IBM Launches Linux-Only Mainframe System LinuxONE

The servers include LinuxONE Emperor for large enterprises and Rockhopper for mid-size businesses.

IBM said LinuxONE Emperor can scale up to 8,000 virtual machines or thousands of containers, which would be the most for any single Linux system.

The Linux One Empire system will be based on IBM's z13 mainframe computer, which had been designed for high-volume mobile transactions.

IBM said the LinuxOne system will work with open software such as Apache Spark, Maria, Posture and Chef.

The company also said it partnered with UK-based Canonical Ltd to distribute its Ubuntu open source software on LinuxONE and z systems.

Earlier this month, IBM said it would buy medical image company Merge Healthcare in a $1 billion (roughly Rs. 6,373 crores) deal and combine it with its newly formed health analytics unit, which is powered by its famous Watson supercomputer.

IBM plans to combine data and images from Merge Healthcare's medical imaging management platform with Watson's cloud-based healthcare computing system.

The system analyses high volumes of data, understands complex questions posed in natural language and proposes evidence-based answers.

The deal will help physicians and researchers collate and analyse data such as patient's medical and family history, data on others with similar symptoms and clinical research, trials and outcomes.

IBM has been expanding aggressively in the healthcare IT sector. The Merge deal is the company's third major health-related acquisition since launching the Watson Health unit in April.

Edited by NDTV staff from original story by Reuters