The server market is back, and Linux is helping, IDC reports. Linux servers posted their second consecutive quarter of double-digit growth and now represent 12.7 percent of the overall server market, or $1.6 billion for the first quarter of 2007.

The latest quarter was a good one for servers in general. Factory revenue in the worldwide server market grew 4.9 percent year-over-year, to $12.4 billion for the latest quarter. This is the fourth consecutive quarter of positive revenue growth and the highest Q1 server revenue since 2001, IDC said.

"The server market continues to experience solid growth as businesses of all types look to enhanced IT capabilities in order to help drive additional business efficiency, improved customer satisfaction, and accelerated revenue growth," said Matt Eastwood, IDC's program VP of enterprise platforms in a statement.

Microsoft's Server 2003 showed surprising strength.

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