Boscov's Inches Into Linux
By: Jacqueline Emigh
Thursday, September 4, 2003 10:43:30 AM EST
URL: http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/reports/4990/1/
Moving to Linux, One App at a Time
Successful Linux deployments sometimes happen gradually. Boscov's, a Linux pioneer in the department store space, is a great case in point.
The $1 billion regional retailer already uses Linux to run Apache, Radius, GNU Privacy Guard (GPG), IBM Tivoli's NetView, AcuCobol, special invoicing software, and Linuxcare's Levanta 2.0, among other apps and services.
Meanwhile, some of Boscov's other software still lives on zOS, AIX, Microsoft Windows, or DOS. As part of ongoing cost containment, though, the retailer foresees future Linux migration for a number of remaining apps, including its OLAP server, PeopleSoft financials, and probably even its point-of-sale (POS) system.
Boscov's first stepped into Linux about two years ago, with the purchase of an IBM zSeries 900 mainframe. Since then, the Reading, PA-based department store chain has reduced the headcount in its IS organization, while inching more and more of its apps into a Linux-based consolidated server environment.
"We were already paying for mainframe floor space, anyway," said Joe Poole, technical support manager at Boscov's. Essentially, the chain determined it could get more mileage out of its server real estate and IT staff by running SuSE Linux Enterprise Server as a virtual machine (VM) on the zSeries 900.
Boscov's has already avoided some software licensing costs, too. In late September, for example, company's IS department installed a GPG server for use in FTPing into the Visa and Discover payment systems. Implementing GPG in place of a commercial Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) package will save about $5,000 on licensing, Poole estimated.
"We don't necessarily perceive Linux as 'free' software, though. The VM alone cost us $45,000. We also have a contract with SuSE for software, plus a little bit of service," he noted.
Purchased in August of 2001, Boscov's 2064 model 102 z900 mainframe replaced a 9672-R44 processor. The z900 system came with 12 processors, although only four are turned on right now. Two processors are running zOS, and one of them is running VM and all the Linux instances. "The other processor is a coupling facility that links together two production logicial partitions to provide continuous operations for the zOS side," said Poole.
"We went with the z900 for additional zOS processing capability, but we also knew that a portion of the box could be reserved for zVM and Linux instances. We ordered the machine with the Integrated Facility for Linux (IFL) right from the factory, and had our first instance running the same year."
In one of the initial Linux instances, Boscov's started using Apache to serve up static Web pages, including "vendor pages" containing shipment and distribution information.
For the moment, transaction-oriented Web applications continue to operate on Microsoft's SiteServer--Commerce Edition. Boscov's, however, is now testing four instances of another e-comm server--IBM WebSphere Server--running on SuseLinux, according to Rob Schwartz, a systems programmer at Boscov's.
Interoperability Is One Key to Success
Poole and Schwartz belong to an eight-person tech support team within Boscov's IS department, a larger business unit that currently employs 85 people. Other staffers in the department include DBAs, analysts, project leaders, operations people, and additional support personnel.
"I do the administrative work (for the tech support team), monitor the VM and zOS systems, and generally poke my nose into places where it doesn't belong," quipped Poole.
"We all try to back up one another, pitching in wherever possible. When you do all this with so few people, you have to be cross-trained," Poole added.
The tech support team has also tweaked a number of pre-existing apps to operate on Linux. Boscov's custom "invoice matching" system, for example, is based on software from iMart, Inc, Boscov's uses the DB2-based app to make sure invoices match up with actual truck shipments for the stores.
"We did invoice matching before on AIX. It was easy to unload the software, and then to reload it on to Linux," according to Poole.
Boscov's has also ported MarCole's Java-based gift registry app to Linux. "When you're online, though, you don't know that you're popping over to Linux to use the registry, and then jumping to Windows to make the payment."
Other software already running on SuSE Linux includes IBM Tivoli's NetView, a Radius authentication server; and a Samba file server. Actually, Samba is built into the Radius server, which uses information from Boscov's 80 Cisco routers.
