Leading Linux seller Red Hat has recently launched the second version of its enterprise operating system (OS) which touts improved performance, scalability and compatibility with a much wider range of hardware platforms. Coupled with plans to expand its Asian footprint, the firm is hoping to mount an ambitious challenge on the dominant Unix platform and ultimately send the incumbent server OS to its grave.

The company's latest offering, dubbed Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 3.0, boasts of over 350 enhancements from the earlier version. Most notably, the new release now supports seven 32-bit and 64-bit hardware architectures -- Intel x86 and Itanium, AMD64, IBM zSeries, iSeries, pSeries and S/390.

In addition, RHEL 3.0 includes improved scalability for SMP (Symmetric MultiProcessing), supporting up to 16 processors on Intel/AMD-based designs.

Beyond broader hardware compatibility, a major boost in the latest release is a refinement to RHEL's multi-threading capabilities. RHEL 3.0 incorporates a new threading system called Native POSIX Threading Library (NPTL).

According to Harish Pillay, chief technology architect for Red Hat Asia, the scalability of threading has increased from 1,200 to 32,000 threads with NPTL. This translates to significant performance boosts when running multithreading applications such as Java software and databases, he said. More importantly, the enhancement puts RHEL 3.0 in better stead against rival OS Unix, which has long been equipped with more advanced-threading capabilities.

"The feature and functionality enhancements will definitely put RHEL in a stronger position to compete against Windows, Unix or any other OS," said Rajnish Arora, associate director for enterprise servers and workstations at IDC Asia-Pacific. However, he believes enhancements alone are not the magic bullets to success.

"The entire ecosystem consisting of database vendors, middleware technologies and huge number of vertical and horizontal application availability is required to drive the penetration of Linux," said Arora. "The applications need to be certified and optimised for RHEL before customers start deploying them in the production environment. All this is easier said then done."

To this end, Gus Robertson, Red Hat's vice president for South Asia-Pacific, said the company is trying to garner greater support from application developers and the results are clearly showing.

"In January, there were 40 applications certified on RHEL and by August there were 323," Robertson said.

Like its predecessor, RHEL 3.0 comes in three versions depending on the nature of the implementation. RHEL AS (Advanced Server) is designed for higher-end servers typically used is large data centre-type deployments while RHEL ES (Entry/ Mid Server) is for most other enterprise server implementations. The final flavour -- RHEL WS (Workstation) -- is deployed on desktops or client applications.

Pricing for the new release remains largely unchanged from the first enterprise edition. Licensing fees include access to the OS's source code as well as a 12-month subscription to the firm's update/ fixes delivery mechanism called Red Hat Network. Prices in Asia range from US$179 per year for RHEL WS with basic phone and technical support to US$2,988 for RHEL AS with round-the-clock support. OEM partners such as IBM, HP, Dell, Fujitsu and Hitachi are set pre-install RHEL 3.0 in their boxes over the next two months, Robertson added.

For current RHEL 2.1 customers, they can upgrade for free via the Red Hat Network. However, those using the initial Red Hat Linux line of products will not be entitled to the same offer. Red Hat Linux offerings (Versions 7, 8 and 9) were once offered as free downloads to users who did not require technical support, but the company pulled the plug on this model when it revamped its business strategy and launched RHEL 2.1 in May last year.

In a recent note it sent out to customers, Red Hat said it will cease support for Red Hat Linux 7.1, 7.2, 7.3 and 8.0 by December this year and plans to do the same for version 9 by April 2004. Instead, users will have to turn to Fedora -- an open-source community project backed by Red Hat -- for support. To encourage early adopters to move to RHEL 3.0, the company has developed a migration resource on its Web site and is also offering a 50 percent discount off the licensing price for two years should they switch before February next year.

End of days for Unix?
Although there are three major server operating systems in the market, Robertson has its sights firmly set on displacing Unix and not Windows.

"We don't see ourselves competing against Microsoft. We are taking market share away from Unix," he said. Robertson claimed RHEL can typically offer users three times the performance for one-third the costs of Unix platforms.

"In future, there will only be two operating systems left. Unix will be dead," he claimed.

Despite Robertson's doomsday prophecy, industry experts share a different sentiment.

According to market statistics from IDC's Q2 2003 Quarterly Enterprise Server Tracker, Unix is still the dominant server platform in Asia-Pacific, excluding Japan.

"The share of spending on Unix servers actually increased from 45.8 percent in calendar year 2002 to 46.5 percent in the first half of 2003," said IDC's Arora. He expects Unix to retain the lion's share of the market, accounting for 41.8 percent of the total server spending till 2007.

While Arora acknowledged Linux is indeed experiencing strong growth, he said the bull run is coming from a relatively small user base.

"In the first half of 2003, Linux accounted for 9.5 percent of the total server shipments while in terms of spending it accounted for a mere 4.3 percent of the total server market," he said. "...Linux will account for 20.6 percent of all server shipments and 9.8 percent of spending by 2007."

"Each of the top three Unix vendors (IBM, HP and Sun) has a huge installed base that they will continue to zealously guard and grow because the Unix server market will remain vibrant in the next five years. The figures clearly show that Linux has a lot of ground to cover before it starts to dominate the server market or supersede Unix," Arora stressed.

In Red Hat's defense however, Robertson claimed the increase in Unix spending is a result of user expenditure in maintenance fees, but he maintained they are not splurging on new Unix systems.

The numbers debate aside, Asia-Pacific does provide Red Hat with a unique opportunity to extend its presence

For now, Red Hat has an early-mover advantage as its key open-source rival Suse Linux -- the subject a US$210 million acquisition by network software maker Novell -- is mostly active in Europe and the US and has not revealed concrete plans for the Asian market.

In addition, a number of Asian governments have now indicated their willingness to switch to the open-source camp. This is evidenced by the flurry of Linux-related projects launched in countries like China, India, Korea and Thailand in the past six months.

Recognising this market potential, Robertson said the company is hoping to expand its operations in the region.

"We have recently added headcount in India, Australia and Singapore and we are looking at hiring staff in Malaysia within the next few weeks," he said.

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