regarding server hardware vendors

[inventsekar_1]

Admins,

i like to know something about server hardware market. the few questions:

1. whether ALL unix vendors have their own server hardware?
2. hpux will not run on IBM or SUN servers. (from the hardware requirments in installaion guides) is that same for other unix also? means AIX will run only in IBM servers?
3. Whether Linux vendors provide Server hardwares also? i remember some linux versions can be installed in desktop workstations.
4. i remember only HPUX, AIX, Solaris. what about other enterprise unix vendors? is BSD a commercial unix? is there any free unices available(people can download from net and use it for their own purpose)
5. if i ask which unix is the best? somebody will say hpux, somebody solaris, somebody AIX. that is fine. in the same way which server hardware vendor provides lot of models, support, some informations like that..
6. is the mainframe computers are still in use in some specific applications? i heard that mainframe applications are migrated to Unices. is it so? if so in near future, mainframes will become obsolete. isnt? what is the next to "servers"? any links to read research news?

sorry for the big question.
hope u like to answer.
thanks
Invent|Sekar

[IT_2007 · Accepted solution]

1. whether ALL unix vendors have their own server hardware?

>> Almost all proprietery UNIX support their own Hardware like HP, IBM, Sun, Alpha. But Linux is free OS and can be installed on different platforms.

2. hpux will not run on IBM or SUN servers. (from the hardware requirments in installaion guides) is that same for other unix also? means AIX will run only in IBM servers?

>> See above and Linux OS developed to run multipule hardware platforms.

3. Whether Linux vendors provide Server hardwares also? i remember some linux versions can be installed in desktop workstations.

>> They don't provide a seperate hardware platforms. They run on x86 platform, Alpha, DEC etc..
You need to install proper Linux OS flavour on specific Hardware platform.

4. i remember only HPUX, AIX, Solaris. what about other enterprise unix vendors? is BSD a commercial unix? is there any free unices available(people can download from net and use it for their own purpose)

>> Red Hat Linux developed Linux based Enterprise servers (software). BSD is free OS. SuSE and other Linux flavours also free and can be downloaded to install.

5. if i ask which unix is the best? somebody will say hpux, somebody solaris, somebody AIX. that is fine. in the same way which server hardware vendor provides lot of models, support, some informations like that..

>> It depends on the need like application, server, workstation, performance etc.. Also depends on how critical they are and need support from vendor in case to fix production issues or bugs etc..

6. is the mainframe computers are still in use in some specific applications? i heard that mainframe applications are migrated to Unices. is it so? if so in near future, mainframes will become obsolete. isnt? what is the next to "servers"? any links to read research news?

>> Mainframe computers still used where applications can't be converted or for other businees reason. IBM giving lot of price reductions so that Mainframe still in the market.

[Arunvijai_4]

Hi Sekar,

1) Yes, Most of them have their own hardwares except BSD.

2) Yes, Thats correct. Only exception is Solaris, it can run on both intel and sparc architectures

3) No, I am not aware if any hardware vendors comes up with Linux.

4) BSD is freebie.

5) It depends on service and support of a particular region.

6) Yes, Mainframe still exists. I guess, Grid computing or distributed architecture will be next to "servers"

-Arun

[Steven E. Protter]

Shalom,

Most of the Big Unix vendors, like HP and IBM, but not Sun have decided that to make their releases reliable, they limit the hardware universe on which they run.

HP had the proprietary PA-RISC chip that the OS was compiled for and it simply would not run on other platforms.

The world is murkier now that HP is moving to the Itanium Intel platform. Still, HP-UX for Itanium will not run on an IBM box that uses the same core chip. The primary issue is probably firmware.

I will say that HP-UX is the best Unix having worked to a small degree with Sun and IBM. To me it scales best and is has the best toolset.

That being said, the judgement is subjective. My primary problem with Sun is a business issue, wondering if the parent company will survive without a buyer in the current US anti-trust environment. They do have more market share at the moment in my home base than HP-UX.

As far as stuff getting obsolete, that is a slow process. People have said that Linux will make proprietary Unix obsolete. I have yet to see that happen and can show cost of ownership for certain situations is lower with HP-UX.

I think a really fast rx class server can do the work of most mainframes, as a side note.

Most Linux vendors do not provide hardware. The business model is different since they don't own and are not permitted to sell the code.

SEP

[Luk Vandenbussche]

Concerning question 2

You have clones from IBM and SUN

- AIX runs also on Bull server
- Solaris runs also in Fujitsu Siemens servers