Shimp, speaking at CeBIT America in New York City several weeks ago, quoted his boss Larry Ellison’s comment that Oracle "will run our whole business on Linux." Shimp presented facts to back up the claim and provided a progress report on how the transition to the open-source OS is progressing. The following details what Shimp has to say about Oracle's interest in Linux.
Everything Linux
Oracle's transition to Linux, according to Shimp, is substantial. The first priority was to validate that the core OS -- assuming enterprise-level support is established -- can provide more bang for the buck than proprietary operating systems. Oracle’s answer is that it can. Shimp compared the speed and costs of two typical data centre implementations running Oracle apps, one running two Linux CPUs and the other two UNIX/RISC-based devices. Linux was an across-the-board winner. It had a faster average response time (1.3 seconds vs. 1.7 seconds), a faster 90 percent response time (2.2 seconds vs. 3.8 seconds) and costs less ($5,333 vs. $8,860).
This is the sort of price/performance comparison that led Oracle to cast its lot with Linux. But Linux demands a tremendous amount of attention before it is ready for corporate use in mission-critical applications. Oracle’s efforts to achieve this level of stability, named "Unbreakable Linux," are ongoing, Shimp said. They focus on three things that customers tell Oracle they want before they'll switch key systems to the Linux OS:
- It must work reliably.
- It must be supported by mainstream companies.
- It must operate in an environment where applications from a variety of vendors are available.
Clearly, Oracle is one of the companies best positioned to meet these criteria. To try to do so, Shimp said, Oracle rolled out a substantial Linux program in June, 2002. It features a development effort with Linux vendors, creation of substantial Linux support within Oracle, and the porting of all Oracle apps to Linux. Oracle’s quality assurance department became directly involved in developing and testing Linux and its components. "I believe we’ve made a dramatic improvement in the quality of the code," Shimp said.
