Unix servers up 2.7%, Linux servers up 35.6%

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Unix servers up 2.7%, Linux servers up 35.6%

Posted by CmdrTaco on Tuesday March 1, 2005 @05:01AM from the lookit-all-them-numbers dept.

cfelde writes "Linux servers up 35.6% and other Unix servers are up 2.7%. Also worldwide server revenue increased 6.2 percent to US$49 billion in 2004. The blade server market nearly doubled in size to over $1.1 billion in 2004 and 7 percent of x86 shipments in the U.S. were blade servers."

28 of 314 comments (clear)

Who is still selling UNIX? by jimbro2k · 2005-03-01 05:03 · Score: 5, Funny

We know it's not SCO

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1. Re:Who is still selling UNIX? by owlstead · 2005-03-01 05:15 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Well, for starters:
  
  IBM has AIX
  Sun has Solaris
  HP has HPUX (waiting to be retired in all probability)
  SCO - oh forget SCO, they are pretty much a non-player
  
  You'd be amazed how many proprietary Unix systems are still out there. Don't forget that a lot of servers are running a specific software suite or on specific hardware. But the server itself needs to be updated once in a while.
  
  And a lot of businesses like an OS that is very stable, if not that cool or up to date. The one time that I saw Solaris crash was due to hardware errors (and there were quite some Solaris workstations situated at university). Yes, I've seen Linux crashes, before you ask.
wait by Anonymous Coward · 2005-03-01 05:03 · Score: 5, Interesting

Didn't MS claim their server was up in the market as well?
Are these numbers the same (due to more servers being shipped) or are they actually due to increased market share?
1. Re:wait by YankeeInExile · 2005-03-01 05:55 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  At whose expense? If Linux and Unix are both up, and MS is also up, who's down? IBM mainframes?
  At the expense of shops who were using no computer at all. Or abacuses.
  
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Idiotic windows users... by eggoeater · 2005-03-01 05:04 · Score: 5, Funny

up 500%.

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It's Linux *revenue* that's up 35%, not count by 14erCleaner · 2005-03-01 05:04 · Score: 5, Informative

From the article:
When it comes to operating systems, Unix and Windows servers continued to grow. Unix server revenue was $5.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2004 while the corresponding figure for Windows was $4.6 billion.
Linux servers represented 9 percent of worldwide server revenue in 2004, which is 35.6 percent growth compared to the year before.

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1. Re:It's Linux *revenue* that's up 35%, not count by drinkypoo · 2005-03-01 05:05 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  That's even better news from a proliferation standpoint, though, because it will lend Linux additional credibility in the eyes of the PHB. "Hey look, other people are buying this Linux thing"...
  
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2. Re:It's Linux *revenue* that's up 35%, not count by Frankie70 · 2005-03-01 05:10 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  OK - so a free product's revenue is up 35%. That's good news.
The Linux Increase Can Be Attributed to by ThomasFlip · 2005-03-01 05:05 · Score: 4, Interesting

none other than IBM I would presume. Sun and SGI are dead so I don't see unix jumping ahead in the near future. Apple doesn't come off as a server company. BSD isn't as widely supported (I don't think) as Linux, and certainly doesn't have the momentum. Continue to see Linux Rise !

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1. Re:The Linux Increase Can Be Attributed to by LWATCDR · 2005-03-01 05:12 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  The Xserver from apple is doing pretty well, from what I hear it is very good product. I would also say that SUN is not dead yet. SGI... Well they do seem to have some cool stuff still. I wish them well.
  
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2. Re:The Linux Increase Can Be Attributed to by javaxman · 2005-03-01 05:47 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Apple doesn't come off as a server company.
  That opinion is so last century.
  The XServe is so insanely great that people are really starting to take notice, even with Apple's historically bad server-side track record. A 36% revenue increase? That's nothing compared to the XServe over 119% unit sales increase. We're installing ours now, and I can see why people like them. They just work, they're damn fast, and they're really pretty cheaply priced when you compare them to similarly-capable systems, and it's honestly really, really hard to think of something they can't do.
  Apple may not come off as a server company to you, but if you were to fairly evaluate the XServe? That thing sells itself... complete with BSD unixy goodness.
3. Re:The Linux Increase Can Be Attributed to by fr2asbury · 2005-03-01 05:52 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Sun and SGI are dead. BSD is dead. Linux will be dead by adding a Windows driver infastructure to it. Old people in Korea aren't dead though, they still send email. SCO is undead. When will this culture of death end?
4. Re:The Linux Increase Can Be Attributed to by jdwest · 2005-03-01 06:12 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Just installed and set up a new XServe last week. It is a very nice server, indeed. Although not quite perfect for the point-and-click admins (not that Slashdot readers are, anyway), the hardware is nothing short of incredible, IMO. The only hiccup I've encountered with XServe (10.3.8) is its mod_perl implementation, so I will have to roll my own.
  
  I have a "nice" Dell PowerEdge 4600 Xeon single running Mandrake that has been rock-solid in the 2.5 years it has been up, but it sounds like a vacuum cleaner on steroids 24x7. It puts off a goodly amount of heat, too -- thank goodness for server rooms. I love it, and am a little nervous about giving it up. It was my first real test with Linux, and I've come away with nothing but good experiences with it. I've come to appreciate the Linux experience from a reliability standpoint.
  
  Time will tell if the XServe box is as good, but based on my 18+ years experience with Apple's Mac hardware, it stands more than a reasonable chance.
  
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No mention of BSD! by Mars+Ultor · 2005-03-01 05:05 · Score: 5, Funny

What about *BSD? I think the absence of any mention here is a clear indicator that it's dying. Anyone have some Netcraft stats?

