In our most recent Unix Vendor Preference Survey (2008/09 edition), we asked real-world enterprise Unix customers to give us their take on the major Unix vendors and their system offerings. One of the most compelling pieces of the Unix value proposition is how these systems can deliver high levels of application availability. In our survey, Hewlett-Packard topped IBM and Sun Microsystems in several of the availability-related survey categories. In this research report, we discuss these results and take a look at the reasons behind HP’s high scores….

Data from our 2008/09 Unix Vendor Preference Survey shows that the Unix market is not only alive and well, but that Unix systems are strategic platforms for over 90% of our survey respondents. In this research report, we look at these results – along with others – and discuss the Unix market in depth. We also take a quick look at the vendor vs. vendor results from our survey and touch on how Hewlett-Packard fared this year…

In our most recent survey of Unix data centers, survey respondents tapped HP’s Integrity systems as best in the “Observed Performance” category. This is the second year that HP topped competitors on this metric, with scores that have steadily risen over the past two years. In this research report, we discuss these survey results and take a look at hardware and software enhancements HP has made to their Integrity product line to speed the ‘real world’ performance of these systems.

FREE DOWNLOAD FOR REGISTERED USERS...Results are in for our 4Q’07 Unix Vendor Preference Survey, and the competition between the big three vendors (IBM, HP, and Sun) is closer than ever. IBM wins top honors, but only narrowly beats a resurgent Hewlett- Packard. Sun is in third place in our Vendor Face-Off categories, but shows strength in several other survey categories and unusually solid customer loyalty. This report is a brief overview of the high level results; subsequent reports will lay out detailed findings on a wide variety of Unix and data center issues...

FREE DOWNLOAD FOR REGISTERED USERS...Prior to Opteron, AMD processors were relegated to the role of low-cost Intel alternative, and had little presence in the enterprise server market. Opteron changed all that and vaulted AMD into the big time – their server processor market share approached 30%. Intel responded with a furious effort to regain the performance, energy efficiency, and price/performance high ground. Our question is: Have x86 customers developed lasting loyalties to either AMD or Intel, or do they simply look for the best processor at the time? To get some answers, we asked participants in our GCG x86 Server Vendor Preference Survey to weigh in on these issues...