Could Linux and AMD challenge "Wintel" on the shop floor?

A data acquisition and control system powered by the AMD 64-bit Opteron processor and running atop the Linux operating system could hold great interest for manufacturers seeking to manage their plants on the basis of real-time information.

That's the hope, at least, at the Atlanta headquarters of Concurrent Computer, which recently released a version of its iHawk computer system with a version of Linux designed specifically for the AMD Opteron processor.

BP Pipelines, Lisle, Ill., relies on a Linux-based iHawk system to control the transportation of natural gas, crude oil, and petroleum products. "We track the conditions of pipelines and model the data in real time, so we needed real-time solutions. We're migrating to the RedHawk Linux system," says Chuck Amsler, systems engineer for BP Pipelines.

"It's a major change for us," Amsler adds, "but it gives us access to tools we didn't have, and the ability to create a path to integrate pieces that we couldn't integrate in the past."

Concurrent advertises its iHawk system as "a high-performance, PC-based computer platform for real-time data acquisition, simulation, and industrial systems applications." It recently turned to Linux as a replacement for its own proprietary operating system.

Concurrent dubbed the version of Linux running its hardware RedHawk Linux because it is a customized version of the well-known RedHat distribution of Linux.

The first version of RedHawk Linux runs Intel-based versions of the iHawk system. RedHawk Linux 2.0, released in January, runs iHawk systems powered by the AMD Opteron chip.

Concurrent still sells the Intel-based versions of its system, but company officials say the AMD chip will allow conducting more operations in real time because the 64-bit Opteron chip packs more processing power than Intel chips.

Intel recently released its 64-bit Xeon chip, but it was not available for Concurrent to use with its iHawk system. Concurrent also says replacing a proprietary operating system with Linux gives manufacturers more freedom in configuring applications to meet their needs—as well as in selecting other types of hardware and software to match with the iHawk system.

Linux-based solutions also are expected to cost less than those that run on proprietary operating platforms. "There was definitely a need in the industrial control area for a cost-effective, real-time solution," says Gary Beerman, a director in Concurrent Computer's Integrated Solutions Division. "Customers also want more control over their manufacturing environments. Those factors drove us to develop RedHawk Linux, and then to the Opteron technology."

Beerman says Concurrent customers have put Linux-based iHawk systems to a number of uses, including running flight simulation programs and controlling certain processes in automotive manufacturing—specifically in areas requiring real-time data and test results, such as the production of antilock breaking systems. "With real-time, deterministic applications, consistency is the key, so downtimes will be less. Linux with real-time extension is for people running real-time applications, and in industrial control it offers open-source solutions, so they can control their own destinies," adds Beerman.