Linux developer Red Hat is looking to increase its presence in the
high-end market for enterprise software
The company demonstrated the forthcoming Red Hat Advanced Server at
this week's LinuxWorld Conference & Expo. It also introduced a
number of new tools designed for large businesses.
The company said it would be adding another service tier to its
16-month-old Red Hat Network, a system for remotely managing Linux
deployments via the Web. The new Red Hat Network Workgroup service
includes all the features found in Red Hat's less expensive Basic
service, as well as multiple-administrator authorisation and system
grouping tools intended to ease management of various server and
workstation sets. The company recommends Workgroup subscriptions
for customers managing multiple Red Hat Linux systems.
Red Hat's Basic service costs $60 (£42) per system subscription,
per year. The new Workgroup service costs $240 (£169) per system,
per year. Both are available worldwide.
Red Hat is also releasing add-on options aimed at Workgroup
subscribers, including the Red Hat Network Proxy Server and Red Hat
Network Satellite, a security tool.
Commenting on the company's strategy, Paul Cormier, Red Hat's
executive vice president of engineering said: "In the beginning, we
were focused on small and medium businesses, and individual users.
Now, we're bringing our tools into the enterprise".
Red Hat's forthcoming Advanced Server, scheduled for release during
the second quarter, is intended to be a top-of-the-line operating
system for key enterprise application deployments, Cormier said.
Red Hat is focusing its enterprise-class product development on
"features that are requirements," including high-availability,
clustering and load-balancing capabilities.
Red Hat currently claims a subscriber base of more than 400,000
systems connected to the Red Hat Network, although the company
would not specify how many customers are represented by those
400,000 systems.