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Dell, Novell Team Up to Push Linux on PowerEdge Servers

Server maker Dell and commercial Linux distributor Novell announced last week that the two have inked a deal similar to ones that Novell has signed with IBM and Hewlett-Packard that will allow Dell to sell and support SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 on its PowerEdge servers.

Dell will be able to sell the new SLES 9, which is based on the Linux 2.6 kernel, for $175 for a single-CPU server and for $269 for a dual-CPU server. As with other Linux vendors, Dell is not selling Linux licenses, but rather annual maintenance subscriptions for SLES 9 support, and Dell itself (as is the case with IBM and HP) will be providing the front-end technical support for the Linux operating system, with Novell cooperating with Dell on tough service calls that escalate to level three tech support. Red Hat has signed similar deals with server makers.

Dell says that it will begin selling SLES 9 services sometime in the fourth quarter (technically, that is now) on its PowerEdge 1850 (1U rack, two-way Xeon-64), PowerEdge 2800 (tower, two-way Xeon-64), and PowerEdge 2850 (2U rack, two-way Xeon-64) servers. It is unclear when SLES 9 will be put on other Dell machines, but Dell already sells Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 on most of its boxes, and it seems likely that SLES 9 will soon be offered across all modern Dell machines.

Mandrake 10.1 Official Ships

Having shipped its Mandrakelinux 10.1 Community release back in late August, Mandrakesoft duly announced last week that it had delivered the full production version of its latest Linux in the Mandrakelinux 10.1 Official release.

The Community release is akin to a release candidate--a little bit more stable than a beta version, but not quite ready for prime time. (In this regard, it is a bit like Red Hat's Fedora project.)

Mandrakelinux 10.1 Official is based on the Linux 2.6 kernel and includes enhancements that are useful mainly for desktop machines, including support for WiFi wireless networking protocols in general and Intel 's Centrino wireless-capable processors and BlueTooth wireless devices in particular. Mandrakelinux 10.1 Official has latest Linux GUIs, including KDE 3.2.3 and Gnome 2.6, with KDE 3.3 and has a new set of compilers, based on the new versions of GCC (which includes C, C++, Java, and Fortran compilers), the Kdevelop integrated development environment, and the GDB debugging tool.

Mandrakelinux 10.1 Official comes in four different editions. The Discovery edition is aimed at desktop users not yet familiar with Linux and it costs $49.95. The PowerPack edition is the full Linux desktop experience, and it costs $84.90. The PowerPack+ edition is aimed at high-end workstations and servers, and it costs $229.90. A separate Mandrakelinux 10.1 for 64-bit X86 processors is also supposed to be available (but was not detailed last week); it will presumably spanning desktops, workstations, and servers. Mandrakelinux 10.1 Official will be available in mid-November.

Faster Itanium 2 Due Next Week

Intel will apparently get its promised kicker to the current Itanium 2 processors out the door next week. Earlier this summer, the word on the street was that Intel had hoped to get the new Itanium 2s to market by its Fall Intel Developer Forum show in early September. That didn't happen. But next week, Intel will push out the faster "Madison" Itanium 2s, which will be something of a relief to Hewlett-Packard, NEC, Unisys and a few other players that push the majority of Itanium iron.

Intel was widely expected to deliver its larger cache Itanium 2 processors, which had 9 MB of cache, a 33 percent increase in cache size over the current top-end Itanium 2s, at 1.7 GHz, 1.8 GHz, and 1.9 GHz clock speeds. The jump in clock speed from the current top-end 1.5 GHz/6 MB cache chip to the 1.9 GHz chip (a 27 percent increase) should allow the servers based on the new Itaniums to do about a third more work. However, it is unclear if Intel will launch the faster clock speeds.

A few weeks ago, Hewlett-Packard and Oracle ran a three-tier SAP Sales & Distribution benchmark test that used a 1.6 GHz/ 9 MB Madison chip. This could have been an early yield of the new chips, or this could be as far as Intel intends to push clock speeds for now. We'll know for sure next week.

IBM Launches Global Business Security Index

IBM has been compiling an IT security threat index for quite some time, based on hack attacks on its own systems and those that it has under management through its Global Services unit. According to the Global Business Security Index, attacks against utilities, telecommunications, and government agencies rocketed upward by 55 percent between July and August. Across all industries and geographies, IBM has monitored a 27 percent increase in such attacks.

The index is based on data collected by the 2,700 security experts who work for Global Services and from the half million systems and network devices that IBM has under its management. In the near future, IBM will offer the index and related services as a product; the company did not say what it would charge for such information or the related services.

IBM says that there were 997 attacks against its customers in September, a 27 percent increase over levels set in July and August. Worms such as Korgo and Sasser, which attack Microsoft's Windows platform, were the dominant tools used by hackers to try to gain access to networks. IBM sells intrusion-detection and vulnerability-testing services, through which the company says it has seen an incredible 100 million suspected or actual attacks against customers.

New Site to Spin SCO's Unix IP Legal Issues

The SCO Group is unhappy about the rough treatment it often receives from the Groklaw Web site, which was founded by Pamela Jones, a journalist with a paralegal background, to track SCO's lawsuit against IBM and all of the legal issues that have spawned from it. Groklaw is a popular and funny site, and it accurately reflects many of the opinions held in the Unix and Linux communities.

Now SCO is launching a site to give its own side of the intellectual property and legal issues and to give its supporters a place where they can talk and vent. It also means that SCO doesn't feel compelled to engage with the readers of Groklaw or Pamela Jones, who has tried repeatedly to get SCO to answer questions and respond to queries that she and her readers have about SCO's various lawsuits over Unix intellectual property. The SCO site, www.prosco.net, is expected to go live next week.

Europe Clears Oracle's Acquisition of PeopleSoft

The European Commission's antitrust authority, headed by Mario Monti, who will soon be stepping down as antitrust chief, announced last week that it will not impede the $7.7 billion hostile takeover of PeopleSoft by ERP rival and database powerhouse Oracle. Under Monti, the European Union has been aggressive about blocking big mergers but says that, after looking at hundreds of software deals, it has concluded that the merger of PeopleSoft and Oracle would not radically change software pricing practices in the EU.

With this move, both the U.S. and European antitrust bodies have given Oracle the green light. But the legal fight goes on. Oracle and PeopleSoft have been fighting each other in Delaware Chancery Court, where Oracle is trying to reverse some of the defensive financial moves (often called a poison pill) that make the acquisition more expensive than it might otherwise be. That court has not said when it would make a ruling, so the show goes on.

IDC Concurs with Offshoring Market Estimates

Analysts at IDC have put on their starry caps and pulled out their crystal balls to make their predictions about just how much money is going to be put into offshore outsourcing projects over the next few years, and the company's estimates sound similar to those of its competitors.

IDC reckons that offshoring (by which IDC means moving IT work from North America or Western Europe to India, China, the Philippines, Central and Eastern Europe, and other areas) will have a five-year compound growth rate of 20 percent between 2003 and 2008, from $7 billion to $17 billion. The researchers say that, among U.S. companies, spending will center around applications, specifically custom application development, system integration as it relates to these home-grown applications, and managing these applications.