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IBM breathes new life into its open mainframe strategy with the announcement of new initiatives for wider Linux adoption at the enterprise level.

Last month, the tech giant released a new line of Linux mainframes dubbed the LinuxONE. The Emperor is based on the IBM z13 and "is the world's most advanced Linux system with the fastest processor in the industry," according to IBM.

It is reportedly capable of analyzing transactions in "real time" and has the ability to scale up to 8,000 virtual machines of hundreds of thousands of containers.

On the other hand, the "entry-level" LinuxONE Rockhopper comes in a smaller package with emerging markets in mind.

Advanced software and hardware encryption features are built into both mainframes to keep client data and transactions from prying eyes.

"Protected-key, available on LinuxONE, provides significantly enhanced security over clear-key technology and offers up-to 28X improved performance over standard secure-key technology," IBM said.

On the software side, "IBM has enabled a number of key software systems for LinuxONE, including MongoDB, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, Apache Spark, Node.js and Chef," Tech Times said.

Also in the announcement, IBM said it is working with Canonical for an initiative to push Linux adoption by encouraging growth of Ubuntu Linux on z Systems.

The contribution, the single largest one to the open source community, will reportedly help drive the Linux Foundation's "Open Mainframe Project."

As Tech Times pointed out, the project brings together members from academic, government and the corporate sector to increase Linux adoption on mainframes.

To help things along, the Armonk, NY-based tech firm offered free access to a LinuxOne Developer Cloud that lets developers test applications without the need to physically access the mainframe.

Financing models that lower the up-front cost of mainframe hardware has also been made available via metered billing for the LinuxONE.

"The metered mainframe will still sit inside the customer's on-premises data center, but billing will be based on how much the customer uses the system, much like a cloud model, IBM Systems GM Ross Mauri explained, as reported by TechCrunch.