Event
Summary
October 26,
1999 - TurboLinux Inc. debuted its anticipated TurboCluster Server, starting
at $995 for two-node clusters. The product will scale to cluster 30 Intel-based
servers.
To buoy the
product, the San Francisco-based company will also announce a number of partners,
including the Santa Cruz Operation and Compaq Computer Corp. SCO will provide
consulting services for TurboLinux, with an emphasis on consulting for TurboCluster
customers, officials of both companies said. A similar services and support
deal was struck with LinuxCare Inc., which will offer 24-by-7 support for TurboLinux
customers. Compaq, meanwhile, will contribute to TurboLinux's software development.
Giganet Inc. will partner with TurboLinux to include its high-speed interconnect
drivers in the Linux cluster software. Finally, Enlightened Software Inc.'s
cluster server management software will be bundled with TurboCluster as well,
TurboLinux officials said. TurboLinux aims to create a profile as high as that
of competitor Red Hat Software Inc. with this slew of announcements, officials
said.
Market
Impact
Presently,
Windows NT does not support clusters of more than two servers1 ,
so this product will provide a competitive advantage in situations where clusters
are desired/required. This also helps address one of the reliability issues
raised in the infamous "Linux myths" screed. This will translate to increased
market growth and market share for Linux.
"Pre-packaged"
clustering also provides TurboLinux with an advantage over Red Hat (the current
Linux market leader with over 65% of the market) and will gain Linux market
share from Red Hat. The alliances TurboLinux has formed with Giganet for high-speed
interconnect drivers and with Enlightened Software Inc. for cluster management
software makes the TurboCluster Server a more complete offering - rather than
having to cobble together a cluster from multiple sources.
Some modest
Linux market consolidation will take place: although TurboLinux will draw some
customers away from Red Hat, more will be drawn from the other small players,
leading to an eventual dropout of one or more of them.
User
Recommendations
This will benefit
those users who need the scalability and reliability of clustering, and who
want to have Linux as an operating system option. This provides added user flexibility
in the acquisition process, although the cost/benefit of each OS choice will
need to be weighed. Users who do not need clustering's advantages will see little,
if any, benefit.
1Windows
NT Enterprise Edition architecture supports up to 32 CPUs per server, equaling
up to 64 CPUs per cluster. However, present Intel server technology is such
that the maximum quantity of CPUs shipping is eight per server. This means that
that the current practical limit for Intel-based NT server clusters is 16 CPUs.