Posted 10:33 AM

Linux Learns Marketing

Merrill Lynch VP of "Global Technology & Services" Mark Snodgrass gave a presentation at the recent Enterprise Linux Forum in which he claimed that Linux saves money, at least compared to Windows servers. But, as I read the article, he simply proves that virtual servers are less costly than multiple physical servers - that's hardly a revelation.

I'm still trying to fathom why you'd want multiple virtual file servers running on one big piece of iron, though. That strikes me as a recipe for more frequent disasters, more frequent down time for re-configuration and a more expensive administrative payroll coping with the virtual space.

Maybe Merrill, Lynch should stick to insider trading problems rather than skewed logic on OS deployment. But, then, its probably skewed logic that got its stock trader Peter Bacanovic (and Martha Stewart) in trouble to begin with.