Linux Vendors Join Forces

Linux in the enterprise will take a step forward with the announcement this week of a global initiative aimed at providing data center backup support across a broad array of applications. BakBone Software Inc., of San Diego, a provider of data backup and restore software, along with six of the leading Linux distributors, is forming what they’re calling the Linux Advantage initiative. Other founding partners include Red Hat Inc., of Raleigh, N.C.; SuSE Linux AG; Miracle Linux Corp. and Turbolinux Inc., both of Japan; Red Flag Software Co. Ltd., in China; and Conectiva S.A., in Latin America.

As part of its agreement with members, BakBone will guarantee that its NetVault software is certified on each of the partners’ Linux distributions.
But the agreements are not exclusive, leaving the vendors and their customers free to use similar products from Legato Software and Veritas Software
Corp., said Peter Eck, BakBone’s vice president of product management, in an interview with eWEEK.

BakBone’s support for the alliance members’ distributions, however, will enable Linux users to “aggressively accelerate their Linux adoption plans and
confidently deploy a highly available, scalable and performance-driven Linux infrastructure with the same level of data protection that they are
familiar with in other operating systems like Unix and Windows,” Eck said.