Microsoft has once again demonstrated that it has abandoned its “I didn’t invent it” attitude in support of customers.
When Microsoft released Azure as a cloud version of its Windows server operating system, it didn’t make it a Windows-only version, it also supported Linux, And in just a few years, the number of Linux instances now exceeds the number of Windows instances.
It’s nice to see That Microsoft is finally moving away from this “not invented by me” attitude that has been so toxic for so long, and the company’s latest move is truly surprising.
Microsoft partnered with a company called Skytap to offer IBM Power9 instances on Azure cloud services that run power-based systems within the Azure cloud, The system will be used as an Azure virtual Machine (VM) along with its existing Xeon and Epyc instances.
Skytap is an interesting company. Founded by three professors at the University of Washington, it specializes in cloud migration of native legacy hardware, such as IBM System I or Sparc. The company has a data center in Seattle that runs IBM’s PowerVM hypervisor on IBM hardware and provides hosting for IBM data centers in the United States and England.
The company’s motto is to move fast and then modernise at its own pace. So it’s focused on helping businesses move legacy systems to the cloud and then modernize their applications, which is what it’s working with Microsoft to do. Azure will enhance the value of traditional applications by providing a platform for enterprises without the expense of rewriting a new platform.
Skytap provides a preview of what might happen when the original IBM I application is enhanced and extended with DB2 on Skytap, as well as through Azure’s iot Center. The application works seamlessly with old and new architectures and demonstrates that you don’t need to completely rewrite a solid IBM I application to benefit from modern cloud capabilities.
Migrated to the Azure
Under the agreement, Microsoft will deploy IBM’s Power S922 servers in an undeclared Azure region. These machines can run PowerVM hypervisors, which support older IBM operating systems as well as Linux.
“Migrating to the upper cloud by replacing older technologies first is both time consuming and risky,” Brad Schick, Skytap CEO, said in a statement. … Skytap’s vision has always been to move enterprise systems to the cloud with a few small changes and low risk. Working with Microsoft, we will provide native support for migrating a variety of legacy applications to Azure, including those running on IBM I, AIX, and Power Linux. “This will enable enterprises to extend the life and add value to legacy systems by modernizing with Azure services.”
As Power based applications modernize, Skytap will later introduce the DevOps CI/CD tool chain to speed up software delivery. By moving to Azure’s Skytap, customers will be able to integrate Azure DevOps with Power’s CI/CD tool chain, such as Eradani and UrbanCode.
This may sound like a first step, but it means there will be more to come, especially in terms of application migration. If it’s only in one Azure area, it sounds like they’re testing and validating the project and probably expanding it later this year or next year.
Via: www.networkworld.com/article/343…
By Andy Patrizio (lujun9972
This article is originally compiled by LCTT and released in Linux China