SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
Encyclopedia
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) is a Linux distribution
supplied by SUSE and targeted at the business market. It is targeted for server
s, mainframe
s, and workstation
s but can be installed on desktop computer
s for testing as well. New major versions are released at an interval of 3-4 years, while minor versions (called service packs) are released about every 18 months. SUSE Linux Enterprise products, including SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, receive much more intense testing than the openSUSE
community product, with the intention that only mature, stable versions of the included components will make it through to the released enterprise product.
The current version is SLES 11 SP1, released May 19, 2010, which is developed from a common codebase with SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop
and other SUSE Linux Enterprise products.
S/390 mainframe machines. In December 2000, the first enterprise client (Telia
) was made public.
In April 2001, the first SLES for x86 was released.
SLES version 9 was released in August 2004. Service Pack 4 was released in December 2007. It is supported by the major hardware vendors—IBM
, HP
, Sun Microsystems
, Dell, SGI
, Lenovo, and Fujitsu Siemens Computers
.
SLES 9 is installed on NASA
's supercomputer
Columbia
.
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 was released in July 2006, and is also supported by the major hardware vendors. Service pack 4 was released in April 2011. SLES 10 shares a common codebase with SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10
—Novell's desktop distribution for business use—and other SUSE Linux Enterprise products.
The front node of JUGENE
, a petaflops supercomputer at the Jülich Research Centre
in Germany
, uses SLES 10 as its operating system.
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 was released on March 24, 2009 and include Linux kernel 2.6.27
, Oracle Cluster File System 2, support for the OpenAIS cluster communication protocol for server and storage clustering, and Mono
2.0. SLES 11 SP1 (released May 2010) rebased the kernel version to 2.6.32.
IBM's Watson
was built on IBM's Power7
systems using SLES.
, which brings all the networking services that were previously available only on NetWare to the Linux platform.
SLES 11 SP1:
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...
supplied by SUSE and targeted at the business market. It is targeted for server
Server (computing)
In the context of client-server architecture, a server is a computer program running to serve the requests of other programs, the "clients". Thus, the "server" performs some computational task on behalf of "clients"...
s, mainframe
Mainframe computer
Mainframes are powerful computers used primarily by corporate and governmental organizations for critical applications, bulk data processing such as census, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise resource planning, and financial transaction processing.The term originally referred to the...
s, and workstation
Workstation
A workstation is a high-end microcomputer designed for technical or scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by one person at a time, they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating systems...
s but can be installed on desktop computer
Desktop computer
A desktop computer is a personal computer in a form intended for regular use at a single location, as opposed to a mobile laptop or portable computer. Early desktop computers are designed to lay flat on the desk, while modern towers stand upright...
s for testing as well. New major versions are released at an interval of 3-4 years, while minor versions (called service packs) are released about every 18 months. SUSE Linux Enterprise products, including SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, receive much more intense testing than the openSUSE
OpenSUSE
openSUSE is a general purpose operating system built on top of the Linux kernel, developed by the community-supported openSUSE Project and sponsored by SUSE...
community product, with the intention that only mature, stable versions of the included components will make it through to the released enterprise product.
The current version is SLES 11 SP1, released May 19, 2010, which is developed from a common codebase with SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop , formerly introduced as Novell Linux Desktop, is a Linux distribution supplied by Novell and targeted at the business market. It is targeted for desktops. New major versions are released at an interval of 24–36 months, while minor versions are released every 9–12...
and other SUSE Linux Enterprise products.
History
SLES has been developed based on SUSE Linux by a small team led by Marcus Kraft and Bernhard Kaindl as principal developer who was supported by Joachim Schröder. It was first released on 31 October 2000 as a version for IBMIBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
S/390 mainframe machines. In December 2000, the first enterprise client (Telia
TeliaSonera
TeliaSonera AB is the dominant telephone company and mobile network operator in Sweden and Finland. The company has operations in other countries in Northern, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Spain, with a total of 150 million mobile customers...
) was made public.
In April 2001, the first SLES for x86 was released.
SLES version 9 was released in August 2004. Service Pack 4 was released in December 2007. It is supported by the major hardware vendors—IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
, HP
Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...
, Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
, Dell, SGI
Silicon Graphics
Silicon Graphics, Inc. was a manufacturer of high-performance computing solutions, including computer hardware and software, founded in 1981 by Jim Clark...
, Lenovo, and Fujitsu Siemens Computers
Fujitsu Siemens Computers
Fujitsu Siemens Computers B.V. was a Japanese and German IT vendor. The company was founded in 1999 as a 50/50 joint venture between Fujitsu Limited of Japan and Siemens AG of Germany...
.
