Add to del.icio.us     Digg this

Jul. 8, 2010

Dell's ongoing love affair with the Linux operating system is stronger than ever, and the PC and laptop maker wants to make sure that its customers know it. Dell says it is working with Linux vendor and support team Canonical to help Dell users with Ubuntu-powered open-source clouds while at the same time working as a team with Linux and open source developers.

The computer and server maker, better known for equipping its products with rival OS Windows, is working with Canonical on plans to make it easier to setup Ubuntu 'clouds' on its Poweredge C 1100, 2100 and 6100 1U to 4U servers.

While IBM is considering revamping it's old OS/2 operating system, Dell's director of cloud software solutions John Igoe wants to "reference" some implementations for Dell's servers running the Amazon-cloud-ready Ubuntu OS. Igoe hints that it could be ready in a few months, without being more specific.

Overall, the Ubuntu-based plans are being created so that aspiring users outside the top-tier of Internet properties can implement clustered computer and 'storage clouds' without calling on special services or customized products.

Dell has been talking for a while now that it wants to include its open-source business intelligence software tools in the planned stacks.

Igoe works in Dell's Data Center Solutions Group that's home to the Dell super servers behind some of the Internet's biggest Web properties such as Bing, Salesforce.com and a few more.

Since Dell's acquisition of service provider Perot Systems, Igoe has been hunting down Perot employees experienced in Linux and open source software.

Dell's work on open-source systems comes as it announced pre-integrated servers, networking and storage stacks. Dell is now targeting Java and Python applications in retail and social media. According to Igoe, Dell has avoided MS Windows simply because it wouldn't fit in its open source plans.

For its part, Canonical is claiming that over 11,950 downloads of its cloud server software have been made recently, having worked with some enterprise customers on setting up their "Amazon clouds".

Igoe also noted it has been rather difficult for Dell to gain credibility in software, since, after all, the company is better known for its hardware, and some people didn't even know that the Texas-based company is now into software.

The PC, laptop and server maker hopes to gain more customers by offering modular software options instead of a single stack. After all, most of the work with Canonical follows in the steps of the companies' collaboration fine-tuning Ubuntu-Linux for netbooks.

Igoe called Dell's foray into software a marathon, not a sprint, with acquisitions such as Perot providing a strategic step. Dell acquired Perot Software Inc. from legendary Wall Street investor H. Ross Perot's grandson back in 2008.

However, it's the addition of Ubuntu to the hardware mix that has really tweaked open source developers' interest in a company they'd normally associate more with PC's and netbooks.

"We want to show people that we are thinking outside the box. Canonical has a credible solution with people, based on the Eucalyptus and Amazon cloud," Igoe added.

Ubuntu uses Amazon EC2 APIs and AMIs (Amazon Machine Images) in its server-based Enterprise Cloud offerings. Ubuntu is also bundled with Eucalyptus, the open-source cloud infrastructure for server clusters which supports many different clients and is also compatible with Amazon's EC2 APIs.

Add to del.icio.us     Digg this

Source: Dell.

All logos, trade marks or service marks on this website are the property of their respective companies or owners.

ADVERTISERS:
Linux News Today.org is read by over 450,000 people involved in the field of Linux application development, professional Web hosting services, Linux security, Linux Web development, etc. Inquire about our reasonable advertising rates on our news website. One of our advertising representatives will be in touch with you. Simply email us to learn about our ad rates and how we can help drive relevant traffic to your website. Advertising space is limited.