By Lisa Kelly, VNU Net
Motorola is launching a Linux operating system for the
telecoms industry, which it guarantees will offer 99.999 per cent
availability.
High Availability Linux (HA Linux) is targeted at carrier-grade
networking, wireless and internet applications, and is expected to
ship in May. The guarantee means that servers should not be down
for more than five minutes a year.
HA Linux has a hot-swap capability which permits systems
components, such as processors, power suppliers and cards, to be
changed without having to shut the computer down.
Kirsten Ludvigsen, an analyst at researcher IDC, said: “Linux is
a very stable operating environment, but it has not had hot-swap
capabilities built into it before.”
“Telcos can now buy Linux off the shelf instead of having to do
all the programming themselves. Linux is cost efficient compared
with typical Unix equipment.”
HA Linux, which will support Intel and PowerPC-based servers,
will provide active-standby support and processor support enabling
applications to continue service while switching to a backup
process.
John Hughes, vice president and director of Motorola Computer
Group’s telecoms business unit, said: “HA Linux is proof that Linux
is ready for deployment in applications needing 99.999 per cent
reliability in the telecoms infrastructure.”
Natural Microsystems is using HA Linux with its own
call-handling hardware. The company is integrating its digital
signal processing and network interface modules with HA Linux.
Brough Turner, Natural Microsystems’ senior vice president of
technology, said: “Developers can create voice and data
applications and services with 99.999 per cent availability and get
to market quickly.”
“Because we are supporting very large numbers of calls on each
resource board, it is important that our customers are able to hot
swap all components using Linux in this high-availability
environment.”