Nitix
Encyclopedia
Nitix is a retail Linux distribution
, produced in Canada
. The software is developed by Net Integration Technologies, Inc., which has been acquired by IBM as of January 2008 and currently operates as IBM Lotus Foundations
.
.
Nitix has claimed that it is the only Linux-based OS that has autonomic
features. In June 2004, IBM Press' released a new book "Autonomic Computing," which mentions Nitix:
"Nitix is one of the first companies to deliver on the promise of autonomic technology with a complete set of intelligent networking solutions for the SMB Market."
In June 2005, Nitix Virtual Server was released, which allowed for the hosting of applications on its system. The architecture for the application services on Nitix allowed for applications to run in a virtual server environment, completely separated from the controlled OS environment. The Virtual Server is an RPM based filesystem which incorporates Yellow dog Updater, Modified
as an application retrieval tool. Simultaneously Net Integration Technologies began sponsoring a "Ready For Nitix" program that encouraged independent software vendors to certify applications under Nitix. Also in June 2005, Nitix began to support NS3 (Scalable Services Structure), which allows for the centralized user management across multiple servers, as well as DNS
propagation.
In March 2007, NitixBlue was released as a new "flavor" of Nitix. NitixBlue supports the nearly hands-free installation of IBM Lotus Domino, touting no administrative headaches and complete automation of maintenance tasks. This is considered to be a large step for small and medium businesses, which previously did not have a realistic stepping stone towards enterprise-level functionality provided by IBM Lotus Domino.
In January 2008, IBM announced to acquire Net Integration Technologies and now functions as a separate entity under the Lotus Software
Group.
server, finds its gateway and internet access, and automatically configures its firewall. For modifications to the installation process, a keyboard and monitor can be attached to the server and changes can be made on the console. Further modifications can be made through the web interface.
The web interface is designed such that no other access is needed for configuration modifications in most cases. From this interface, you can set up users, teams, and file access; email
, collaboration through ExchangeIt!, antivirus and antispam; web sites, FTP
and rsync
services, NFS, Samba
, AppleTalk
; and more.
Nitix offers multi-layer security protection based on anti-virus technology from Kaspersky and anti-spam technology from Vircom and Engate.
Nitix's claim to fame is its proprietary Intelligent Disk Backup (idb) that automatically backs up files, emails and databases incrementally as often as every 15 minutes. Backups are made to a hard drive located in the system that can be rotated to provide off-site redundancy. Restoring files can be done individually, by user or by entire system through its web-based interface. ( U.S. Patent No. 7,165,154 )
Nitix includes many open source
applications that provide a lot of its functionality.
s included, and software assurance prices. Nitix can also be pre-configured on hardware systems named "Micro", "Micro 2", "Mark I" and "Mark II". Hardware selection depends on number of hard drives and form factor.
NitixBlue is Nitix OS with Lotus Domino collaboration built in. It is the only solution offering Lotus Notes in an SMB market. It is highly secure and self-managing server Operating System in an easy-to-use and affordable SMB package. It delivers the power of IBM Lotus Domino Express, proven security-rich collaboration, and works as a complete network infrastructure solution.
NitixBlue also offers NitixApp Express - a web interface that provides a menu of pre-certified Lotus Domino applications for one-click purchase and installation. Offered with the SMB simplicity in mind, these applications will be easier to deploy.
Value added resellers
can purchase Lotus Foundations
and resell it to end users as part of their complete solution, usually involving other IT services or custom made applications.
Linux distribution
A Linux distribution is a member of the family of Unix-like operating systems built on top of the Linux kernel. Such distributions are operating systems including a large collection of software applications such as word processors, spreadsheets, media players, and database applications...
, produced in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The software is developed by Net Integration Technologies, Inc., which has been acquired by IBM as of January 2008 and currently operates as IBM Lotus Foundations
Lotus Foundations
Lotus Foundations is a bundled small-business server solutions package by IBM. The package includes Lotus Domino, directory services, file management, firewall, backup, web hosting and various other productivity tools...
