WALTHAM, Mass., April 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Novell today
announced the expansion of its Long Term Service Pack Support
(LTSS) program for SUSE® Linux Enterprise Server, lengthening
customers' access to the company's industry-leading Linux* support
for each service pack release. For the first time, long term
support is also provided globally for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
for System z*. Novell further announced the immediate
availability of SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 Service Pack 4 (SP4),
bundling all previously released patches, fixes and updates for
SUSE Linux Enterprise 10, while supporting the newest hardware,
storage systems and networking devices, including Intel's latest
Xeon* E7 processor family and AMD's latest Opteron* processors.
Long Term Service Pack Support (LTSS) for SUSE Linux
Enterprise Server
Novell's updated LTSS offering enables data center customers to
stay on covered releases longer than other Linux distributions.
The ability to run workloads for an extended time on one
service pack helps enterprises mitigate risk by minimizing changes
to mission-critical workloads, allows more time to migrate to a
future release of SUSE Linux Enterprise, and defers the costs
associated with updating and testing.
The updated LTSS program includes the following features:
- Three extra years of extended support for SUSE Linux
Enterprise Server. With the expansion of the LTSS
program, Novell is now offering three years of extended support, in
addition to the seven years of general support, for each major
version of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. This enables a ten
year support lifecycle for each platform generation of SUSE Linux
Enterprise Server, thus providing a UNIX-like lifecycle at a much
lower total cost of ownership. During extended support,
customers continue to receive essential security updates and
critical bug fixes.
- Five years of support for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
service packs. Novell is also lengthening the period of
time during which LTSS will provide support for individual service
packs. Customers can now obtain support for each covered
service pack for up to three years past the end of a service pack's
general support phase, which typically lasts two years. As a
result, customers can either upgrade to the next service pack at a
slower pace or skip a service pack altogether and ultimately move
to a later release.
- Worldwide support for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server on IBM
System z. As the market leader for Linux on the
mainframe, Novell is making further investments in this market to
help customers obtain more value from their mainframe deployments.
LTSS for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for System z reduces
risk by ensuring that the configurations for mission-critical
workloads running on the mainframe can be maintained over an
extended period of time without change.
"Long Term Service Support Programs are essential to Linux as a
leading platform for mission-critical environments," said
Richard Jones, managing vice
president, Gartner. "They offer the assurance that those
workloads can continue to run in a stable and secure environment
for a longer period of time, which is a true differentiator in
today's ultra-competitive, budget-constrained marketplace."
SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 SP4
SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 SP4 supports a wide range of the
industry's newest hardware, storage systems and networking devices,
including Intel's latest Xeon E7 processor family and AMD's latest
Opteron processors. This release also delivers all previously
released patches, fixes and updates for SUSE Linux Enterprise
Server 10 (including SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for System z),
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 and SUSE Linux Enterprise Software
Development Kit 10.
SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 SP4 provides support for HyperPAV (for
improved disk subsystem throughput) and hardware-accelerated
cryptographic devices, as well as refreshed device drivers for
storage and networking devices. In addition, the enhancements
to the LTSS program will allow customers to run SUSE Linux
Enterprise Server 10 SP4 with commercial support until 2016.
"Our customers have made it clear that the long-term support of
their Linux platforms is critical to their business," said
Markus Rex, senior vice president
and general manager, Open Platform Solutions, at Novell. "The
extension of our support program and the release of SP4 for SUSE
Linux Enterprise 10 provide important benefits for data center
operators, giving them UNIX*-caliber lifecycles for their critical
workloads. Across the full spectrum of physical, virtual and cloud
environments, SUSE Linux Enterprise backed by Novell services is
delivering exceptional value while helping customers further reduce
risk."
Availability
SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 SP4, the final service pack for the
SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 platform, and the updated terms of
Novell's Long Term Service Pack Support are available immediately.
For more details on SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 SP4, go to
http://www.novell.com/products/server10/ and
http://www.novell.com/products/desktop10/, and for more information
on LTSS, visit
http://www.novell.com/linux/service-pack-support.html.
About Novell
Novell, Inc. (Nasdaq: NOVL), a leader in intelligent workload
management, helps organizations securely deliver and manage
computing services across physical, virtual and cloud computing
environments. We help customers reduce the cost, complexity and
risk associated with their IT systems through our solutions for
identity and security, systems management, collaboration and
Linux-based operating platforms. With our infrastructure software
and ecosystem of partnerships, Novell integrates mixed IT
environments, allowing people and technology to work as one. For
more information, visit www.novell.com.
Copyright© 2011 Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
Novell, the Novell logo, the N logo, and SUSE are registered
trademarks of Novell, Inc. in the United States and other
countries. * All third party trademarks are the property of
their respective owners.
SOURCE Novell, Inc.