Novell announced its development plans for the next generation of its enterprise Linux platform, SUSE® Linux Enterprise 11. SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 will be designed to form the heart of the modern IT organization, providing a foundation for mission-critical workloads across the enterprise by leveraging new technologies for server virtualization, consolidation and appliances, as well as innovative client computing breakthroughs.
As a complete desktop-to-data center platform, SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 is planned to offer a variety of products designed for use across the enterprise, from edge and infrastructure servers, to highly available data center and real-time servers, to desktops in thick- and thin-client modes and technical workstations. In addition, Novell plans to make SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 available as an appliance, supported by a new toolset designed to quickly and painlessly build specialized images. A new embedded version of SUSE Linux Enterprise is also planned so independent hardware vendors (IHVs) can embed virtualization and operating systems directly in their hardware. Novell also plans to deliver optimized versions of SUSE Linux Enterprise for specific independent software vendor (ISV) stacks. Moreover, planned investments in new desktop virtualization technology will decouple end users' computing environments from the underlying hardware and allow them to work anywhere, anytime.
SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 Key Themes
SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 will focus on market-leading innovation in the following areas:
* Mission-critical data center technologies. Building on the success of SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 in the data center, SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 plans to introduce new features to support appliance development and low-latency computing, along with support for high availability and advanced interconnects like Infiniband.
* UNIX* migration. To eliminate the expensive lock-in that comes with traditional UNIX installations, customers are migrating to Linux on multiple hardware platforms. SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 will focus on meeting or exceeding performance benchmarks of Solaris* and providing best-in-market toolsets and features from the kernel on up.
* Virtualization. The traditional concept of the operating system is being redefined as virtualization delivers new levels of efficiency, flexibility and agility to the IT manager. Novell plans to leverage the latest in Xen* technologies in SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 to deliver virtualization in multiple formats, both directly as a component of the operating system and also as a stand-alone or embedded virtualization platform.
* Interoperability. SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 is expected to further cement Novell's leadership in interoperability with new solutions for Windows* optimization, including advances in support for Windows Server 2008 virtual guests, systems management and rich Internet application support.
* Green IT. Customers are actively seeking to decrease energy consumption by reducing the number of servers through virtualization. The combination of virtualization and new power management capabilities for chips and disk drives should enable customers to reduce their server footprint and substantially lower the cost of running their data centers.
* Desktop Linux innovation. As the leader in enterprise desktop Linux, Novell plans to deliver new features for usability, collaboration and security, enabling greater productivity and lower cost of ownership for business users.