Linux above all software

Linux, brother of Unix, tries to take on his older sibling, as well as Microsoft's popular operating systems. Some E&P companies see an opportunity for savings

This article describes the use of Linux vs. Unix, Windows and WindowsNT. It discusses the pros and cons of these operating systems, including costs, and it gives examples of positive experiences with Linux.

INTRODUCTION

Despite the recent uptick in oil and gas prices, the still-cautious industry continues to wrestle with tight budgets. One cost-cutting target area is the widely used Unix workstation environment, where hardware and maintenance costs are high. Expense, lack of standardization, Unix's steep learning curve and the increasing power of PCs have caused growing numbers of corporations and consultants to shift to PC-based Microsoft Windows/NT operating systems (O/S). In fact, dual environments are rapidly becoming the norm.

For example, geophysicist Steve Anderson, president of Kinnickinnick Exploration in Lafayette, Louisiana, uses both a Unix workstation and a PC. The workstation's hardware and software cost Anderson about $120,000, which is about eight times more than the PC. His reasons for choosing the PC were its user-friendly interface, low initial cost and low maintenance expense, among others.

The increasing number of downsized professionals reinventing themselves as consultants likely will bypass pricey workstations, for the most part. "All those people being laid off, they're going to be buying PCs," said Anderson.

Although routine work can be performed on a stand-alone PC, the scale of data in seismic applications can be so massive that the 64-bit memory addressability available on a Unix workstation is a must-have. So, the mixed environment likely will be around for a while.

ENTER LINUX

The latest contender for a share of the Unix/Windows/NT-dominated operating-system market is a Unix clone of sorts that can be downloaded from the internet free of charge. Dubbed Linux, it debuted in 1991 when a Finnish college student, Linus Torvalds, began tweaking an experimental version of Unix. He posted his work on the worldwide web where a band of programmers began altering and refining it, and the software quickly took on a life of its own. Indeed, an estimated seven million people worldwide now use computers and networks run by the versatile O/S.

Linux is known as freeware or open-source software, meaning it is not only free but also available complete with its source code. This allows programmers to constantly improve it and add features, either for their own use, or to share with other programmers as a kind of status symbol among peers. This is very different from the typical annual, or less frequent, release of updated versions of commercial O/Ss.

Some folks believe, however, that the open source nature of Linux could work against it on the bottom line. Scott Fawcett, global energy-industry manager at Microsoft, pointed out that, because any competent programmer can modify its code, there are many versions of Linux; in fact, there are more versions of Linux than there are of commercial Unix. He added that interoperability and support of these systems can be a problem, and since Linux is less commonly supported than Unix, it is potentially more expensive. Less than 20% of all computing in the oil and gas industry is performed via Unix, and less than 0.01% of this uses Linux, said Fawcett.

Companies have sprung up to sell the otherwise free operating system for a minimal fee. The catch with a free download, available at many internet sites, is that it can be hours-long, documentation is minimal and support is non-existent. Linux commercial vendors, such as Red Hat, make money via education, training and technical support.

Two desirable attributes of Linux are its tendency not to crash and its flexibility. A user can easily script a work run in Unix, but not in NT--so with Linux, you can maintain the ability to script and do workarounds and still be in a PC environment. Robustness and flexibility are not compromised. An important fringe benefit of Linux on a PC is the opportunity it affords to learn the Unix O/S, allowing mistakes that beginners make without possibly crippling an expensive workstation.

In addition to paying perhaps $80,000 or more for a high-end Unix workstation, the Unix user must commit to maintenance payments for hardware and software that typically are about 10 to 20% of the purchase price. However, a PC can simply be replaced if problems arise.

Unix workstations lie within the scope or a group of trained experts. A switch to an all-PC environment would be cost-effective in accommodating more users within a company, and that could prove challenging for software vendors. Because of the increased numbers of software copies required, the company likely would demand a deeper than normal discount for software licenses, while the vendor would face the demanding task of providing support to an increased number of users.

APPLICATION SOFTWARE

Major computer-hardware manufacturers have recently begun offering Linux on at least some of their models, including desktop systems. This strengthens market potential for the maverick O/S because it must achieve critical mass for software companies to write the needed applications.

"Some people view Linux as an absolute missile into the fortress of Microsoft," said Verna Ray, marketing director at Dynamic Graphics. The company is readying a commercial Linux version of its Earth Vision geologic model-building software in addition to its existing Unix and soon-to-be-released Windows NT versions. The new product, which is the first commercial oil and gas software program to be developed for Linux, offers the flexibility and utility of Unix, not just on desktop PCs but on laptops as well. Company President Art Paradis and his staff carry the new model-building software on laptops (see photo).

While many companies are interested in NT because it is compatible with their other field data and generally requires less experienced staff to maintain, there are concerns over the upcoming version of NT, or Windows 2000. "Running big jobs with large amounts of data, you must have a certain level of reliability, and this is a key issue that has all industries concerned," Paradis said, "and Windows 2000 must come out stable and crash-proof."

He said that his company is saving hundreds of thousands of dollars yearly by evolving to the PC environment, away from more expensive workstations. Ray noted "We can replace almost all of our workstations with PCs for the price of one annual maintenance payment."

E&P COMPANY EXPERIENCE

Linux devotees in the petroleum industry, such as Amerada Hess, have made a substantial commitment to the system. In its U.S. E&P division, the company sees increasingly widespread interest in the software. Jeff Davis, senior systems programmer for the E&P group at Hess, has noticed people, who would never have mentioned Linux before, ask, "Should we think about it?" The company is using the novel O/S for some core exploration applications, such as 3-D pre-stack depth migration, according to Davis.

A close look at the impact of Linux on information technology (IT) costs shows that this non-traditional, open-source O/S has the potential to challenge industry dominance of Microsoft Windows/NT and Unix. The work being done was formerly accomplished on a supercomputer that was leased for three years at a cost of $2.5 million. An in-house-written software program, comprising an entire seismic processing suite, was ported to Linux last year. It runs on a cluster of 96 servers purchased for $420,000, or about six months of lease time for the supercomputer. A full-fledged, 24-hr production system, it runs three times the number of jobs as the old system. It can be rapidly installed on servers and is easily updated.

"Today, we have two-and-a-half times the processing power of the supercomputer, but for 10% of the cost," said Davis, "so we see a 25 times gain in price performance. With the price of oil lately, every bit we can save off the back end goes to the bottom line. The more we can reduce IT costs just means we can explore for oil and gas in a much more efficient and cost-effective manner."

An added cost incentive with the current setup comes from off-the-shelf hardware that offers a better upgrade path than the supercomputer. If someone wants the latest hardware, Davis explained, they can re-deploy the old desktop PC by installing Windows NT and place it on an accountant's desk. Hess intends to either sub-lease the supercomputer or just let the current lease expire.