Linux Replacing Windows In Data CentersLinux Replacing Windows In Data Centers

A recent survey of 1,948 users found Windows edging out Unix as the top operating system that Linux replaces in migration projects.

Linux's presence in the data center has grown rapidly alongside Windows' -- together the two have been the fastest growing data center operating systems, frequently at the expense of Unix. Now a new survey by the Linux Foundation suggests that, at least among large Linux users, Linux is growing at the expense of Windows, too.

It's hard to get a precise picture of Linux's position in the data center. No one company owns it, and various versions are readily available through free download, which no one claims to track. The Linux Foundation turned to known Linux users, the members of its End User Council, and 1,900 other enterprise and government Linux users selected by the Yoeman Technology Group.

When Linux growth has been tracked over the past decade, much of it was attributed to migrations from the former Sun Microsystems' Solaris, IBM AIX, and HP-UX and other Unixes. In the recent survey, "migrations to Linux from Windows are surpassing those from Unix," the report said, with 37% coming from Windows and 31% from the Unixes.

It says that 76% of companies plan to add more Linux servers over the next 12 months, compared to 41% that plan to add Windows servers. Over a five-year period, the shift accelerates: 79.4% plan to add more Linux; 21% more Windows. Forty-four percent said they were planning to maintain their existing number of Windows servers, or decrease them over the next 12 months.

The survey contains the bias of being submitted to existing Linux users motivated to fill out a survey from the Linux Foundation. Nevertheless, previous foundation reports and anecdotal evidence had revealed preferences for Linux and Windows, not a favoring of Linux over Windows, its spokesmen said.

In addition, 66% say their current Linux deployments are new server deployments rather than replacements for existing systems, showing Linux is at the forefront of new application implementations. "This greenfield market-share grab is a good indicator of a platform's future performance," claimed the Yeoman Technology Group report. In the survey, Linux workloads are changing, with 60% saying they use Linux "for more mission critical workloads" than in the past.

Although low cost remains a factor in Linux adoption, survey respondents cited security and technical superiority as their top drivers. Sixty-eight percent cited technical superiority, 65% total cost of ownership, and 64% cited security. Asked if the recession had prompted increasing use of Linux at their organizations, 40% said it had, but 59% said their Linux use was not driven by economic need springing from the downturn.

Comments from the 387 largest enterprise and government agency respondents were included in the report; they each had at least $500 million in revenue or 500 employees.

"Training staff (on Linux) has proven to be more cost effective than purchasing licenses," said one of the cost-sensitive commenters. But another said, "Our strategy has been towards Linux for many years. The recession didn't change that."

The Linux kernel continues to be developed through the open source project lead by Linus Torvalds and Andrew Morton, but most large users appear to have confidence in the process: 86.5% said they believe that Linux continues to improve.

Only 26% expected to be involved in cloud computing in the next 12 months, but of those planning the move, 70% said Linux would be their primary cloud operating system.

A somewhat surprising 36% claimed to be using Linux on the desktop, although many conceded it existed in small pockets, not widespread implementations. Linux is often the desktop system of developers. "A few noted more than 400 desktop deployments underway with one citing an 8,000 desktop target," the report said.

Only 13% of the respondents actively contributed code to Linux, but 38% said they test for and report on bugs.

Among the respondents were Linux users at Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Bristol-Myers Squibb, NTT, Deutsche Bank, Dreamworks, ADP, McKinsey and Co., Bank of New York, Barclays Capital, AIG, the U.S. Department of Defense, MetLife, CME Group, NASDAQ QMX, The New York Stock Exchange, and Goodrich.