IBM, Novell, and Avnet Bundle Software Stacks for Linux

Published: April 4, 2006

by Timothy Prickett Morgan

At LinuxWorld yesterday, server and middleware maker IBM and commercial Linux distributor Novell announced that they would be partnering to deliver an integrated SUSE Linux implementation running various stacks of IBM's open and closed source middleware and database software. The bundles are being done in conjunction with IT reseller giant Avnet and are getting some marketing support from Intel.

The first is the Integrated Stack for Linux, which marries together SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 running on IBM's xSeries servers, which are based on Intel X86 and X64 processors. On top of that, IBM adds its WebSphere Application Server Community Edition (WAS CE), and according to Scott Handy, vice president of worldwide Linux and open source software at Big Blue, this software has been updated to the release 1.1 level. WAS CE 1.1 is the first update of the Gluecode Apache/Geronimo software that IBM acquired last year, and it includes Web tier clustering and load balancing support and updates to the Apache/Tomcat frameworks. On top of this, IBM is adding its DB2 Express-C Community Edition database, which is a closed-source but distributed for free. Novell tweaked its Yast software configuration tool to install and manage these pieces of IBM software. Avnet then takes this software and puts it on the IBM boxes in two configurations. The Linux, WAS, DB2 stack is called the Integrated Stack for Linux, and if customers want, Avnet will pre-install the Likewise Active Directory integration tool from Centeris so SUSE Linux can be managed from the Windows Active Directory, too.

Handy says that IBM is offering its partners a DVD with the Integrated Linux Stack on it for free. This CD includes a demo-version of the VMware Player with Novell's SUSE Linux running inside, which lets partners play with the software and give their sales reps and customers a Linux stack to play with for free.

And for those customers who just want to use Linux as a print and file server in their existing Windows networks, IBM, Novell, and Avnet have another stack called the Integrated File and Print for Linux that just has SUSE and Likewise running on xSeries servers.

IBM is also offering colleges and universities a free software stack aimed at them, called the Open Computing Development Environment, which includes WAS CE 1.1, DB2 Express-C, and the open source Eclipse integrated development environment. This is being offered to academic institutions for either Linux or Windows platforms.

While IBM has had aggressive Windows-replacement programs, using Linux as a lever, for a number of years, these products are less contentious. "The customers we have been dealing with have been asking us to approach Linux with an eye toward integrating it with a Windows environment," explained Handy. "Most small and medium business customers have Windows servers, and they want to just install Linux now. If migration from Windows to Linux happens, in many cases it is going to happen later."