Yellow Dog Linux maker Terra Soft Solutions Inc. has announced that it’s won a contract to provide custom-configured Xserve systems to Lockheed Martin, for use in the U.S. Navy.
The company is creating an “integrated turn-key solution” using Apple Xserve boxes outfitted with Yellow Dog Linux. The systems will be used on board U.S. Navy submarines to assist with real time sonar image processing.
Terra Soft co-founder and CEO Kai Staats explained that his company has been working with Lockhead Martin for two years to implement Yellow Dog Linux in this capacity. These submarines’ image processing systems are revised and upgraded on a rotational basis, and the new Xserve systems will be twice as dense, use less power and provide higher performance than the systems they replace.
Terra Soft, which is an Apple Authorized Proprietary Solutions Provider, will be delivering 260 Xserves outfitted with Yellow Dog Linux to Lockheed Martin by this October. The company claims it’s the largest single Apple VAR Xserve sale to date.