketing move by >IBM. None of IBM's server competitors--such as Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard >or Compaq Computer--has offered similar programs. > >The move is also another opportunity for IBM to link itself to the open-source >operating system in a way the pure Linux companies such as Red Hat would find >hard to match--unless they want to pony up for a new mainframe. IBM is in the >midst of a major Linux push this year, with CEO Lou Gerstner pledging to spend >$1 billion on the operating system in 2001. > >IBM will also gain, among other things, test data related to using its >mainframes for applications such as Web hosting. This kind of data will help it >approach potential customers looking to consolidate their Web hosting services >on a single mainframe, Claybrook said, as opposed to maintaining a large number >of individual Linux-based servers. > >And the program is another way for Big Blue to promote its successful mainframe >business, one of the brighter spots in the company's most recent earnings >report. IBM reported that mainframe sales grew 40 percent in the first quarter >of 2001 from the same period a year earlier. > >From IBM's point of view, "It's a good way for us to illustrate the benefits of >a mainframe," Duguid said. "It shows our commitment to the Linux community to >allow anyone to use this." > >To sign up, interested parties should look under "Linux Community Development >System links" on IBM's zSeries server Web site. > >Participants are granted access to the mainframe, which offers either TurboLinux >or SuSE distrubutions for zSeries, in different stages and for terms ranging >from 30 to 90 days, IBM said. I checked out the page, looks like there's some delay in the signup process. I wonder what speed you'd get out of that 10-way box; couldn't find the cpu specs. http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/eserver/zseries/os/linux/lcds/
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