ARMONK, NY -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 03/14/07 -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Red Hat, the world's two
largest commercial Linux developers, today announced developers at the
companies' world renowned Linux labs have collaborated to integrate new
technologies in the Linux kernel that will help customers improve
efficiency and gain a competitive edge in their industries.
Developers at IBM's Linux Technology Center, which has some 600 engineers
in 40 locations worldwide, collaborated with Red Hat's Engineering team to
integrate improved virtualization features, security enhancements, and
"Real-Time Linux" capabilities into the Linux kernel. Hundreds of IBM and
Red Hat developers work full-time on making Linux better as part of the
open source community.
With today's announcement, the companies said new virtualization and
security capabilities in the Linux kernel will also be available in the new
release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5. "Real-Time Linux" technologies are
currently being incorporated into the kernel and will be extended to IBM
and Red Hat customers in a future offering. The companies announced IBM is
currently testing and certifying RHEL 5 across all of its standards-based
middleware and servers and that IBM also plans to provide services and
support for RHEL 5 as well.
IBM and Red Hat cited these three key Linux development innovations:
-- Xen Virtualization Optimizes IT Environments:
IBM, Red Hat and the open community have now integrated open source Xen
virtualization software with the Linux kernel in addition to hardening the
Xen hypervisor. Xen is open source virtualization software that helps
customers increase server utilization and more efficiently manage
Linux-based IT systems. The technologies will be incorporated into Red Hat
Enterprise Linux 5 and supported by IBM's Virtualization portfolio of
products running on Intel and Opteron processor-based servers and IBM
BladeCenter systems.
IBM customer ServerCave, a website hosting and data center management
company catering to individuals and SMB customers, expects to increase
server utilization rates from 10 percent to nearly 80 percent running
Linux-based IBM x3550 systems taking advantage of Xen virtualization
capabilities. ServerCave expects to reduce new hardware acquisition for its
hosted and managed customers by 75 percent. It expects to save nearly
$60,000 in power and cooling expenses this year because by virtualizing its
IT environment it doesn't need to run as many servers.
-- Security Enhanced Linux Offers Greater Data Protection:
Addressing customer demand for features that provide greater data
protection, IBM and Red Hat developers collaborated with the open source
community to build Security-Enhanced Linux into Red Hat's core operating
system to provide Multi-Level Security capabilities. These capabilities
enable enterprise customers, particularly those in the government sector,
to create a mandatory access control policy that allows information to be
classified as top secret, secret, confidential and unclassified. This
security underpinning of the Linux kernel compartmentalizes applications
and services into distinct security domains, providing a highly secure
platform for applications or data for all types of customers. After testing
and certification, these features will be available in RHEL 5, and
supported by IBM software and systems.
The UK Cabinet Office, for instance, is currently running IBM WebSphere and
Security Enhanced Linux, SELinux, together as part of a solution developed
by Tresys and IBM aimed at creating a secure environment for Belmin Group's
Automated Reconciliation & Invoice Creation Service, ARIES, eProcurement
application which currently runs on RHEL 4 at a National Health Service
hospital trust in England. SELinux provides customers the ability to
contain hackers and provide confinement for its applications.
Additionally, IBM hardware and software products running on RHEL 5 are
being evaluated at the Common Criteria Evaluated Assurance Level (EAL) 4+,
Labeled Security Protection Profile, Role Based Access Control Protection
Profile, and Controlled Access Protection Profile (CAPP). RHEL 4U1 has
currently achieved CAPP EAL 4+ certification.
New encrypted file system capabilities developed by IBM have been adopted
in the kernel to protect user identity by encrypting data at the file level
in systems and on laptops. Red Hat plans to include these technologies in
RHEL 5.1 as a technology preview.
-- Innovation for the Future: "Real-Time Linux" Application Development
Platform
IBM and Red Hat are collaborating to deliver a new "Real-Time Linux"
application development and deployment platform providing customers the
ability to run systems that can perform at greater processing rates with
high levels of reliability. The new platform includes IBM WebSphere Real
Time, a real-time J2SE Java Virtual Machine, with a real-time version of
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 running on IBM System x and BladeCenter AMD and
Intel-based servers. This new computing infrastructure also provides a
broad community of Java programmers the ability to develop applications
that can execute and provide predictable to millisecond granularity
execution times.
The U.S. Navy is an early adopter of IBM's Real-Time Java technology
running on a customized "Real-Time Linux" platform deployed by IBM,
Raytheon, and Red Hat. It is taking advantage of a single and open
standards-based computing environment for applications ranging from
command-and-control, navigation, targeting, weapons control, and radar
systems. The first-of-its kind deployment will aid the Navy's efforts to
cut the cost of developing and maintaining traditionally expensive
real-time applications so it can speed the development of mission critical
combatant systems for its DDG 1000 Zumwalt Class Destroyer Program. IBM is
currently offering WebSphere Real-Time 1.0 running on a customized RHEL4
environment to customers in the government, financial, and
telecommunications sectors.
IBM will continue to work with Red Hat and the open source community to
offer performance tuning and system debugging features through a SystemTap
toolkit. Additionally, the companies are also working on Samba, kernel
scalability, customer testing, and numerous ongoing technology projects.
"IBM's Linux Technology Center is an incubator for technology innovation,
and ultimately for business transformation," said Daniel Frye, vice
president, Open Systems Development, IBM. "We're continuing to work with
Red Hat and the open source community to drive innovative technologies into
the Linux kernel to offer customers the efficient, cost-effective
production environment they need to gain a competitive edge in their own
industries."
"The upcoming release of our enterprise platform signifies much more that
just an upgrade to Linux, it is the culmination of a complete enterprise
architecture that includes a broad ecosystem of certified, reliable
solutions from partners like IBM," said Paul Cormier, Executive Vice
President of Engineering at Red Hat. "We continue our heritage of close
collaboration with customers and partners to deliver a highly relevant
technology platform that delivers on performance and value."
IBM can be reached at www.ibm.com.
For more information on Red Hat Enterprise Linux or for a list of
compatible applications, please visit: http://www.redhat.com.
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Contact:
John Charlson
IBM Media Relations
914-766-4628 (office)
518-852-6314 (cell) charlson@us.ibm.com
About Aaron Reed Aaron Reed is an assistant professor specializing in software architecture and design and .NET development at Neumont University in Salt Lake City, UT. He has worked professionally in the industry for over 12 years as a lead architect/designer, development manager, and VP of development. When he isn't spending time reading up on the latest in software development, Aaron loves spending time with his beautiful wife and three children.
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