SLES 9 is installed on NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
's supercomputer
Supercomputer
A supercomputer is a computer at the frontline of current processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation.Supercomputers are used for highly calculation-intensive tasks such as problems including quantum physics, weather forecasting, climate research, molecular modeling A supercomputer is a...
Columbia
Columbia (supercomputer)
Named in honor of the crew who died in the Columbia disaster, Columbia is a supercomputer built by Silicon Graphics for NASA. Its main purpose was to simulate the violent collision and merger of spiral galaxies that lead to the formation of elliptical galaxies...
.
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 was released in July 2006, and is also supported by the major hardware vendors. Service pack 4 was released in April 2011. SLES 10 shares a common codebase with SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop , formerly introduced as Novell Linux Desktop, is a Linux distribution supplied by Novell and targeted at the business market. It is targeted for desktops. New major versions are released at an interval of 24–36 months, while minor versions are released every 9–12...
—Novell's desktop distribution for business use—and other SUSE Linux Enterprise products.
The front node of JUGENE
JUGENE
JUGENE is a supercomputer built by IBM for Forschungszentrum Jülich in Germany. It is based on the Blue Gene/P and is the successor to the JUBL based on an earlier design. It was at the introduction the second fastest computer in the world. It is currently the ninth fastest computer in the world...
, a petaflops supercomputer at the Jülich Research Centre
Jülich Research Centre
Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH is a member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres and is one of the largest interdisciplinary research centres in Europe...
in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, uses SLES 10 as its operating system.
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 was released on March 24, 2009 and include Linux kernel 2.6.27
Linux kernel
The Linux kernel is an operating system kernel used by the Linux family of Unix-like operating systems. It is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software....
, Oracle Cluster File System 2, support for the OpenAIS cluster communication protocol for server and storage clustering, and Mono
Mono (software)
Mono, pronounced , is a free and open source project led by Xamarin to create an Ecma standard compliant .NET-compatible set of tools including, among others, a C# compiler and a Common Language Runtime....
2.0. SLES 11 SP1 (released May 2010) rebased the kernel version to 2.6.32.
IBM's Watson
Watson (artificial intelligence software)
Watson is an artificial intelligence computer system capable of answering questions posed in natural language, developed in IBM's DeepQA project by a research team led by principal investigator David Ferrucci. Watson was named after IBM's first president, Thomas J...
was built on IBM's Power7
POWER7
POWER7 is a Power Architecture microprocessor released in 2010 that succeeded the POWER6. POWER7 was developed by IBM at several sites including IBM's Rochester, MN; Austin, TX; Essex Junction, Vermont; T. J. Watson Research Center, NY; Bromont, QC and Böblingen, Germany laboratories...
systems using SLES.
Version history
Release dates of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server versions.- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9
- Initial release, 2004-08-03
- SP1, 2005-01-19
- SP2, 2005-07-07
- SP3, 2005-12-22
- SP4, 2007-12-12
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10
- Initial release, 2006-06-17
- SP1, 2007-06-18
- SP2, 2008-05-19
- SP3, 2009-10-12
- SP4, 2011-04-12
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11
- Initial release, 2009-03-24
- SP1, 2010-06-02
Product integration and bundles
SLES is also an important part of Novell Open Enterprise ServerNovell Open Enterprise Server
Novell Open Enterprise Server is the successor product to Novell, Inc.'s NetWare operating system, based on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server . Originally released in March 2005, the current release is OES 2 SP3...
, which brings all the networking services that were previously available only on NetWare to the Linux platform.
Hypervisor kernels supported
SLES 10:- XenXenXen is a virtual-machine monitor providing services that allow multiple computer operating systems to execute on the same computer hardware concurrently....
3.2
SLES 11 SP1:
- XenXenXen is a virtual-machine monitor providing services that allow multiple computer operating systems to execute on the same computer hardware concurrently....
4.0 - kvm is also supported
See also
- SUSE Linux distributionsSUSE Linux distributionsSUSE Linux is a computer operating system. It is built on top of the open source Linux kernel and is distributed with system and application software from other open source projects. SUSE Linux is of German origin and mainly developed in Europe. The first version appeared in early 1994, making...
- Linux on zSeries
- List of Linux distributions
- Comparison of Linux distributionsComparison of Linux distributionsTechnical variations of Linux distributions include support for different hardware devices and systems or software package configurations. Organizational differences may be motivated by historical reasons...
- Red Hat Enterprise LinuxRed Hat Enterprise LinuxRed Hat Enterprise Linux is a Linux-based operating system developed by Red Hat and targeted toward the commercial market. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is released in server versions for x86, x86-64, Itanium, PowerPC and IBM System z, and desktop versions for x86 and x86-64...
External links
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server product page
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Cool Solutions – tips & tricks, guides, tools and other resources submitted by the SUSE Linux Enterprise community