Linux file server

Linux server sales up in 2004: research firm IDC Canada predicts Linux momentum to continue in 2005 as resellers hope their own Linux sales will grow in

While Linux continues to gain momentum in the Canadian market, Alan Freedman, research manager of infrastructure hardware at IDC Canada, said resellers need to understand that Linux is not a "one-size-fits-all" solution for every situation. "The real value-added procedure that the channel can provide is to help the customer decide based on which operating system is going to be the most beneficial to an organization," said Freedman. "I don't think it's wise for a reseller to come in and say, 'Everything's got to be Linux and get rid of Windows and get rid of Unix.'"

Quarterly sales of servers running the Linux operating system were up 41 per cent year-over-year in the third quarter of 2004, according to IDC Canada. Linux accounted for 19 per cent of shipments or 8.5 per cent of server revenues for the same period.

IDC reported worldwide sales of Linux-based servers hit US$1 billion for the first time in the third quarter of 2004. Linux accounted for more than nine per cent of the US$11.5 billion in servers sold worldwide with year-over-year revenue from Linux server sales up 42.6 per cent.

Edge of network workloads, including IT infrastructure such as file and print, security and networking, are driving adoption rates of the Linux operating system, said Freedman. The prevalence of end user applications, especially in the high-performance technical computing sector, are also driving adoption rates.

"In many cases the (Linux) support aspect is similar or better than that of legacy operating systems," said Freedman.

Vendor support

Commercial distributions of Linux from vendors such as Red Hat and Novell's Suse Linux are also contributing to this trend, Freedman added. Freedman also noted that there's been "tremendous" support for Linux from tier 1 hardware vendors, including IBM, HP, Dell and Sun.

"It's a lot easier to get authorization from management to sign off on a commercial distribution of Linux," he said, adding that executives in the past have been worried about support issues surrounding free distributions of Linux. "That's why we're seeing so much consolidation on the commercial side. Vendors have to have the critical mass and the ability to sustain their (customers') business."

In terms of processors, servers based on Advanced Micro Device's Opteron chip are predominantly Linux-based, said Freedman, adding that Intel's Xeon servers are mostly Windows-based.

Larry Poirier, CEO of Ottawa-based Nitro Microsystems Inc., said sales of servers running Linux account for 15 per cent of his company's server business. "Our Linux business has been growing faster than our Windows percentage," said Poirier, attributing growth to Nitro's status as one of a dozen HP Linux Elite partners across Canada.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

In the small and medium business market, for example, Poirier says he's seeing increased Linux adoption for security applications such as virtual private network firewall, anti-virus and anti-spam. Unix to Linux migration is a strong area in Nitro's enterprise business, said Poirier. "Linux offers flexibility, scalability and cost savings in running that kind of infrastructure."

David Plant, director of business development at Toronto-based solution provider Helios Oceana, said the transition to Linux in media and entertainment sectors is "almost complete."

"The biggest problem that most of our clients have is related to rendering images," said Plant. For example, Imax DMR (digital re-mastering) technology, which converts Hollywood pictures into Imax format, such as the recently-released Polar Express, runs on Linux servers.