Oracle is breaking out the Linux clustering component of its Oracle RAC (Real Application Clusters) package and offering it to customers of its Unbreakable Linux support program for Linux users.

Called Oracle Clusterware for Oracle Unbreakable Linux, the software is offered at no additional cost to subscribers of Unbreakable Linux, which supports Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Oracle Enterprise Linux. The announcement is being made at the Open Source Business Conference in San Francisco on Wednesday.

Users of Clusterware can coordinate activities among servers. "People can develop environments that provide them high availability and scalability," said Monica Kumar, senior director of open-source product marketing at Oracle.

"We think Oracle Clusterware is a perfect choice for Linux users who need a single high-availability solution to protect all of their applications, and the price is unbeatable," she said.

With Clusterware, users can leverage the benefits of commodity hardware and have service in terms of scalability, availability, and performance, she said.

Previously, Clusterware was only available to users of RAC, which provides database clustering. Now, users will no longer need to have RAC to use Clusterware.

Oracle caused a controversy in 2006 when it began offering support to Red Hat Enterprise Linux users. It was viewed by some as an effort to undercut the open-source Linux distributor.