Ubuntu Server Targets the Data Center

Canonical, the lead commercial sponsor of the Ubuntu Linux distribution, is out with a new study this week looking at how users view and use their server platform.

The Ubuntu Server study comes at an opportune time as the next major release of Ubuntu codenamed the Lucid Lynx is scheduled for release at the end of April. The Lucid release is a major one for Ubuntu as it is the first Long Term Support (LTS) release in two years.

Typical Ubuntu releases come out every six months and have 18 months of support. Ubuntu LTS releases, however, come out every two years and provide three years of support on Ubuntu Desktop, and five years on Ubuntu Server. The last Ubuntu LTS release was the 8.04 release, codenamed the Hardy Heron which made its debut in April 2008.

The new Ubuntu Server study done by Canonical, received responses from 2,650 people and shows the relative importance of an LTS release over a regular non-LTS release. The study found that there were more users of the 8.04 LTS release than there were for the more recent 8.10, 9.04 and 9.10 releases. The most recent Ubuntu 9.10 release, codenamed the Karmic Koala.

“Ubuntu 6.06 LTS still shows considerable use, but it is the stand-out use of Ubuntu 8.04 LTS which tells the story of the acceptance and appreciation of this dual-release cycle amongst Ubuntu users,” the Canonical report stated.

Critical and essential services

Nearly three quarters (72 percent) of respondents also noted that they consider Ubuntu to be ready to deliver critical server services. In terms of the features that respondents identified as being essential, they include backup, firewall, security hardening, storage support and systems management.

Read the rest at Linux Planet.