.
History
Nitix, originally named Weaver was first created in September 1997 as a Linux-based server that required little to no configuration. Primarily built into pre-configured hardware platforms named Net Integrators, Nitix first became a standalone operating system capable of deployment on third-party hardware in January 2004. Programming of the earliest versions of Weaver were done primarily by Avery Pennarun and Dave Coombs, while students of the University of WaterlooUniversity of Waterloo
The University of Waterloo is a comprehensive public university in the city of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The school was founded in 1957 by Drs. Gerry Hagey and Ira G. Needles, and has since grown to an institution of more than 30,000 students, faculty, and staff...
.
| Major Versions | |
|---|---|
| 1.0 | |
| 2.0 | |
| 3.5 | |
| 4.0 | |
| 4.1 | |
| 4.2 | |
| 4.3 | |
| 4.3.1 | |
| 4.3.2 | |
| 4.4.0a | |
Nitix has claimed that it is the only Linux-based OS that has autonomic
Autonomic Computing
Autonomic Computing refers to the self-managing characteristics of distributed computing resources, adapting to unpredictable changes whilst hiding intrinsic complexity to operators and users...
features. In June 2004, IBM Press' released a new book "Autonomic Computing," which mentions Nitix:
"Nitix is one of the first companies to deliver on the promise of autonomic technology with a complete set of intelligent networking solutions for the SMB Market."
In June 2005, Nitix Virtual Server was released, which allowed for the hosting of applications on its system. The architecture for the application services on Nitix allowed for applications to run in a virtual server environment, completely separated from the controlled OS environment. The Virtual Server is an RPM based filesystem which incorporates Yellow dog Updater, Modified
Yellow dog Updater, Modified
The Yellowdog Updater, Modified is an open-source command-line package-management utility for RPM-compatible Linux operating systems and has been released under the GNU General Public License. It was developed by Seth Vidal and a group of volunteer programmers...
as an application retrieval tool. Simultaneously Net Integration Technologies began sponsoring a "Ready For Nitix" program that encouraged independent software vendors to certify applications under Nitix. Also in June 2005, Nitix began to support NS3 (Scalable Services Structure), which allows for the centralized user management across multiple servers, as well as DNS
Domain name system
The Domain Name System is a hierarchical distributed naming system for computers, services, or any resource connected to the Internet or a private network. It associates various information with domain names assigned to each of the participating entities...
propagation.
In March 2007, NitixBlue was released as a new "flavor" of Nitix. NitixBlue supports the nearly hands-free installation of IBM Lotus Domino, touting no administrative headaches and complete automation of maintenance tasks. This is considered to be a large step for small and medium businesses, which previously did not have a realistic stepping stone towards enterprise-level functionality provided by IBM Lotus Domino.
In January 2008, IBM announced to acquire Net Integration Technologies and now functions as a separate entity under the Lotus Software
Lotus Software
Lotus Software is a software company with headquarters in Westford, Massachusetts...
Group.
Features
Nitix includes an automated installation process in which it installs itself onto the hard disks, performs the proper partitioning and system setup. During this process it also performs a network scan, where it determines whether or not it should enable its DHCPDynamic Host Configuration Protocol
The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol is a network configuration protocol for hosts on Internet Protocol networks. Computers that are connected to IP networks must be configured before they can communicate with other hosts. The most essential information needed is an IP address, and a default...
server, finds its gateway and internet access, and automatically configures its firewall. For modifications to the installation process, a keyboard and monitor can be attached to the server and changes can be made on the console. Further modifications can be made through the web interface.
