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You want it all: reliability, performance and security. And you want it for a smaller portion of your increasingly limited IT budget.

Enterprise Linux Server solutions from Novell deliver the benefits of proprietary operating systems with greater freedom and lower costs. We offer the most interoperable Linux server solutions on the market, powered by SUSE Linux Enterprise and backed by our unparalleled expertise and support.


Our Enterprise Linux Server Capabilities

Worry-free UNIX to Linux Migration

Free yourself from proprietary vendor costs and constraints without sacrificing performance or reliability. 

What's your UNIX system done for you lately?

Proprietary UNIX software and hardware costs more but offers less choice and flexibility.

You already know Linux servers are a better choice. The costs are lower for everything from software to support. There's more choice in vendors, applications and hardware. The list goes on and on. But you might be worried about switching. Can a Linux system run your applications? Does it have the reliability and support you need to keep your organization running?

Stop worrying. SUSE® Linux Enterprise from Novell provides a rock-solid solution for enterprise computing. Built to handle your mission-critical workloads, it combines the benefits of traditional UNIX—reliability, scalability and performance—with lower cost and greater flexibility.

Deploying Linux instead of UNIX or Windows can save you up to 90 percent on software costs and up to 80 percent on hardware costs. Plus, because SUSE Linux Enterprise solutions are built for maximum interoperability, they reduce management complexity. And our support of open standards in areas such as storage, power, virtualization and more gives you the choice you need to achieve an agile infrastructure.

SUSE Linux Enterprise also delivers:

  • Seamless integration with your existing infrastructure
  • Optimizations that make it the "perfect guest" operating system for virtual environments
  • A proven foundation for your mission-critical applications

Backed by consulting, support and training services from Novell and our partners, SUSE Linux Enterprise provides a low-risk, high-value foundation for growth.

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The Perfect Virtual Machine Guest

Your data center has great potential. Don't let your operating system stand between you and a high-performing virtual environment. 

They say we only use a small percentage of our brains. The same goes for our data centers. The average server utilization in an enterprise environment ranges from five to 40 percent, while the remaining available capacity goes unused. That's a huge portion of your data center investment that's wasted each day.

More and more organizations are turning to virtualization to shrink their data centers. Not only does this dramatically reduce costs, but it also simplifies disaster recovery, provides higher availability and increases agility.

However, your current operating system may be a roadblock to virtualization. Not all platforms were built to run as virtual machine guests. This can lead to suboptimal performance and a lack of support from your hypervisor vendor. Plus, most operating system vendors employ pricing models that are not virtualization-friendly.

At Novell, we've always been committed to building relationships that give our customers the solutions they need. Virtualization is no exception. Our technical collaboration with VMware, Microsoft and the Xen community makes SUSE Linux Enterprise the "perfect guest" operating system for virtual deployments, through sophisticated performance optimizations. And through our relationship with Microsoft, you also receive full support for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server as a guest on Microsoft Hyper-V.

If virtualization is too expensive to carry out, it's pointless. Many software vendors charge per virtual machine, reducing the benefit of server consolidation in your data center. With Novell, you can run an unlimited number of virtual machines for the price of a single operating system. That's because we charge one subscription per physical server, no matter how many virtual machines run on it.

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Linux for Mainframes

Combine the power of System z with the flexibility of Linux to optimize your data center investment. 

It's a vicious cycle: You need a more efficient data center. Yet your users are demanding more services, which calls for greater performance and reliability. So you add more hardware to support their needs. But this response only leads to increased costs and complexity. In other words, you're right back to needing a more efficient data center.

Put an end to the cycle with Linux for mainframes. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for System z allows you to run your most important applications on the world's leading mainframe systems. By allowing you to leverage the strengths of both System z and Linux, our technologies provide the most effective data center available.

With Novell, you can consolidate your servers while:

  • Increasing reliability
  • Improving responsiveness and flexibility
  • Lowering costs

It's well-known that System z is unparalleled for reliability. Novell solutions can make your data center even more dependable. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for System z can handle all your most important applications. Our technical excellence and proven track record have made us the number one Linux provider for System z worldwide. In addition, our extensive technical collaboration with IBM ensures SUSE Linux Enterprise is a fully supported operating system on System z.

Because Linux delivers immense flexibility, your data center will easily adapt to evolving user needs. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for System z enables you to provision new servers rapidly and cost-effectively. In addition, you can use the open source Xen hypervisor included in the solution to virtualize your mainframe workloads, further increasing your data center agility.

Some things just belong together. Linux and System z are two of them. Whether you already run Linux on distributed systems or use a mainframe without Linux, pair them today for maximum value with SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for System z.

