“Many ASPs and other companies in the new economy are
turning to Linux for their Internet infrastructure . . . even
though, when it comes to achieving high availability in enterprise
computing, “Linux is not there yet,” said Jon “maddog” Hall last
week at PC Expo.”
“ASPs and ISPs can achieve high availability through the use of
multiple Linux systems, creating a cluster in which a particular
Web server can be designated for use, according to Hall. He said he
expects Linux to have the high availability functionality necessary
for enterprise computing by 2002.”
“In the meantime, Linux is being increasingly used for Web
servers because it is crash-resistant and not prone to virus
attacks. For instance, Bolzern recalled the Ping of Death, a
denial-of-service attack in 1996 that flooded network servers and
caused many networks to crash. “Once the Linux community figured
out what was going on, a fix was uploaded for Linux in a matter of
hours,” Bolzern said. “The next one to create a fix was Digital
Equipment and that came three weeks later.”