Linux Support Announced for Fujitsu Teamservers; Amdahl Announces Enterprise-Class Support for Open Source Software - Product Announcement

Edge: Work-Group Computing Report, August 16, 1999

Amdahl Corp. Tuesday announced that it will provide full enterprise-class support for the Linux operating system on the Intel architecture-based Fujitsu teamservers.

In 1981, Amdahl became the first system vendor to offer a mission-critical UNIX system.

"It took two decades for UNIX software to achieve widespread acceptance in the IT community," said David West, vice president of Systems Marketing at Amdahl. "We believe that Linux is where UNIX was five years ago, and is rapidly closing what gaps remain between the two operating systems. Our strategy is to apply our experience and expertise to offer a safe, scalable and supportable Linux environment that large and small customers alike can use to run their business."

"The cost, performance and reliability advantages of Linux on Intel-architecture servers have the potential to improve the total cost of ownership of client/server solutions," said Don Haback of Matterhorn Group. "Vendors like Amdahl and Fujitsu can help make Linux a practical alternative for businesses."

Linux, the popular open source UNIX variant created by Linus Torvalds and improved upon by more than 17,000 independent developers, has become the most rapidly growing operating system environment.

A vast departure from proprietary software, the open source movement promotes rapid application development by making source code freely available for all technology. It is fundamentally changing how companies develop, acquire and profit from software. The extraordinarily popular Linux operating system and the Apache Web server are two prominent examples of products developed in open source.

"Companies who wish to stay at the leading edge of their industries will have no choice but to figure out how to take advantage of this phenomenon," said William Flanagan, group president of Amdahl Technology Group. "This is true not only of vendors in the computer industry, but also any company that seeks competitive advantage through IT."

Amdahl support of Linux includes factory installation of the Linux operating system on Fujitsu single and dual Pentium III processor model teamservers; 24 x 7 telephone assistance for hardware and software problems from Amdahl's Worldwide Support Center; on-site hardware support with up to two hours targeted response; and professional services for setup and customization of Linux and associated open source products such as the Apache Web server.

Fujitsu teamservers are also available in highly available cluster configurations using Amdahl LVS 4000 storage systems for the most critical commercial applications. Amdahl provides planning services to enable advanced configuration of highly complex, network-ready application servers with domain names, IP addresses, installed and configured databases, and installed applications.

About Linux: http://linux.com/about

About Fujitsu teamservers: http://www.eshopamdahl.com/ia/index.html

About Amdahl: http://www.amdahl.com/about/abtamh.htm

For the Year 2000 compliance status of this offering and any others, visit the Amdahl Year 2000 Web site at: http://www.amdahl.com/y2k