How fast is fast enough?
Novell’s SUSE Linux is getting a boost up to real-time speed thanks to a
new partnership with Concurrent.
Concurrent Real-Time Extensions Powered By SUSE Linux is an optimized
version of SUSE Linux that provides guaranteed interrupt response times of
fewer than 30 microseconds.
The new product will be jointly sold and
supported by Concurrent in partnership with Novell and is initially being
targeted at financial services trading and data floors in addition to
government and telecom users.
Charlie Ungashick, director of product marketing for Linux and Open
Source at Novell, explained that Novell and Concurrent came to the same set
of market requirements from different perspectives, and they came together
in the context of customer interest.
“We’ve seen initial interest for real-time Linux solutions from mature IT
organizations who already use Linux pervasively across servers and desktops,” Ungashick told internetnews.com. “This solution enables organizations to
benefit from time-critical performance on an open platform.”
The new partnership with Concurrent doesn’t necessarily mean that Novell is
now shifting focus to the embedded computing space.
“This solution deals with real-time computing solutions for enterprise
computing, and the market is still early,” Ungashick said. “Time-critical
computing concepts have been around for quite some time, but only recently
are they being considered on open architectures and platforms such as
Linux.”
“Novell continues to explore other opportunities, and embedded computing is
one which is of interest,” Ungashick continued. “But today, our core focus
is on infrastructure software solutions for enterprises who want to embrace
open source and open standards.”
Real time efforts on Linux have in part been led by MontaVista Linux. A new version of MontaVista Linux, complete with real-time
capabilities was released in September.
Concurrent is of course no stranger to real-time Linux either. Its
Red Hawk Linux is a real-time Linux OS with Red Hat Linux at its core. Lockheed Martin Space Systems uses Red Hawk Linux for a U.S. Army strategic missile defense subsystem simulation testing program.
All told, the embedded Linux space is an attractive market, at least
financially.
A recent study from Venture Development Corp. (VDC) has pegged the value of the embedded Linux market at $100 million.