Inktank is the paid service and support arm of the open source Ceph storage framework, which has been a part of the Linux landscape for years, and is actually a part of the core kernel, according to Inktank President and COO Bryan Bogensberger.

"As the project's advocate and sponsor, Inktank is formalizing its commitment to Linux with its Linux Foundation membership. We are eager to collaborate with developers and business executives from the world's most aggressive companies to meet their growing storage needs today and into the future," he said.

Servergy chairman and CEO Bill Mapp said that rising data center traffic levels make Linux indispensable to his company.

"Linux helps us to deliver on both with top performance-per-watt for our customers. We look forward to continued contributions to the advancement of Linux and being a part of the growing community of top companies, globally," he said.

Email Jon Gold at jgold@nww.com and follow him on Twitter at @NWWJonGold.