IBM Corp. this week at the LinuxWorld Conference & Expo in San Francisco continues its ongoing attempt to rip customers away from arch-rival Sun Microsystems Inc. using Linux as its crowbar by announcing a new Solaris-to-Linux migration program.
As part of the program, IBM has created a Swat team of Linux experts trained in operating systems who can quickly assess a user’s Solaris-based infrastructure and then create a step-by-step roadmap for crossing over to a Linux-based environment hosted on an eServer platform.
The newly formed team includes people proficient not just in operating systems, but in system architectures, database administration, and project management. The team will work hand in glove with IBM’s sales organization, a company spokesperson said.
As part of the services offerings, the team will also provide users with a list of benefits they can expect, including specific figures on total cost of ownership and system scalability and performance.
Backing up what it believes should result in significant cost savings by migrating to its host-based systems, IBM officials cited a total cost of ownership (TCO) study recently published by the Robert Frances Group. That report stated that Linux was a less expensive platform to deploy and maintain than Solaris, reportedly saving users about US$475,000 over a three-year period.
If users want to move forward with migrating to Linux, the first step the Swat team takes is to migrate the individual components of their Solaris system, starting with the operating system and followed by the database and applications. Once the software is transported over, the team works to transition over users’ storage, networking, and security infrastructure.
The team then carries out a series of tests looking for the soft spots in the new infrastructure, first testing it system by system and then all systems together. They then bring the users’ data over to the database.
In concert with the new migration program, IBM also at this week’s show will roll out its eServer x335 and x345 systems along with its eServer 1350 integrated cluster for Linux that includes storage products, third-party networking, and cluster management software.
For details, visit http://www.ibm.com.
