Friday, December 6, 2013

10 reasons your enterprise should adopt Red Hat 6.5

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10-things/10-reasons-your-enterprise-should-adopt-red-hat-65/

Check out the 10 features that are most notable in the latest version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. 
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The latest iteration of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) operating system has arrived and it is not only ready for the enterprise, it's ready to re-define and reset the bar for enterprise expectations. With a full host of improvements (and new features), RHEL could easily become the de facto standard for enterprise platforms.
If you're not sure of this claim, or simply cannot believe the claim, I offer up to you ten reasons why your enterprise should adopt Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

1. Precision Time Protocol

If your company requires time to be measured in microseconds, you need a platform that works with the Precision Time Protocol (PTP). PTP enables sub-microsecond clock accuracy over a local area network. If you depend upon high-speed, low-latency applications (such as those used in the trading industry), PTP is a must-have.

2. Easy application image deployment

There's a new tool in town (or at least a renamed tool), called Docker. With Docker you can easily deploy application images within containers. Each of these containers run the application as if it were on a virtual machine. This means you no longer have to suffer the overhead of deploying a full-blown virtual operating system just to run a simple application. This will not only make your virtual environment much more efficient, it'll also be far more cost effective.

3. Open hybrid cloud

RHEL 6.5 supports both OpenStack and OpenShift technologies. OpenStack is an open source cloud computing platform and OpenShift automates the provisioning, management, and scaling of cloud computing platforms. Together these two pieces work to create a Platform as a Service (PaaS). This, in conjunction with Docker creates an incredibly flexible cloud environment that can serve the enterprise needs in many ways.

4. Enhanced security

RHEL 6.5 enjoys numerous security upgrades. Key to the enhancements is a centralized certificate trust store which provides standardized certificate access for all security services. There are also tools that support the OpenSCP implementation of the Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP). This protocol was developed by US National Institute of Standards and Technology and is central for auditing and verifying security configurations. With this included standards-based technology, it is possible to ensure a RHEL server configuration meets very stringent standards.

5. Network activity views

If you're an administrator that likes to know specifically what is going on with your network, RHEL 6.5 has what you're looking for. The latest version of Red Hat offers a comprehensive view of all network activity. With these new capabilities, administrators will be able to inspect Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) data in order to list multicast router ports, multicast groups with active subscribers (and their associated interfaces). 

6. Improved virtualization tools

There are plenty of improvements to the virtualization tools included with RHEL 6.5. High on this list is the ability to dynamically enable or disable virtual processors in active guests. With this new addition, RHEL can now better interact with cloud-based elastic workloads. Virtual guest memory has also been improved, with configurations that support up to 4TB of memory on the Linux built-in, kernel-based virtual machine hypervisor.

7. Subscription management

RHEL 6.5 now boasts a revised Subscription Management. With this new tool you have the choice of having your server connect to the Red Hat Customer Portal or to an on-premise subscription management service set up using the Subscription Asset Manager. With the server and the service connected, your company will enjoy centralized control of all subscription assets. Another benefit of this service is that you gain enhanced reporting for multiple systems.

8. Faster dump files

If you've ever had to deal with large kernel dump files, you know they can cause problems. That is no more with RHEL 6.5 The new system is now capable of handling incredibly large dump files faster. Thanks to a new compression algorithm (LZO), dump files are created far faster than previous iterations. Enhancements to the dump tools tracing and testing commands provides additional even monitoring capabilities.

9. Improved storage

Anyone working with RHEL 6.5 will see a marked improvement of storage. One reason for this is the improved control and recover when working in iSCSI or Fiber Channel Storage Area Networks. The latest release also includes a solid state driver (SSD) controller interface as well as support for NVM Express-based SSDs. It is also now possible to configure over 255 (Logical Unit Number) LUNs connected to a single iSCSI target.

10. Improved overall performance

Above everything, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.5 enjoys an over all performance increase that is noticeable  – which, in turn, translates to more reliable environments, cost savings, and happier end users/CTOs. This improved performance means your critical applications can be run more effectively – which translates to a better bottom line.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.5 could very easily herald a new king of the mountain in the enterprise. With the newest release, your company will enjoy more reliability, more security, and an improved ROI. 

Fact sheet: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.5

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/linux-and-open-source/fact-sheet-red-hat-enterprise-linux-65/

Take a quick look at some of the updates and changes you'll see in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.5. 

