Make the Move from UNIX to Linux

Mission-critical Relational Databases

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Business Application Servers

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Enterprise Database Servers

• Database
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Relational enterprise databases sit at the heart of every data center. In fact, enterprise database applications and the associated data are often some of the most important assets that a corporate IT department is asked to maintain and secure. Charged with protecting and delivering the mission-critical data that drives the business, IT has traditionally deployed these databases on the best servers and the most robust operating systems.

Until quite recently, UNIX* was the operating system of choice for these deployments. Historically, UNIX offered superior reliability and security when compared to other commercial operating systems. Large database vendors like Oracle and IBM optimized their databases for UNIX environments and supported all the important UNIX-based architectures, including AIX*, HP-UX* and Solaris*. Unfortunately, the reliability and security of UNIX deployments came at a high price–both in terms of software and hardware acquisition costs. In today's enterprise, UNIX systems are among the most expensive systems to purchase and maintain.

With the maturation of Linux* into an enterprise-class operating system, IT executives now have a choice. Linux can be deployed on all the major enterprise hardware architectures, from x86 systems to the most sophisticated clustered and gridded environments to mainframes. For new deployments or IT initiatives, Linux is often the preferred operating system. It can be deployed everywhere and is reliable, secure and scalable.

Linux is supported by almost all of the major commercial database vendors, including Oracle and IBM. In situations where a commercial database is not required, robust open source alternatives, like MySQL* and PostgreSQL, are available.

As Linux has grown in enterprise deployments, new releases are now being developed first for Linux architectures and then ported to other platforms. Because of the substantial cost associated with maintaining UNIX hardware and software, IT directors everywhere are adopting Linux for enterprise database workloads.

When you migrate your database from UNIX to Linux, you'll see the following benefits:

• Lower server costs. Linux runs on cost-effective x86-based servers and delivers at least the same performance as UNIX through fast processing.
• Lower lifecycle costs. With Linux, there's no need to pay UNIX-level hardware maintenance and you can add or subtract servers as needed. There's also a lower cost of hardware and software availability (20 percent on Linux as compared to 100 percent on UNIX).
• Better utilization of assets. You can move Linux servers to where they are needed, eliminating stranded capacity and over-provisioning.
• Improved operational efficiency. With Linux, you have one place to install and manage software and only one set of file systems to back up.

By moving from UNIX to Linux, organizations have seen savings of up to 80 percent in their hardware, maintenance and software expenses. If savings of this magnitude are appealing, now may be the time to free yourself from the shackles of a proprietary UNIX architecture and move to the open source computing model and Linux.

If you are still running your enterprise databases on non-Linux systems, you should consider switching your databases and applications systems to run on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server from Novell. With global scale and a wealth of enterprise experience, Novell has an established track record of success in the data center and can assist in your Linux migration from concept through delivery.

For enterprise database deployments, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server is an ideal choice. It enjoys the support of most of the major vendors, and it includes the leading open source database alternatives. For clustered storage and applications environments, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server works with solutions from Oracle, PolyServe, Veritas and others. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server delivers industry-leading flexibility, security and reliability. It's ready to meet your needs.