Mainframe Linux taking off

Mainframe Linux is finding a growing group of supporters who recognise the software as a reliable operating system for business critical applications.

Korean Air has just completed the first phase of developing its core business systems on Linux and IBM mainframes in its Seoul headquarters.

Eddie Bleasdale, director at consultancy firm Netproject, said the Korean Air project would "open the gate" for other large deployments of Linux in business critical applications. "Linux offers a unified operating system over all systems - an enormous cost advantage," he said.

Distributors have seen some 3000 downloads of mainframe Linux, 10 of which are used for critical systems, Bleasdale said. Another 240 customers are developing or testing Linux for the IBM z900 mainframe.

"We decided to deploy flight scheduling systems on Linux to consolidate workloads running on a variety of servers," said Yong-Seung Hwang, chief information officer at Korean Air. "We are confident we will not only save money, but drastically improve the performance of our systems."

The national airline now runs its flight schedule enquiry and daily revenue accounting systems on Linux-based IBM hardware and software. More than 3000 pilots and flight attendants will access the mainframe via its intranet to get real-time flight schedule information.

The company developed its revenue accounting system with WebSphere and Java tools and uses a DB2 database and Linux application server. It plans to integrate the system with its in-house system for service monitoring.

It will also allow access to its global online ticket sales partners, to widen the scope of Linux for accounting systems.