The web interface is designed such that no other access is needed for configuration modifications in most cases. From this interface, you can set up users, teams, and file access; email
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
, collaboration through ExchangeIt!, antivirus and antispam; web sites, FTP
File Transfer Protocol
File Transfer Protocol is a standard network protocol used to transfer files from one host to another host over a TCP-based network, such as the Internet. FTP is built on a client-server architecture and utilizes separate control and data connections between the client and server...
and rsync
Rsync
rsync is a software application and network protocol for Unix-like and Windows systems which synchronizes files and directories from one location to another while minimizing data transfer using delta encoding when appropriate. An important feature of rsync not found in most similar...
services, NFS, Samba
Samba (software)
Samba is a free software re-implementation, originally developed by Andrew Tridgell, of the SMB/CIFS networking protocol. As of version 3, Samba provides file and print services for various Microsoft Windows clients and can integrate with a Windows Server domain, either as a Primary Domain...
, AppleTalk
AppleTalk
AppleTalk is a proprietary suite of protocols developed by Apple Inc. for networking computers. It was included in the original Macintosh released in 1984, but is now unsupported as of the release of Mac OS X v10.6 in 2009 in favor of TCP/IP networking...
; and more.
Nitix offers multi-layer security protection based on anti-virus technology from Kaspersky and anti-spam technology from Vircom and Engate.
Nitix's claim to fame is its proprietary Intelligent Disk Backup (idb) that automatically backs up files, emails and databases incrementally as often as every 15 minutes. Backups are made to a hard drive located in the system that can be rotated to provide off-site redundancy. Restoring files can be done individually, by user or by entire system through its web-based interface. ( U.S. Patent No. 7,165,154 )
Nitix includes many open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
applications that provide a lot of its functionality.
IBM Lotus Foundations Start
On January 18th, 2008, IBM announced its intention to purchase Net Integrations Technologies. IBM has merged both products into an offering known as IBM Lotus Foundations. Lotus Foundations is offered as a Software-only application server platform as well as a hardware appliance known as Net Integrator. As of July 2nd, 2008, IBM has officially started offering Lotus Foundations as opposed to Nitix Blue http://www.lotusfoundations.com.Versions
Nitix has been discontinued in favour of IBM Lotus Foundations Start. Nitix is currently sold through a distribution channel as either software-only, or on a Net Integrator. Software-only versions are "Nitix SB", "Nitix SE", and "Nitix PE", which come on 1 CD, and are geared towards partners that complement their own third party hardware systems with Nitix. The differences between these are the number of Client Access LicenseClient Access License
A Client Access License is a proprietary software license distributed by software companies such as Microsoft to allow clients to connect to its server software and use the software's services.-Software licensing introduction:...
s included, and software assurance prices. Nitix can also be pre-configured on hardware systems named "Micro", "Micro 2", "Mark I" and "Mark II". Hardware selection depends on number of hard drives and form factor.
NitixBlue is Nitix OS with Lotus Domino collaboration built in. It is the only solution offering Lotus Notes in an SMB market. It is highly secure and self-managing server Operating System in an easy-to-use and affordable SMB package. It delivers the power of IBM Lotus Domino Express, proven security-rich collaboration, and works as a complete network infrastructure solution.
NitixBlue also offers NitixApp Express - a web interface that provides a menu of pre-certified Lotus Domino applications for one-click purchase and installation. Offered with the SMB simplicity in mind, these applications will be easier to deploy.
Distribution
Nitix has been discontinued for sale through all distribution channels in favor of the latest Lotus Foundations Start http://www.lotusfoundations.com. Support will be active.Value added resellers
Value-added reseller
A value-added reseller is a company that adds features or services to an existing product, then resells it as an integrated product or complete "turn-key" solution...
can purchase Lotus Foundations
Lotus Foundations
Lotus Foundations is a bundled small-business server solutions package by IBM. The package includes Lotus Domino, directory services, file management, firewall, backup, web hosting and various other productivity tools...
and resell it to end users as part of their complete solution, usually involving other IT services or custom made applications.
External links
-
http:// www.nitix.com Nitix NitixBlue OS public website** Gone **