Based on the restored demand for enterprise servers that began late last year, researchers at IDC are predicting strong growth for server systems through 2008, especially for Linux- and Windows-based boxes.
"There continues to be very strong growth in the x86 industry standard server market -- particularly for Windows- and Linux-based solutions," IDC analyst Mark Melenovsky said in a statement. "Growth has been strong for everything from stand-alone systems in small offices to several-hundred-node clusters in enterprise data centers." In terms of unit shipments, IDC expects Windows to dominate, capturing 60 percent of all server unit shipments in 2008. Linux-based servers will represent 29 percent of all server unit shipments by that time, the research firm projects.