"Has Linux really lagged behind in scalability?
"Greenblatt: Linux has not lagged behind in scalability, [but] some vendors do not want the world to think about Linux as scalable. The fact that Google runs 10,000 Intel processors as a single image is a testament to [Linux's] horizontal scaling. The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has had similar results in predicting weather. In the commercial world, Shell Exploration is doing seismic work on Linux that was once done on a Cray [supercomputer].
"Terpstra: Accusations have been made that Unix and Windows scale to far greater numbers of processors than the Linux 2.4 kernel can. While this is true, a bare claim like this makes little sense unless it is placed within the context of deployment [needs]. Today, Linux kernel 2.4 scales to about four CPUs. Still, one should consider whether a four-CPU server is needed for departmental file and print serving in the average company. After all, there are an average 45 users per server.
"Milberg: There are many other examples of Linux scalability. Unfortunately, once you get a bad reputation in this industry, it is hard to shake. Because Linux has a rep of being wonderful for e-mail or Web servers but not wonderful for scaling well in database environments--regardless of the truth--it will take time and lots of publicized success stories to break this rep. Perhaps the Linux folks can hire some Microsoft advertising people..."
