Fault-tolerant systems supplier Stratus will launch a Linux-based offering aimed at the Voice-over-IP (VoIP) market later this month.

The ftServer T Series is based on Intel Xeon processors and Stratus' own fault-tolerant version of Linux.

As with its other systems, the company is guaranteeing better than 99.999 per cent uptime.

The T Series marks the return of Stratus to the telecoms market that it quit four years ago.

David Laurello, president and chief executive at Stratus, believes that the VoIP market has great growth potential for suppliers of fault-tolerant systems.

"These networks have one definite requirement: they have to be 24/7. They have to work. We talk about mission critical but this is career critical," he said.

"We believe that this is a Linux play; that the telcos are happy for it to be on Linux."

Stratus sells two main lines of systems: its legacy VOS systems based on a proprietary architecture built around Hewlett Packard's PA-Risc; and the Windows ftSeries based on Intel.

Laurello revealed that Stratus will also launch the V Series product in September, which is "VOS on ftServer and will give our VOS customers a four-plus improvement on their legacy systems".

Stratus will also be launching a low-end product, the FT Server 2300, which Laurello said in volume will be priced below $10,000.

"This puts us in at a price point that no fault-tolerant company has been in," he said.