E01¶


Research	R0045 — Prediction Verification
Run	2026-03-29
Query	Q001
Source	SRC04
Evidence	SRC04-E01
Type	Statistical

Linux server units grew 15% annually in Q2 2001; by 2004 Linux ran on 50% of server blades

URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_adoption

Extract¶

In Q2 2001, Linux server unit shipments recorded a 15% annual growth rate. By 2001, Linux surpassed NetWare to become the second-largest operating system for new Intel-based server deployments. By 2004, Linux was deployed on approximately 50% of worldwide server blade units and 20% of all rack-optimized servers. Linux was growing in the x86 server space at approximately 53% annually in 2003, compared to Windows Server growth in the mid-20% range.

Relevance to Hypotheses¶

Hypothesis	Relationship	Strength
H1	Supports	Shows Linux was small but growing rapidly in 2001, becoming dominant in specific server segments by 2004
H2	Contradicts	53% annual growth in 2003 and 50% blade server share by 2004 shows a rapid, not slow, transition
H3	Supports	The speed of blade server adoption (50% by 2004) supports H3's claim of rapid transition in specific segments

Context¶

The 15% growth rate in Q2 2001 appears modest but was achieved during the dot-com bust, when the overall server market was contracting. The 53% growth rate in 2003 reflects the period after the bust when enterprises were actively migrating workloads to Linux on x86 as a cost-reduction strategy.