Siemens switches from Unix to Linux to run critical SAP systems
- Author:
- John-Paul Kamath
- Posted:
- 15:23 01 Apr 2008
- Topics:
- Databases | Open Source Software | Unix | Computer Hardware Repair & Maintenance | Operating Systems | Utility Computing & On-Demand Computing | Cloud Computing | IT Workforce | Servers | Linux
Siemens' IT services arm will use SUSE Linux over Unix as the de facto operating system for running 350 business-critical SAP systems and 120,000 user accounts - along with numerous web applications, web servers and Oracle database servers.
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server previously ran alongside its existing Unix platform. According to Siemens, the full migration to Linux will cut operating costs by 25 per cent compared to an equivalent Unix infrastructure.
Werner Stechhammer, senior system engineer at Siemens IT Solutions and Services, said the move to an all Linux environment would offer cheaper utility computing to Siemens' customers who outsource parts of their IT infrastructure to Siemens.
Siemens is currently testing virtualisation with Xen, which is built into SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, to better utilise existing server hardware, lower maintenance costs through consolidation and reduce energy consumption throughout its IT centres.
