Red Hat is to deliver an open-source application server,
clustering and systems management software which works seamlessly
with Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
The first part of the Red Hat Open Source Architecture
initiative is Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3, due next month. The
operating system will offer hooks to the other software, which will
be delivered as additional subscriptions.
Hardware platform support in the operating system has been
expanded from Intel platforms to also include IBM's zSeries
mainframes and iSeries and pSeries PowerPC-based servers, as well
as systems based on Advanced Micro Devices' 64-bit Opteron
processor.
Red Hat aims to set a direction for the open-source community to
develop enterprise infrastructure components which it will then
take and integrate with Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
"Many of the issues with Linux in the enterprise have been the
lack of interoperability among components," said Brian Stevens,
vice president of operating system development at Red Hat. "We hope
the same momentum behind the Linux community will drive the
applications market."
Today enterprise Linux users who want application server,
clustering, or management software tend to be proprietary products
from vendors such as Veritas Software, BEA Systems and IBM. The Red
Hat products will compete with those but are not identical, said
Paul Cormier, executive vice president of engineering at Red
Hat.
"Obviously the open-source application server does not have the
same features as a BEA or IBM application server," he said. "We are
here to give customers the opportunity to have a complete open
source solution. The strategy for us here is offering choice."
About three months after the Enterprise Linux 3 release, Red Hat
intends to deliver clustering as the first Open Source Architecture
add-on. The plan is to offer 16-node clustering for load balancing,
failover and storage management, Stevens said.
Within three months after that, Red Hat plans to offer a J2EE
(Java 2 Enterprise Edition) application server. This product will
be based on JOnAS (Java Open Application Server), from European
middleware consortium ObjectWeb, Stevens said.
Red Hat last month announced it joined ObjectWeb.
Systems management software that allows provisioning, upgrading
and monitoring of servers is due out in the same time frame as the
application server, Red Hat said.
Pricing for the Open Source Architecture additions to Red Hat
Enterprise Linux has yet to be determined.
Joris Evers writes for IDG News
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