"BMW is using the Xen para virtualisation tool in SuSE Linux
Enterprise Server to run test and development production systems.
The company has deployed Xen to replace its ageing PA-Risc, Sun
Sparc and IBM Power 4/5 Unix server hardware with industry-standard
PC servers.
"The car maker worked with Novell to replace 1,400 Unix servers
with Linux systems. It chose Xen over VMware because native
products where the virtualisation is supported within the operating
system are easier to maintain, according to Andreas Poeschel, IT
specialist at BMW Group.
"Novell takes care of any support issues and provides hardware
drivers. Additionally, when Novell releases a new service pack, BMW
does not have to wait for a third-party virtualisation product to
support the service pack, since Xen will include support as
standard."
