Linux server sales show high-end trend

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``Linux server shipments grew 63 percent to $950 million from the fourth quarter of 2002 to the fourth quarter of 2003, IDC said. At the same time, unit shipments grew 53 percent to about 250,000.''

IBM, HP, SUN and Dell sell low and middle range Linux servers and only IBM, SGI and HP sell high-end ones. The 250,000 Linux units DOES NOT include the high-end Linux server ONLY. The bulk of the units belong to middle and lower end.

The article compares the ms windows vs Linux server sales. windows does not run in high-end servers (unless you consider 16proc SMPs high-end, which are not).

It is clear that the bulk of the Linux serers comes from lower and middle range ones. ms still has high revenues but the fact that its server (and another unit) lost ~ 3 billions last year,even including the 950 million write off, says plenty on the market trends: People in the middle range has started using Linux A LOT MORE than they did before.

Until ms windows can be run on large 64-bit SMPs at least equally reliably and securely as UNIX and Linux do, and with comparable TCO, ms windows has NO CHANCE for any growth in this market. MS is too much tied up in cleaning up their contorted windows + apps spaghetti with meatballs code and they cannot develop a robust and secure 64-bit os for high end machines.

As a matter of fact, MS should be plentifully thankfull to AMD for its AMD64 ISA that allows all the existing 32 bit x86 code to run verbatim on their 64 bit chips, without requring to recompiler and hand tune the code as is th case with the nefarious Itanium 2.

On the other hand if -- as you claim -- the 250,000 Linux are all high-end server, then that is GREAT!

Personally I am a UNIX person although we are maintaining Linux as well. I don't have to pore over the Linux kernel source, since the patches are generated and tested very quickly by the Linux developers. If I had to look at code I would much rather look at Linux/UNIX source than looking at the spaghetti with meatballs ms windows 'kernel'. And that's the oppinion of everyone who has looked at ms kernel .

The good think with Linux is that it is putting pressure to BOTH the windows and the UNIX community to cut the fat and become more efficient and secure.

So no matter if you are pro or against Linux you should be thankful that it forces the other camps to become BETTER.


-m

Posted by: michael-t   Posted on: 02/27/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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