ZDNet: Evolution of the Data Center OS

[ Thanks to Jason
Greenwood for this link. ]

“During the next five to 10 years, tight budgets, better
utilization, and more effective demand management will slow server
growth and drive a dramatic shift in the data center’s operating
system capacity mix. Windows and Linux will be the big winners.

“Meta Group’s research indicates that the average data center’s
net annual server capacity growth is slowing from the historical 45
to 50 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to a more
sustainable long term 35 to 40 percent. The primary drivers for
this deceleration are near-term budget constraints, improving
server utilization (via more efficient workload management tools),
and more effective demand management. More interesting is Meta’s
projected dramatic change in the data center’s operating system
capacity mix. Although Meta believes proprietary Unix will maintain
its current dominance through 2007 (declining from 45 to 40 percent
share), it will be challenged by Windows–which Meta projects will
grow from 20 to 38 percent–and Linux, which will grow fastest off
an initially small base (from 3 to 11 percent). Constrained by
prohibitive cost-of-ownership comparisons, IBM’s z/OS-based
mainframe platform will continue its relatively slow 14 percent
growth rate, shrinking its data center capacity share from 32 to 11
percent by 2007. By 2012, our research indicates that Windows will
dominate data center computing with 51 percent, Linux at 26
percent, proprietary Unix at 20 percent, and z/OS at 3
percent…”

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