Companies purchasing a Primergy server can acquire Linux
software supplied by SuSE Linux on a CPU (central processing unit)
basis, Fujitsu Siemens announced yesterday.
The software, available as a yearly maintenance package, costs
€279 (£173) per server and CPU and €179 for each additional
processor. Discounts are available to enterprises wishing to
purchase multiple servers with multiple processors as part of a
project installation.
Fujitsu Siemens is not pre-installing Linux but its channel
partners are free to do so.
The maintenance package includes updates, patches and fixes, as
well as installation support, said Petra Heinrich, vice president
of partner sales and services at SuSE. Customers can purchase
standard and premium hotline support services.
SuSE's Enterprise Server V8 software costs €899, Heinrich
said.
The software is available in English, German and several other
"relevant" languages. Manuals, however, are available in English
and German only.
The deal with SuSE is not exclusive. "We are announcing the
deal with SuSE today but we may also want to do something with Red
Hat," a Fujitsu Siemens spokesman said.
Last week, Fujitsu and Red Hat announced an extensive
partnership to collaborate in sales, marketing, support and
engineering.
"We are talking with SuSE about a similar partnership," said
Joseph Reger, chief technology officer at Fujitsu Siemens. "We
can't announce a deal yet but such a partnership is clearly in our
interest."
SuSE is a founding member of UnitedLinux, whose distribution
strongholds include Europe, Japan and Latin America. "The group is
key to us," Reger said, adding that "the fewer the Linux
distributors, the better".
Linux has become "enterprise-ready" software that will occupy a
solid place in the family of operating systems supported by Fujitsu
Siemens, Reger said.
Fujitsu Siemens is selling the bundled hardware and software
package directly and indirectly through its channel partners.
"We think this package is highly attractive for our channel
partners," Reger said.
Fujitsu Siemens' Primergy servers are based on Intel's Xeon
processor. The Primergy server family ranges from a mono-processor
system to a 16-way system.