AIX and Linux

[dman7777777]

I was talking to my boss and in 6 months he said we are going to switch over to Linux. So, I am a bit confused. We run AIX boxes with AIX 5l. When he saids we are going to switch over to Linux, does this mean we are no longer going to be using the AIX 5L?

 

[khalidaaa]

linux and AIX are two different platform! so what i understand from him is that you won't be using AIX any more!

Regards,
Khalid

 

[dman7777777]

Wow, that doesn't make alot of sense why they would do that. Could you still utilize the power of an IBM box using Linux instead of AIX?

 

[khalidaaa]

If you run Power5 machines then you are ok! you can run linux on the same box along with aix!!

IMHO the linux license is cheaper!

Regards,
Khalid

 

[unixfreak]

No - you cannot utilise the power of the IBM platform with Linux. AIX is taylor made for the platform and is the optimum solution. And it's free!

 

[khalidaaa]

unixfreak, I think you are pointing when i said "run linux on the same box with aix" right? when i said the same box i meant the same P5 machine but on a seperate partition!

for more info on this, please refer to the following:

http://www.itjungle.com/breaking/bn020805-story02.html

http://www.open-mag.com/features/Vol_101/dualOS/dualOS.htm

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0PIL/is_2005_May_20/ai_n13759504

Regards,
Khalid

 

[unixfreak]

khalidaaa: Sorry I didn't even notice that. I was answering dman7777777's question.

It sounds to me like they're taking their precious POWER5 boxes, wiping out AIX on them and installing Linux.

 

[dman7777777]

ya, their switching over to Linux is what I was told. I don't understand why though if they can harness more power out of an IBM box with AIX. Does software run more stable in Linux?

 

[unixfreak]

No definitely not! AIX is far more stable. In terms of administration and features, AIX is superior as well.

If you're talking raw speed, maybe you can, on a small box, get a bit more out of a light-weight Linux installation. I wouldn't recommend running an 8 way 24GB memory system using Linux though.

What will these systems be used for? Other than for Apache and Bind type services I'd always stick with AIX.

 

[khalidaaa]

It depends on the application but generally i would recommend AIX over linux for its robustness.

I guess if you asked them for their reasons and share it with us, we might convince you not to go for it

I beleive its all about cutting costs!

Regards,
Khalid

 

[jpor2003]

They did the same thing at my last place of work. Moved off AIX in favour of Linux. But instead of using exisiting IBM kit. They moved to INTEL boxes as they claimed it was cheaper and faster than IBM RISC CPUs. I beleive it was Red Hat LINUX enterprise.

 

[unixfreak]

Khalidaaa said:
> I beleive its all about cutting costs!

If it's on the same hardware I can't see why? Administering AIX is easier and more efficient and you're less prone to make mistakes because of high level commands.

 

[spamly]

I have no problem using Linux if we're talking about small utility servers. The open source community out there is just great.

On larger database servers or servers that honestly need high availability (proven uptime/vendor support) I would stay with a "real" UNIX like AIX or Solaris (with Veritas clustering).

 

[dman7777777]

I can not tell you why because the decisions and info are handed down from far away. Butif Linux is cheaper than that is why they are doing it.

 

[dman7777777]

But wait...does Linux use a Logical Volume Management? I can't possibley see any migration from this. That would mean re-structiong all the directories and files, correct?

 

[khalidaaa]

unixfreak: I beleive that the linux licenses are cheaper so the currning cost is lower!

I'm not a Linux user but i installed it once and i saw that it has logical volume (like /usr /var and so)

Regards,
Khalid

 

[dman7777777]

Well, what I meant is the AIX's LVM ability to span a LV over several hard drives/ assigning PP's from various hardrives to a LV. Can this be done in Linux? If not then they will have to completely reconstruct thier directories, right?

 

[khalidaaa]

As I said i'm not a linux admin but i had some links that might help you in that:

http://searchenterpriselinux.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid39_gci1228421,00.html

http://www.storix.com/solutions/software_storage_migration.html

Regards,
Khalid

 

[unixfreak]

khalidaaa: AIX is free!

dman: Yes, Linux has an LVM that looks like the one in AIX. However, it lacks almost all but basic features.

 

[khalidaaa]

unixfreak: to be honest i don't handle AIX licenses so i can't judge but i guess there should be some kind of control on AIX licenses! how come it is free?