Chapter 17. Deploying Linux Servers

The ease at which Linux applications can be ported to the mainframe has given rise to a rapidly growing number of tools, middleware, and end user applications for Linux on the mainframe.

Because Linux is UNIX-like, it is relatively easy to port software from UNIX operating systems to Linux. Increasingly, software vendors are providing Linux versions of their commercial UNIX applications.

The effort for porting an application from another Linux platform to Linux on the mainframe is generally minor, because Linux is designed to be platform-independent. For a given level, the Linux kernel has almost the identical capabilities and characteristics across all its architectural implementations. The small amount of platform-dependent code is normally not directly invoked by applications and, therefore, is transparent to most of them.

In this chapter, we explore questions such as:

• Where can you find applications for Linux on the mainframe?

• What do suppliers of applications for Linux on the mainframe offer to your enterprise?

• What are the advantages of running application servers on the mainframe?

• What value does Linux give for running applications on the mainframe?