SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12

SUSE® Linux Enterprise Server 12

Leveraging SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 to increase time-to-use, increase efficiency and accelerate innovation to compete more effectively, this versatile server operating system supports the deployment of highly available enterprise-class IT services in a hybrid IT environment, to ensure top-of-the-line performance and reduces risk.

99.99%                    80%                                     80%

Mission - critical availability  Server management savings  Cost savings

Highlights

Full System Rollback

Gain better resiliency. Full System Rollback allows you to take snapshots of the system, including the kernel files, and roll back. System administrators can boot from a snapshot to improve data safety. When you upgrade to a new service pack for your SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, the full system rollback capability minimizes the risk and allows you to rollback easily.

Exploiting Hardware RAS

Enhance your system reliability and reduce service costs. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 includes exclusive processes to exploit the RAS features of your hardware platform.

Get Ready for SUSE linux Enterprise Live Patching

Reduce planned downtime to improve service availability. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 provides the infrastructure to support real-time kernel patching via SUSE Linux Enterprise Live Patching. Update security patches without rebooting machines and without waiting for your next service window using live patching technology. So it increases your mission-critical workload and virtual host availability to extend business uptime.

Extensions for Clustering

Achieve higher service availability by clustering servers together and removing single points of failure. SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension offers an industry-leading, mature high availability solution. Further enhance your business continuity by connecting data centers across unlimited distances with Geo Clustering for SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension.

Safety Standards Compliance

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 is undergoing a Common Criteria certification evaluation, and multiple security modules have entered NIST's FIPS 140-2 certification program. These modules include OpenSSL, OpenSSH clients and servers, Strongswan (IPSec-based VPN), and the Kernel Crypto API.

Highlights of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP1

Network Teaming

Network Teaming is a technology that applies to various methods of combining multiple network connections in parallel. Similar to Network Bonding, which is already supported in SUSE Linux Enterprise 12, the Network Teaming feature increases throughput beyond what a single connection could sustain and provides redundancy to increase network uptime.

Service Pack Upgrade Rollback

When you upgrade SUSE Linux Enterprise Server to a new service pack, comprehensive system rollback minimizes the risk and allows you to roll back easily.。

Safety Standards Compliance

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 is undergoing a Common Criteria certification evaluation, and multiple security modules have entered NIST's FIPS 140-2 certification program. Among these modules: OpenSSL has been certified (Cert # 2435); authentication of other modules such as Open SHH client and server, Strongswan (IPSec-based VPN) and Kernel Crypto API are in progress. View the list of modules NIST that is reviewing.

Modules

Modern innovation can outpace the traditional enterprise software delivery model. The modules available in SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 meet this need by providing faster integration with upstream updates. This design approach lets you balance the flexibility of the modules and stability of the infrastructure.

Interactive and Unattended Upgrades

Using this feature, system administrators can quickly and easily upgrade their SUSE Linux Enterprise Server operating systems, reducing downtime, lowering administrative costs and improving quality. In fact, SUSE Linux Enterprise has been supporting (manual) major version upgrades for ten years. With YaST, you can interactively prepare a suitable profile and then use AutoYaST to automatically upgrade groups of servers.

Shibboleth

Shibboleth is a single sign-on (SSO) system for computer networks, especially Web infrastructure. It enables people to log into a variety of systems with only one identity between domains. Shibboleth software is now included in SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP1.

Docker

Docker is an open source technology that automates the deployment of applications inside software containers. It provides an additional layer of abstraction and automation of OS-level virtualization on Linux. Docker and Linux Containers are great ways to build, deploy and manage applications. Docker is supported in SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 for your production environments.

Just Enough Operating System (JeOS)

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server JeOS is a minimized form factor of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. JeOS is delivered as minimized, ready-to-run virtual images to make the virtualization deployment more efficient. JeOS is also delivered as a KIWI template for customers and partners to use to start golden images.

Order Management Tool (SMT)

The subscription management tool is our proxy solution designed to help large organizations centralize the receipt of patches and updates for their SUSE Linux Enterprise software. It provides customers with a simple migration path, as well as simpler and faster access to updates and patches. SMT is also a designated method for large organizations to take advantage of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server modules. The system management functions are not limited to the pure agents provided by SUSE Manager.

Improve Operational Efficiency

Full Support for KIWI

KIWI is a tool that designed to help you simplify the creation of the Gold Image, which is now included in SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 subscriptions. With one configuration, you can use KIWI to create OS images for physical deployments (DVD, USB) as well as provision it into virtual hypervisor environments (Xen, KVM, VMware, HyperV), container frameworks (Linux Containers, Docker) and public and private clouds. In fact, KIWI is well-known "engine" that behind the SUSE Studio. Advanced Systems Management machines also use KIWI to create images.

The New YaST

Utilize an easy-to-use tool with a consistent user experience to save time and effort in managing the local system. In SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12, the popular, user-friendly YaST® provides you with the ability to quickly customize your system during installation and after installation. Now, YaST is written in Ruby and it is more open, and easier to customize.