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Is that all? by Vainglorious+Coward · 2005-03-01 05:05 · Score: 5, Funny

35.6% seems a pretty poor record for uptime to me.

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Up compared to what? by bwcarty · 2005-03-01 05:06 · Score: 5, Funny

Linux servers up 35.6% and other Unix servers are up 2.7%.

Need a new sysadmin? My Linux and Unix servers are up over 99%.
It's ALL servers up, better news than I thought by RealAlaskan · 2005-03-01 05:06 · Score: 5, Insightful

It looks as if all server sales are up, not just Linux and Unix. From TFA:
When it comes to operating systems, Unix and Windows servers continued to grow. Unix server revenue was $5.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2004 while the corresponding figure for Windows was $4.6 billion. Linux servers represented 9 percent of worldwide server revenue in 2004, which is 35.6 percent growth compared to the year before.
It sounds as if we're seeing some growth in IT spending, rather than just growth in Linux. Notice that Unix servers are still a bit ahead of Windows, in terms of dollar volume.
Growth in Linux is good, but overall growth in IT means more jobs, and that's even better.

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Some of the UNIX's that are still n the market by speighd · 2005-03-01 05:07 · Score: 4, Informative

HP (HP-UX) Sun (Solaris) IBM (AIX) One could also claim that the BSD versions (like Apple OS/X) fall in the category.
MiniMac servers up by WillAffleckUW · 2005-03-01 05:09 · Score: 5, Funny

but they're too small to be counted.

i know i had a MiniMac server somewhere on my desk ... oh, wait, it's under my coffee cup!

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Missing from the summary by bonch · 2005-03-01 05:10 · Score: 4, Informative

Missing from the summary was mention of Windows growth--"When it comes to operating systems, Unix and Windows servers continued to grow. Unix server revenue was $5.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2004 while the corresponding figure for Windows was $4.6 billion."

That's really good for a non-UNIX server.
97.3% of all statistics are made up by xtermin8 · 2005-03-01 05:10 · Score: 4, Insightful

and 99% of the time I don't care.
Feel good to be a UNIX admin right at this moment by nomad63 · 2005-03-01 05:11 · Score: 5, Interesting

Well kinda-sorta. I have devoted last 13 years of my 40+ years life to be a full time computer systems admin, after getting my bachelors and masters degrees in EE and working 7 years in the electronics assembly and manufacturing trenches. I knew that there was an ulterior motive to go in the UNIX direction rather than windoze path subconciously but did not know exactly why and how I ended up being a UNIX guy.
During the last few years, certificate mills creating an army of windows admin drones, who can only click a predefined sequence of location on the screen with their mouse and passing as "system administrators", I tend to think that, certificate watching management types are going to hire more and more of these admin lookalikes and increase the share of windows in the server room which would make a demise of my careerpath. When I see articles like UNIX/Linux gaining ground on the server room, it makes me breathe a little easier. I do not want another career change, even though, after a week of skiing in Colorado, doing something like that for living is tempting :)

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Up 35.6%!! Even for Slashdot, this is meaningless. by kokoloko · 2005-03-01 05:15 · Score: 4, Insightful

At first I assumed it was market share. Then I stopped and thought it must be something much less dramatic. Then I RTFA. Jeez..... Basically, in a growing server market, Linux is producing more money than it did before.
Blade server definition by ZeeExSixAre · 2005-03-01 05:31 · Score: 5, Informative

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_server
A blade server is essentially a computer on a motherboard, including: one or more processors, memory, storage, and network connections. The idea behind blade servers is that many such blades can be added in space-saving racks, thus providing compact and powerful computing solutions that are less expensive than traditional solutions (such as mainframes). Blade servers are ideal for specific purposes such as web hosting and cluster computing. Individual blades are typically hot-swappable. Although blade server technology allows for open, cross-vendor solutions, for the time being, users experience fewer problems when keeping with blades, racks and blade management tools from the same vendor. Eventual standardisation of the technology will hopefully result in more choices for consumers; increasing numbers of third-party software vendors are now entering this growing field.
for comparison by Jrod5000+at+RPI · 2005-03-01 05:44 · Score: 4, Interesting

internet pr0n is a 5-7 billion dollar industry
You're not kidding by delcielo · 2005-03-01 05:45 · Score: 5, Insightful

You're not kidding. I didn't get any real respect around here until I started spending money on server class hardware, "enterprise" distributions, etc.

Funny how that works. You would think that I'd get more respect for NOT spending money.

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Re:Linux server revenue almost equals M$-Windows by Paul+Jakma · 2005-03-01 06:02 · Score: 4, Informative

M$-Windows server revenue was US$4.6 billion in 2004.

No, the windows/unix figures were for the last quarter of 2004, quoting the article:

Unix server revenue was $5.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2004 while the corresponding figure for Windows was $4.6 billion.

Multiply by 4 to get ~$25G for Unix, $18G for Windows. So that puts Linux at somewhere around 1/4 of MS Windows. It also explains the "missing $34G" the other poster referred to. It isnt missing, 25+18+4.4 = 47.4G, so non-Windows/Unix/Linux revenue is somewhere between $1G to $2G.

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Sun by Mark_MF-WN · 2005-03-01 06:21 · Score: 4, Insightful

Sun is notorious for producing some of the most stable software in the world. It's not fast, or pretty; it just never, ever fails. You can see this in the SUN JVM; it's about as stable as you could ever hope for. It's ugly and sluggish, but it's abhorrently resilient.