August 17, 2007 at 16:55IBM servers will run on Solaris
Two age-old competitors, IBM and Sun Microsystems, announced a collaboration in server technology. This alliance should strengthen the position of partners in relation to the company Hewlett-Packard. And not just strengthen, but make a “tectonic shift in the market landscape,” as Jonathan Schwartz, director of Sun.
Collaboration between IBM and Sun involves installing the Solaris operating system on IBM servers. This means, among other things, that current Sun server owners can easily upgrade to IBM hardware without changing their software.
To begin with, the experiment will be delivered to the youngest family of IBM X-Series servers, which are now shipped with both MS Windows and Linux. In the future, Solaris will also appear on large mainframes, which have long been IBM's main source of revenue.
At first glance, it seems that Sun may suffer from the transaction, because the demand for its equipment will decrease, but in fact, the company expects to compensate for the loss by increasing the number of Solaris service subscribers. Thus, Sun is increasingly becoming a purely software company. Actually, this is her long-term strategy. By the way, Google’s recent decision to include the Sun StarOffice office suite in the Google Pack also fits into this strategy.
At the moment, IBM and HP are fighting a fierce battle in the server market. Each of the companies owns 29% of the world market, according to IDC statistics. The closest pursuers are Sun and Dell with shares of 11%.
Collaboration between IBM and Sun involves installing the Solaris operating system on IBM servers. This means, among other things, that current Sun server owners can easily upgrade to IBM hardware without changing their software.
To begin with, the experiment will be delivered to the youngest family of IBM X-Series servers, which are now shipped with both MS Windows and Linux. In the future, Solaris will also appear on large mainframes, which have long been IBM's main source of revenue.
At first glance, it seems that Sun may suffer from the transaction, because the demand for its equipment will decrease, but in fact, the company expects to compensate for the loss by increasing the number of Solaris service subscribers. Thus, Sun is increasingly becoming a purely software company. Actually, this is her long-term strategy. By the way, Google’s recent decision to include the Sun StarOffice office suite in the Google Pack also fits into this strategy.
At the moment, IBM and HP are fighting a fierce battle in the server market. Each of the companies owns 29% of the world market, according to IDC statistics. The closest pursuers are Sun and Dell with shares of 11%.