The Linux operating system has evolved from niche software that's only used by computer hobbyists, hackers, and academics. Today, Linux is widely used in many commercial environments including the data center. At this point in time, Linux has become a very competitive choice in the data center along with Oracle Sun Solaris, IBM AIX, and HP-UX.
A few of the first applications that were moved to Linux include DNS, email, and file storage, which are common in most data center environments. These applications tend to be non-proprietary and OS independent. Migrating these applications to Linux as part of the first phase of a data center migration is a great way to try Linux out since the implementation is very simple.
As businesses get comfortable with Linux in the data center running these basic applications, they can leverage the experience gained and run more applications with Linux.
Linux's Cross Platform Compatiblity with Windows
There are many tools out there to make Linux work within a Windows environment. Some of them include Samba, which provides Windows print and file services on a Linux server. For those doing .NET application development, the Mono project has software that allows Linux users to develop and run .NET applicaitons.
Linux's Unix Compatiblity with Oracle Sun Solaris, HP-UX, and IBM AIX
Since Linux is a Unix operating system, it also contains many popular protocols, applications, and commands that are used in other Unix systems. Unix protocols used in Linux include NIS, NIS+, NFS, DNS, SMTP, and almost all other TCP/IP protocols. System administrators using other Unix operating systems such as Solaris and HP-UX can quickly and easily learn Linux.
As Linux has become ubiquitous in the corporate and data center market, it has become the most common Unix option when buying other commercial software. Almost all server applications have a Linux version today. The same can't be said for other Unix operating systems. Oracle, which sells its flagship database to the Solaris operating system it owns, also has a version for Linux. Oracle's MySQL also runs in Linux as well.
Techinical Support Contracts for Linux
Since technical support is very important to those running business critical applications in the data center, it's useful to know that commercial Linux vendors such as those from Red Hat, Oracle, and Novell all offer support contracts. In the distant past, Linux support contracts were not available, but that has not been true for quite a while. Since Linux has become so popular, data centers generally offer both Linux and Windows solutions, but not for other Unix variants.
Although support contracts are useful when businesses need help at any hour of the day, they are also needed in order to ensure continued access to operating system patches. Vendors such as Oracle are starting to stop offering free patches for their operating systems. Some of the most important patches needed include those that patch security exploits. Even though viruses are not a problem like in the Windows environment, Linux systems are also vulnerable to hackers trying to exploit bugs in the TCP/IP stack as a means of breaking into a Linux server.
As Linux has become a common operating system in the data center, it's important for businesses to consider choosing it for their Unix needs along with other strong contenders such as Oracle Sun Solaris, IBM's AIX, and HP-UX.