The latest iteration of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (6.5) is now available, and it's a serious contender to usurp all other platforms as king of the enterprise space. This particular release was designed specifically to simplify the operation of mission-critical SAP applications. The new release focuses on key enterprise-specific areas, including:
  • Subscription management services
  • Scalability
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Virtualization
  • Security

What we know

Kernel:
  • The pm8001/pm80xx driver adds support for PMC-Sierra Adaptec Series 6H and 7H SAS/SATA HBA cards, plus PMC Sierra 8081, 8088, and 8089 chip-based SAS/SATA controllers
  • Configurable Timeout for Unresponsive Devices
  • Configuration of Maximum Time for Error Recovery
  • Lenovo X220 Touchscreen Support
  • New Supported Compression Formats for makedumpfile
Networking:
  • Precision Time Protocol (PTP)
  • Analyzing the Non-Configuration IP Multicast IGMP Snooping Data
  • PPPoE Connections Support in NetworkManager
  • Network Namespace Support for OpenStack
  • SCTP Support to Change the Cryptography Hash Function
  • M3UA Measurement Counters for SCTP
  • Managing DOVE Tunnels Using iproute
  • WoWLAN Support for Atheros Interfaces
  • SR-IOV Functionality in the qlcnic Driver
Security:
  • OpenSSL Updated to Version 1.0.1
  • Smartcard Support in OpenSSH
  • ECDSA Support in OpenSSL
  • ECDHE Support in OpenSSL
  • Support of TLS 1.1 and 1.2 in OpenSSL and NSS
  • OpenSSH Support of HMAC-SHA2 Algorithm
  • Prefix Macro in OpenSSL
  • NSA Suite B Cryptography Support
  • Shared System Certificates
  • Automatic Synchronization of Local Users Centrally in Identity Management
  • ECC Support in NSS
  • Certificate Support in OpenSSH

A new time protocol

There are specific enterprises (such as trading-related industries) where application latency must be measured in microseconds. Because of this need, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.5 now supports sub-microsecond clock accuracy over the local area network (LAN) using the Precision Time Protocol (PTP). This precision time synchronization is key to enable better performance for high-speed, low-latency applications.

Networking

PTP isn't the only improvement to the network subsystem. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.5 improved networking includes new capabilities that enable system administrators to inspect Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) data to list multicast router ports and multicast groups with active subscribers (and their associated interfaces). The improvements in networking allow the Red Hat server to better meet the needs of modern network scenarios.

Next-gen enterprise security

The latest iteration of Red Hat Enterprise Linux goes a long way to integrate security. One of the main changes is the addition of a centralized certificate trust store that enables standardized certificate access for security services. Also added into this release is OpenSCAP 2.1, an implementation of the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP) 1.2 standard.

Virtualization

One of the big improvements with virtualization in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.5 is the ability to enable and disable virtual processors CPUs (vCPUs) in active guests. This improvement makes it an ideal choice for elastic workloads. Also, the handling of memory intensive applications within guests has been improved, thanks to the inclusion of support for up to 4 TB of memory on the Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) hypervisor. Lastly, integration with GlusterFS volumes is now supported, and this provides direct access to the distributed storage platform, which greatly improves performance when accessing either Red Hat Storage or GlusterFS volumes.

Storage

Storage is crucial to any enterprise. You need to have reliable and fast access to data, including portability. With Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.5, customers are able to deploy application images in containers created in physical, virtual, or cloud environments. This feature is accomplished using Docker, an open-source project to package and run lightweight, self-sufficient containers. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.5 has also improved support for NVM Express-based Solid Sate Drives (SSDs), which standardizes the interface for PCIe-based SSDs. If you can afford a server loaded with SSDs, the performance increase is exceptional -- and Red Hat fully understands that.
Scalability has been improved within Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.5 as well. It's now possible to configure more than 255 Logical Unit Number (LUNs) connected to a single iSCSI target. Administrators can also control and recover SAN for iSCSI. There are numerous other storage-centric improvements (Fibre Channel, updates to kexec/kdump mechanism, and more). Finally, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.5 makes it easier to track and manage the consumption of subscriptions across the entire enterprise.

Resources

For more information about Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.5, visit the resources below:

Red Hat


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