OSDL releases Data Center Linux Technical Capabilities V1.0.

The Open Source Development Labs (OSDL), a global consortium dedicated to accelerating the adoption of Linux, today announced the availability of the Data Center Linux (DCL) Technical Capabilities, version 1.0, a document that defines and prioritizes Linux capabilities required by demanding enterprise-class applications.

"OSDL is committed to accelerating Linux use in enterprise-class datacenters by working with IT vendors, IT managers, and the Linux development community in an open environment to define what we need to bring Linux into widespread use in datacenters," said Stuart Cohen, CEO of OSDL. "We welcome increased industry and community participation in using the DCL technical capabilities document to define future Linux technical requirements."

The OSDL DCL Technical Capabilities is the work of current OSDL member companies and interested individuals and defines over 300 prioritized capabilities. They are organized into seven categories: scalability, performance, reliability/availability/scalability (RAS), manageability, clusters, standards, security, and usability. Priorities for each capability were assigned with the help of feedback from industry leaders and end-users.

"The OSDL DCL Working Group defined Linux capabilities and assigned priorities based on what companies need in Linux to support demanding, enterprise-class applications such as high-end on-line transaction processing (OLTP) and decision support," said Steve Geary, director of Linux Engineering at HP and chair of the DCL Working Group. "We are releasing the capabilities document to create an open process to solicit feedback on capabilities and priorities prior to producing a requirements document."

Working from this list of capabilities, OSDL will create a DCL requirements document. The goal of the requirements document is to create a public reference blueprint for Linux distributions, large end users or Linux kernel developers.