“The 2.4 kernel systematically addresses and remedies the
main weakness that has kept Linux from winning more servers in the
enterprise: scalability. …Linux 2.2 was not optimized for
SMP, a necessity for enterprise environments. The 2.4 kernel has
effectively removed this obstacle. Linux 2.4 is well optimized and
tested on SMP machines with up to eight processors. There have even
been reports of development and deployment teams using the kernel
on SMP machines with anywhere from 32 to 64 processors.”
“Another SMP-related Linux 2.4 improvement is support for
multiple Advanced Programming Interrupt Controllers (APICs). These
I/O controllers are used in SMP to spread the load for processing
interrupt requests among the various CPUs, thus allowing for faster
and better use of multiprocessing. Memory support had been another
Linux drawback. Enterprise servers, especially database servers,
require very large amounts of RAM, and Linux 2.2 was limited to 2
gigabytes. With the 2.4 kernel, Linux now supports up to 64
gigabytes.”
“When it comes down to it, Linux’s best chance of making serious
headway in the enterprise may rest with Big Blue. IBM has been
investing heavily in Linux in recent years, and they have
well-established relationships with many large organizations.
Enterprises like to buy hardware and software in a package deal
from one vendor, especially when they are buying a UNIX OS. HP,
Sun, and IBM have been very successful in marketing their
hardware/software packages to enterprise customers. With the
arrival of the 2.4 kernel, watch for IBM to leverage its Linux
investments to make a strong play for new enterprise contracts with
robust and well-priced enterprise servers based on Linux.
Other companies, such as HP and Compaq, may follow suit.”
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