Red Hat and IBM have signed an agreement under which Red Hat Enterprise Linux will be ordered concurrent with the order of IBM’s high-performance Power eServer systems. Red Hat Enterprise Linux brings flexibility to the highly scalable and reliable POWER platform. Although IBM has not yet announced specifics of any shipment plans, the agreement between IBM and Red Hat will enable IBM to give customers the choice of running Red Hat Enterprise Linux on entry level 1-2 way POWER4+ systems to the high-end 32-way POWER4+ systems, as well as on the POWER-based, IBM eServer(TM) BladeCenter, allowing customers to benefit from easier modular scalability. This will allow Red Hat customers to deploy a common code base on all IBM hardware in their infrastructure. Red Hat and IBM have had a strategic agreement in place to provide customers with enterprise Linux solutions since November, 2001. Since then the two companies have cooperated to provide broad support for Linux customers worldwide. "This new enhanced agreement with Red Hat will allow us to give customers the option of having their Red Hat Enterprise Linux software shipped with their POWER systems," said Brian Connors, Vice President, Linux on POWER. "As the leader in 64-bit computing, IBM's future POWER offerings are poised to take full advantage of running Linux on POWER in a way that no competing enterprise platform can match - with the breadth, depth and technology advancements in the POWER microprocessor that has set the bar for 64-bit computing." "This announcement is testament to the joint resolve of IBM and Red Hat to further strengthen and expand the global partnership," said Mike Evans, vice president of Partner Development at Red Hat. "As we see the volume 64-bit computing market starting to gain momentum, we are excited to work with IBM on the POWER Platform. Customers will continue to benefit from the high quality choices available through IBM and Red Hat integrated solutions." IBM's POWER microprocessor architecture is a leading industry solution for 64-bit applications, offering customers open, innovative technology solutions through either the AIX 5L, OS/400 or Linux operating systems that complement the growing demand for 64-bit applications. In addition to being at the core of the powerful, industry leading IBM eServer systems, the POWER microprocessor technology can be found in Nintendo game consoles, Apple computers, and some of the world's most powerful supercomputers and storage systems. For more information, or to purchase Red Hat Enterprise Linux on IBM POWER and eServer BladeCenter JS20 servers, please visit http://www.ibm.com