| Novell preps SUSE Enterprise Linux 10 SP1 |
Mar. 19, 2007
 Novell will soon release a major upgrade to its SUSE Enterprise Linux 10 line. The enhancements, announced at the company's annual "BrainShare" tradeshow, will be rolled out in the form of the operating system's first service pack: SP1.
"Service packs" usually consist of bug-patches, with few major changes. Like Microsoft with its SP2 patch to Windows XP, however, Novell has elected to make major improvements with this approach. SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 includes SLES (SUSE Linux Enterprise Server) and SLED (SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop).
According to Novell, SP1 will include enhanced virtualization support and management via the latest update, version 3.0.4, of the Xen hypervisor. With this, Novell will also include new paravirtualized network and block device drivers said to allow Microsoft Windows Server 2000/2003/XP to run unmodified in Xen virtual environments on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 operating with chips that support Intel VT (Virtualization Technology) and AMD "Pacifica" virtualization.
SP1 will also includes updates to all key components of the infrastructure, including the cluster file system, volume manager, and cluster resource manager, to ensure data integrity and availability, Novell said. As a result, the company promises that there will be improved support for workloads such as SAP running on Oracle, DB2, and MaxDB, as well as Web services and virtual image storage.
Through joint engineering with the chip vendors, SUSE Linux Enterprise now supports the Quad-Core Intel Xeon and Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors. This, according to company executives, will enable multiple virtual machines to run varied data-center workloads in native and Xen virtualized environments with improved performance, energy efficiency, and reliability.
The Novell AppArmor 2.0 security framework has also been integrated into the SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 platform. AppArmor now includes support for Apache Tomcat.
Novell also claims to have made major improvements and extensions to the audit subsystem. These should enable SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 to meet such government standards and vertical industry requirements such as the Common Criteria for Information Security Evaluation (CAPP EAL4+).
SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 SP1 will also include new features designed to support the workgroup services in Open Enterprise Server 2. This will include updates to the DNS, DHCP, and LDAP modules, as well as support for paravirtualized NetWare 6.5.
On the desktop side, SLED will get desktop lock-down tools, secure disk partitions, and encrypted home directories. Additionally, the SP1 desktop should also work better in Windows networks due to enhancements in its Microsoft AD (Active Directory) authentication and network management.
SLED's OpenOffice has been updated to OpenOffice.org version 2.1, This gives OpenOffice users additional Visual Basic macro support, and improved Impress presentation functionality, including the ability to play embedded video as part of presentations. The update also include the new OpenXML/ODF translator to convert Microsoft Word 2007 documents to OpenOffice's ODF. SP1 also upgrades SLED to Firefox 2.0.
Updated desktop user experience improvements include redesigns to the Novell main menu, control center, and logout and screen-saver dialogs, and updates to the desktop effects engine. Several new utilities such as an international clock applet and a disk space usage utility, are also included in SP1.
During today's morning keynote, Holger Dyroff, Novell's VP of SUSE Linux Enterprise product management, said, "The market has received SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 with open arms, and we are committed to increasing the return on their investment. In addition to integrating maintenance updates into SP1, we have listened to customers and added new functionality that will make it easier for them to take advantage of the benefits of enterprise Linux, as well as for hardware and software partners to ensure their products add maximum value to users.”
SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 SP1 beta software is now available, with general availability scheduled for May. For more information about SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 or to obtain the SP1 beta software, visit Novell's website.
-- Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
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