The Linux-based NetView network management system is a replacement for CA-Unicenter, a product previously run at Boscov's on an Intel box. "At first, NetView went out and discovered too much. We don't always really care about Mary's PC, and how it's doing today. So we had to change the discovery parameters," Poole elaborated.
About a year ago, Boscov's started testing Linuxcare's Levanta 2.0 software for Linux/VM systems administration, provisioning, and change management. Schwartz finds Levanta to be especialy helpful in making better use of DASD resources.
"You can share multiple packages with only a single read-only area. Each of the instances, though, has its own read/write area. The binaries and executables can be common, but the configuration files and log files are separate," the programmer said.
Schwartz also likes Levanta's rollback feature. "We can initiate a checkpoint that takes a snapshot of the read/write area. Then, if we need to go back later and make changes to what we've done, we can issue a rollback to that particular point." Boscov's is now in full production with Levanta 2.0.
Also at the moment, Boscov's is experimenting with running the Cobol-based Acucobol integrated development environment (IDE) on Linux at a small satellite store.
Software still running on non-Linux platforms, but destined for Linux sooner or later, includes Boscov's enterprise OLAP server, now operating on AIX, and its PeopleSoft financials, which are still on NT.
"Actually, the bulk of our server farm is still on Windows. There are many proprietary applications that run on NT," Poole acknowledged.
More Linux Moves to Come
Boscov's, though, plans to migrate its PeopleSoft financial app to Linux, along with BEA Systems' Tuxedo middleware. For the PeopleSoft software, Tuxedo is a systems requirement.
Also, somewhere down the road, Boscov's will probably replace its DOS-based cash register system with a Linux system, a rare move, up to now, in the department store space. Boscov's current POS system is from Cornell-Mayo.
"DOS registers, though, just don't have all the things we want," according to Poole. For one thing, Boscov's wants to capture customer information for service contracts during 'big ticket' cash register transactions.
"That'd make for a better customer experience," he pointed out. Right now, customer information for service contracts is still being filled in manually, in an area physically separate from the cash register.
One strong emerging alternative to DOS is Windows-based POS. Poole, though, is very concerned over Microsoft's licensing fees -- especially in light of the fact that Boscov's uses cash registers in each department of every store. Boscov's currently operates about 40 stores, all in the mid-Atlantic region, for a grand total of around 3,000 cash registers. Each store is outfitted with a pair of POS servers, too.
"Microsoft is trying to increase its revenues through licensing fees, at the expense of customers," concurred Linuxcare CEO Avery Lyford. "It was easy for Microsoft to grow faster than the GDP when Microsoft was a smaller company. It isn't so easy for Microsoft to do so now."
"Linux is actually the ideal OS for retail stores," he argued. "It's very easy to add new functionality to Linux."
Burlington Coat Factory is one widely cited example of a retail chain that is already deploying cash registers on Linux. Boscov's, on the other hand, hasn't yet found a Linux-based POS system that meets all its needs, according to Poole.
"Burlington Coat Factory's application might not be as sophisticated as ours," Poole conjectured. "We aren't using shrinkwrapped software. Systems compatibility is very important, too." Beyond its complex architectural underpinnings, Boscov's POS system also includes some rather unique bells and whistles in its feature set. One example is a game called Register Roulette.
"The game makes it more fun for people to buy," Poole contended. "Each time a customer gets to the register, the clerk presses a special code (for Register Roulette). You might win 10 or 15 percent 'off' on your purchase."
Boscov's plans to shift to a Linux-based POS system is no longer unique in this space. In one recent study, IHL Consulting Group, a specialist in the retail arena, reported a 185 percent increase in shipments of Linux POS retail terminals for 2002. Still, though, Linux shipments amounted to only 4 percent of all shipments, compared to 69 percent for Windows and 17 percent for the IBM 4690 OS.
Overall, the POS market rose only 2 percent in shipments over 2001. Many retailers preferred to spend last year's limited IT dollars on new technologies like scanning and self-checkout systems, instead of replacing aging DOS cash registers, according to the IHL analysts. Moreover, cash register replacement can be a very costly project.
Boscov's piecemeal approach to Linux migration, however, may be able to keep such costs low enough in other IT expenditures to make such a move more attactive.