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High Availability and Mission-critical Computing

Need your critical applications to run 24x7x365? We have high availability capabilities without the high price tag. 

Many of your applications and IT services are so critical that even seconds of downtime can cause significant financial loss or even danger to human life. Even if downtime goes unnoticed within your enterprise, you still run the risk of inadvertently violating laws and regulations.

Many organizations look to solutions like high availability clustering to ensure continuity. It's an effective solution, but high availability clustering can be costly and complex to install and manage.

Novell solutions, based on SUSE Linux Enterprise, make it easy and cost-effective to deploy high availability clusters and safeguard your mission-critical computing. Make maximum uptime a reality for your organization with high availability clustering capabilities that are:

  • Robust
  • Cost-effective
  • Easy to implement

Novell technologies have the robust capabilities you need to guarantee the highest levels of availability. Our proven capabilities include automated failover, a clustered file system, clustered logical volume management and continuous data replication. With solutions built for running mission-critical workloads, Novell is the vendor of choice for clients who have no tolerance for downtime, such as German Air Traffic Control.

With SUSE Linux Enterprise, it's simple to install and configure your own high availability clusters and services. Our robust capabilities are preintegrated and ready to go from day one. And our YaST setup tool, famous for its easy-to-use interface, streamlines installation even further.

Minimize downtime for thousands of dollars less than similar proprietary technologies. Our open source solution costs less to own and manage. And it's even included at no charge with a SUSE Linux Enterprise Server subscription for the IBM POWER, Intel Itanium or IBM System z platforms. All this means you can deploy high availability clustering to more servers across your enterprise.

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Retail Point of Service

Keep up with your customers by deploying a proven, low-cost IT solution that will support your point of service (POS) environments—now and in the future. 

Customer satisfaction starts with employee satisfaction. Your users need a solution that makes it easy to offer great service for every customer every day, and for that you need a reliable and flexible infrastructure.

Your operating system must provide a robust foundation for critical retail applications. It should also be scalable so you can keep up with your customers' ever-changing needs. SUSE Linux Enterprise Point of Service from Novell was built specifically for the retail environment. It supports the latest software and technologies for POS terminals, kiosks, self-service systems and reverse-vending systems.

Our solution gives retailers unparalleled flexibility, reliability and cost savings. Backed by partners such as IBM, NCR, Oracle and SAP, it presents you with a wide range of hardware and software solutions to choose from. SUSE Linux Enterprise Point of Service is based on the same open platform as the rest of our Linux solutions, which reduces vendor lock-in.

With SUSE Linux Enterprise Point of Service, you can:

  • Reduce TCO
  • Simplify IT management
  • Enjoy greater reliability and uptime for POS devices
  • Optimize security to prevent data loss

The Novell solution is one you can trust. Our SUSE Linux Enterprise foundation means you're deploying technology that's been proven in the world's biggest and most sophisticated organizations. Retailers like Sherwin-Williams, the largest paint retailer in the U.S., and KarstadtQuelle, the largest European department store and mail-order group, use SUSE Linux Enterprise Point of Service.

Put Linux in your store today, and concentrate on what really matters: your customers.

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Real Time Linux

You don't have time to wonder if your platform can keep up with your time-sensitive applications. With Novell, you'll be sure your time-critical applications always get the computing resources they need for maximum performance. 

One way to increase the performance of your time-sensitive applications is to use a general-purpose operating system and over-provision your hardware. But this results in an expensive and complex infrastructure that still keeps you up at night—and probably depletes your budget.

SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time Extension from Novell is a better solution. This fully supported operating system is specifically engineered to run your time-critical applications.

SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time Extension enables you to:

  • Lower latency
  • Ensure greater predictability
  • Reduce costs

Increase your edge by effectively responding to changing market conditions and business needs. SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time Extension helps you lower latency. With our solution, it's easy to improve your application's reaction time by assigning priority to specific application threads. Those with high priorities are automatically executed without delay and interruptions. This keeps your most critical systems available at all times.

But sometimes maximum speed is not the goal. Certain applications simply require a defined performance every time. You can run a wide variety of time-critical applications predictably with SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time Extension. Our solution "reserves" key system resources for high-priority processes. As a result, even heavy workloads don't harm the reliability of your time-critical applications.

Because SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time Extension is an open solution, you can get reliable performance for less of your budget. Run it on industry-standard servers for even greater cost savings. And you can deliver the same quality of service with half the hardware. Our systems can be run "hotter" (with a higher average utilization), even under heavy workloads.

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Featured Resources

Video

Office Depot Customer Success Video Office Depot runs its 24/7 global operations with SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, slashing costs and standardizing its environment.

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