Linux has won another vote of confidence from storage software vendor Veritas, which says it will port all its Unix- and Windows-based software to the operating system.

It has also begun shipping clustering and network attached storage (Nas) storage for the penguin (the Linux symbol), and is working hard to bring its Linux software to market alongside major IT companies including IBM, Hewlett-Packard (HP), Dell, Intel and Linux supplier Red Hat.

"[Veritas] views Linux as a strategic platform with immense growth opportunity," said Gary Bloom, Veritas chief executive officer. "[And] no other vendor can match the breadth of our storage software on Linux."

Analyst Giga Information Group last month predicted that the Linux server market would grow from $2.5bn this year to $15bn by 2007, with total cost of ownership being the driving factor.

Veritas has been working for some time with Red Hat and supports Red Hat Linux Advanced Server. It is currently working with both Red Hat and Oracle to provide Oracle 9i real application clusters (Rac) support on Linux during 2003.

With Intel, it is working on achieving enterprise-class performance for Linux storage software. Richard Wirt, Intel software and solutions group general manager, added: "The companies are working together to further deployment by demonstrating our [Linux] solutions at joint customer sites worldwide."

Veritas's strategy anticipates adoption of Linux on otherwise proprietary mainframes as well as on open systems, so is actively pursuing agreements in this sector.

It is also planning to embed Linux-based storage management software in the next generation of storage networking operating systems through its Veritas Powered programme.