Compaq is putting its 20 years of clustering knowledge behind Linux
to create a more powerful system for load balancing, failover and
server expansion on demand, writes Eric Doyle.
In conjunction with the Open Source Development Network (OSDN), a
VA Linux Systems subsidiary, Compaq will form a Clustering Foundry
on the OSDN Web site Sourceforge.net.
The aim is to bring the open source community together to produce a
clustering system based on the clustering technologies Compaq
gained from its acquisitions of Digital Equipment and Tandem. The
principal model will be Compaq's Non-Stop architecture, originally
developed by Tandem.
Alan Cox, kernel development guru at Red Hat Linux and, until
recently, the principal co-ordinator of the Linux kernel, said, "I
really want to see the Compaq clustering code, the IBM DLM
[Distributed Lock Manager] for Linux and OpenGFS [Open Global File
System] in the 2.5 [Linux kernel] tree, creating a real clustered
Linux with true failover facilities. That will really open the door
to the enterprise market."
Initially, Compaq will release details of its Single System Image
(SSI) clustering technology, which allows multiple Linux servers to
appear and behave as a single large server. Administrators and
developers will then be able to treat SSI-linked servers as a
single entity to simplify access and software development.
The key aim of the project is to simplify system tasks such as load
balancing, password sign-on, software upgrades and application
access.
Although Compaq has only possessed the SSI technology for a few
years, it started life as part of the Locus system development at
UCLA in 1979. This spawned several clustering technologies within
Tandem, IBM, Intel and Compaq.
Last May, Compaq announced that it would gradually release details
of its technology into the open source domain. This announcement is
the first of several planned for the coming years.
SSI will be developed and enhanced with other open source
clustering technologies to provide a clustered Linux environment
designed to gain corporate trust through the reliability and
reputation of the current Compaq systems.