Linux in Government: How Linux Reins in Server Sprawl

The real disruption will come when we can add a $200 Microtel computer to a group of other computers to add computing capacity to Postgresql or MySQL. OpenMosix doesn't currently work in this configuration because it fares poorly with shared memory from what I can figure out in the docs, or it fares poorly because the databases are a single process. One or the other. But when we can run a database off of a commodity x86 desktop, and add computing capacity to that database server by simply adding additional commodity x86 desktops to the application instead of moving up to dual and quad processor solutions, then we can really claim technological disruption.

Virtualization is one area. Another area just as disruptive, just as likely to affect end users for the better, will be having the capability of adding a $200 desktop computer to a cluster to increase computing power to whatever application you are running, whether Apache or database, and be able to do that without reprogramming any application.

There was an application announced a while back that had to do with OpenMosix type clustering called Chaos. This may be a solution to the technological challenge I'm discussing, or not. But it would seem to me that if efforts were directed in this direction, that many, many end users would benefit.

btw, good work on the article. Keep 'em coming. And stay away from the Java/Sun junk. More articles on local/state/federal governments using FOSS to save money are welcome. Specifically, the local governments need to be aware of, or exposed, on putting jobs out to bid where the agency gets a holiday basket full of licensed software as part of the construction project. I've seen the bid sheets. Every one of the software applications that are part of the bid, every application used by the government employee sitting in the construction trailer during the project, every one of those applications is a new, fully licensed, full priced, boxed version of the application. And when the taxpayers are paying for it through the bidding process to contractors, the agencies go full out on purchasing every little app, every little gimmick, every little toy they can get their hands on through this bidding process. Simply replacing Microsoft Office with OpenOffice on these RFP/RFB jobs will save $500 per copy, multiple copies, per job. The contractors don't care because they get the secretaries to figure out list prices, they add the costs into the bid, and their competitors do the same. So there is no incentive to get the government employees to switch, especially when they can't get the applications through the agency due to budget constraints. There needs to be some exposes on this. Just pick up the RFP/RFB's, make a list of all the proprietary software costs, make a list of all the FOSS substitutes, then show up during the next public meeting when tax increases or teacher/fireman/police/library job cuts & senior hot meal cuts are being proposed.

The current mess goes back to Microsoft servers. Think NT. How many services could you reliably run on a NT server? Answer, maybe 1. It was fool hardy to try to run 2 services. Let the sprawl begin.

Even at the time, Unix was reliable, expensive, and supported multiple services on a single server. The cost was the problem. Lets go with NT its cheaper. Once into it, it becomes apparent that more (cheap) servers are needed. Sprawl on.

The real answer to this mess is to look at what can be done with consolidating multiple services on Linux. This permits the elimination of many of the low usage machines.

Isn't the next logical step skipping Linux/BSD and going back to bulletproof mainframe class hardware/software with on-demand resource allocation ?

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