New Installer

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 introduces a new installer that is faster to install and requires fewer reboot in the workflow, thereby saving time. Its Ruby script allows partners to more smoothly embed SUSE Linux Enterprise Server into their solutions.

Wicked

Wicked makes it easy to manage ever-more-complicated network configurations such as VLAN, virtualization, bridging, bonding, and IPv6. Wicked from the "wicked" project, so you can dynamically change the configuration and then network configuration become a service. Wicked allows you to import existing configuration files from older Linux operating system versions.The standard configuration is available through the easy-to-use YaST interface.

SUSE Customer Center (SCC)

SCC is the new portal to centrally manage your SUSE subscriptions, access software updates and contact SUSE Customer Support. The user-friendly interface gives you a central view of all your SUSE subscriptions, allowing you to easily find the information you need.                                          

IPv6

The successor to IPv4 provides far more address space for device connection. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 provides native support for IPv6, such as during installation. With IPv6 support, you can connect to next-generation network equipment.The simplified registration process allows you to get patches and updates more quickly.

Linux Container

Starting from 2012, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server includes commercial support for Linux containers - enabling efficient, low-cost OS virtualization. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 enhances the manageability of Linux containers and better integrates them into the common virtualization framework (libvirt). So you can manage hypervisors (Xen, KVM) and Linux containers with the same tools, as well as integrate them into your business processes. The Libvirt interface also helps to integrate Linux containers into advanced frameworks, such as the OpenStack-based SUSE Cloud.

Samba 4 and Server-side Replication Improvements

Samba allows you to easily and securely interoperate in the Microsoft Windows environment. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 includes support for the latest version of Samba 4, which provides better integration with Windows Active Directory Domains. When using SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 as a file server in a Windows environment, you can leverage the copy-on-write btrfs file system for true "server-side replication" to improve the replication performance of Windows users. You can also create file server remote VSS protocol (FSRVP) snapshots with the btrfs and Snapper tools.

Docker and Unattended Upgrades

Docker is an open source technology that automates the deployment of applications inside software containers. It provides an additional layer of abstraction and automation of OS-level virtualization on Linux. Docker and Linux Containers are great ways to build, deploy and manage applications. Docker is supported in SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 for your production environments.

VMware Tools Integration

Saving time for individual download and installation of VMware drivers and tools (open-vm-tool). VMware drivers and tools (open-vm-tools) are now fully supported and integrated into SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 in an all-in-one package with their performance fine-tuned. The update uses the same mechanism as the other packages within SUSE Linux Enterprise Server.

Flexible Deployment Options

You can deploy SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 anywhere in physical, virtual, and cloud environments. To deploy on different hardware architectures such as Intel 64, IBM System z, and IBM POWER. It is the "best-in-class virtual machine" optimized for different hypervisors such as Microsoft Hyper-V, VMware vSphere, Xen, and KVM. You can also find it in more than 50 public clouds, including Microsoft, Google and Amazon public clouds.。

Accelerate Innovation

Certified Applications

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server supports a wide variety of third-party ISV applications, from mission-critical databases, e-business applications and ERP systems, to e-mail, file and print servers, and Web application servers.

SUSE SolidDriver Program

The SUSE SolidDriver program accelerates the adoption of new technologies by removing complexities and risks associated with deploying kernel drivers. It gives customers an easy way to identify fully compatible and supported software code. The program provides tools, specifications, and processes for several system and component vendors to help ensure that kernel drivers are easy to deploy, secure, and compatible with SUSE Linux Enterprise and are supported by SUSE and hardware and component vendors.

Certified Hardware

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server incorporates a wide variety of systems and platforms, making it the perfect choice for today's data centers. Most leading hardware vendors support our Linux server OS, so you can save money by using your existing physical servers or low-cost commodity hardware.

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 is Supported on These 64-bit Processor Architectures:

Intel 64 and AMD64

IBM POWER8 LE

IBM System z

IBM System z

Our enterprise Linux server operating system also supports more than 500 chipsets, storage systems and network equipment, which ensures that you can run Linux in any data center to increase the utilization of your existing commercial hardware.

From Intel:

Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 v3 product Series

Intel Xeon processor E5-1600 v3 product Series

Intel Xeon processor E5-2400 v3 product Series

Intel Xeon processor E5-4600 v3 product Series

Intel Xeon processor E7-8800 v3 product Series

Intel Xeon processor E7-4800 v3 product Series

Intel Atom processor C2000 product Series

From IBM

IBM POWER8 LE

SP1 introduces CPU support

From Intel: Intel® Xeon® processor E3 v4 series

Intel® Xeon® processor E5 v4 series

Intel® Xeon® Processor E7 v4 Series

Intel® Xeon® Processor D-1500 Series

Generation 6 Intel® Core ™ processor Series

IBM z13

Open vSwitch (Software-defined Network)

As enterprises migrate workloads from physical systems to virtual systems, they require virtual networks on the host to provide the same advanced capabilities as physical switches. Open vSwitch is a hypervisor-oriented virtual switch that provides network connectivity to virtual machines. It optimizes the network within a virtual environment and becomes one of the building blocks in a software-defined network (SDN).