Using Virtual Linux servers

IBM has invested millions of dollars on Linux development and made the open-source operating system available on its entire server line. The company's recently announced Virtual Linux-On-Demand service will, for the first time, let companies access large-scale computing over the Internet. Instead of physical servers, customers will be able to tap into virtual servers on mainframes running Linux and be billed only for the computing power and resources they use. This will facilitate creation of e-utilities as well as help establish virtual organizations through grid technologies that enable rapid resource deployment. The paper considers how Marist College's School of Computer Science and Mathematics initiated a joint project with IBM built around using such servers. The college's IBM S/390 mainframe can run hundreds of Linux systems as virtual servers, all within a single logical partition.