I did some shopping yesterday on Amazon that left me AMAZED.

So, how do they do it?

Is it Linux? 

Is it MySQL?

Is it Front Page?

Hello probonopublico,

Amazon uses Linux and HP helped them get everything working smoothly.

"Deploying a Linux?based operating environment across Amazon.com's
entire global enterprise offered obvious benefits, including
cost-saving flexibility, scalability and ease?of?use. But switching
over an organization the size of Amazon.com required a bold vision ?
and some major help. Amazon.com needed a partner with a proven track
record delivering Linux?based solutions, as well as a reputation for
customer service that rivaled its own."
You can keep reading about this here:
http://www.hp.com/country/us/en/msg/corp/htmlamazon.html

In October 2001 when Amazon.com switched to Linux, Microsoft said that
the "short-term savings seen by Amazon could turn into a long-term
increase in costs." Amazon seems quite happy to be on Linux though
because they saved 25% making the switch. (see next link for more
information if you are interested).

"According to Internet research firm Netcraft, Amazon's Web pages are
dished out by Linux servers running Red Hat's Stronghold Web server, a
derivative of the open-source Apache project."
SOURCE: http://news.com.com/2100-1001_3-275155.html

In the same article, this information about Amazon is also provided:
"HP supplied Amazon's Linux servers, large numbers of thin,
rack-mountable models with Intel chips, said Mike Balma, marketing
director for HP's newly formed Linux Systems Operation. And Red Hat
customized Linux for the servers."

Some additional links that you may find interesting are:
http://slashdot.org/articles/01/10/31/1435219.shtml

Here is an article from January 23, 2004 where Amazon.com goes into
detail about how they are still using Linux and loving it:
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/linuxunix/0,39020390,39143662,00.htm

Also in a recent article: "The company's computational needs are
intense, Killalea said. At the most recent holiday season's peak,
Amazon.com shipped 1 million packages in a single day, and processed
20 million inventory updates from third parties. While some of
Amazon.com's technology is seen by its 37 million customers, much of
the company's IT infrastructure is devoted to handling millions of
back-end daily operations, and to serving the 550,000 sellers sharing
Amazon.com's platform, Killalea said."
SOURCE: http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/01/21/HNamazonchallenge_1.html

You can find more recent stories on Amazon.com and Linux at Google
News: http://news.google.com/news?q=amazon.com+linux

I hope this is the type of answer you were expecting. Please let me
know if you have any additional questions or clarifications and I will
do my best to further assist you.

tisme-ga


Search Strategy: (on Google)
site:amazon.com "about amazon"
amazon linux
amazon hp
amazon.com linux
amazon.com linux (on Google News)

Fascinating insights, Tisme, Many Thanks!