Sun on Monday announced the availability of a prototype of OpenSolaris for IBM's System z mainframes, the first time the open source operating system has been available in a mainframe environment.
The prototype, downloadable from the OpenSolaris Web site, is the result of work carried out by Sine Nomine Associates (SNA), with Sun's technical assistance and equipment, and funding from IBM.
IBM and SNA demonstrated an early version of the software in November 2007 at the Gartner Data Conference, but this is the software's first public release.
The availability of the prototype source code means the open source developer community can now take part in fine-tuning the project, Sun said. The company said the release marks the first time Solaris features such as the Zettabyte File System (ZFS) and the Solaris Containers virtualization system have been available on a mainframe.
Mainframes are marketed on their reliability and scalability, and in recent years their ability to simultaneously run large numbers of virtualised operating systems has made them the focus of data center consolidation efforts.
IBM said it has modified the mainframe's z/VM virtual machine to enable OpenSolaris to run as a guest operating system.
The company is pitching the use of many virtualized instances of OpenSolaris on the mainframe as a way to cut energy costs, save floor space, consolidate hardware and securely manage complex transactions. IBM said a z10 mainframe can handle the workload of 1,500 x86 servers, with 85 percent lower energy costs and 85 percent less datacentre floor space.
"IBM's System z mainframe continues to evolve, enhancing our client's IT scalability and flexibility while seeking to help the 'greening' of their data centers," said Bernard Meyerson, chief technologist of IBM's Systems and Technology Group, in a statement. "We look forward to the active participation of the open source community on this project."
The OpenSolaris project was introduced in 2005 as a way of tapping into open source developer interest in Solaris, Sun's flagship Unix operating system. The first OpenSolaris OS was delivered in May 2008 for desktop, server and high-performance computing environments.
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