Which enterprise Linux to choose?

Debate abounds between Linux lovers which distribution to choose on the desktop. But what about the server? Yes, all versions of Linux are equally capable of serving your mail and web site, but just what is it in those so-called "enterprise" editions that make them, well, enterprise-y?
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I’m glad you asked. It’s s topic that can suffer an ill-fate.

Some in free software circles question the merits of a “paid” Linux variant when the majority, the give-away unrestricted Linux releases, contain so much already.

Or, a business might not grasp why an enterprise Linux would benefit them if it turns out to require lots of cryptic keyboard hammering with the only available assistance being “the community” as found in forums online around the world.

However, enterprise Linux do have a raison d’être and they do cost money. Both go hand in hand. The added value is worth paying for, as corporate techs will understand.

Reasons business should evaluate Linux for a server platform include freedom from vendor lock-in. Linux is controlled by no one person or corporation. It can’t die because its source code is freely available for use by anyone.

Even if you used (say) Ubuntu Linux at home and Canonical decided to shut their doors forever. You would not be at risk: because the operating system has been made available for the scrutiny, typing up or general inspection of others. I think I can say with 100% confidence that someone would pick up the project and bring Ubuntu back to life.

Linux is a terrific example of open source in practice because of this. In fact, Linux has been chosen as the platform upon which VMWare’s ESX server is built, as well as products by Cisco.
Nevertheless, business users need more than just a bare metal operating system. Here’s where the money comes into it, and how a company like Red Hat – who give away all their source code – manage to be profitable.

The reason a business should pay for an enterprise Linux has to include as one of its chief reasons that vendor support is available. You will not be left alone. You won’t have to deal with hundreds of Google results that are simply others asking the same questions with no result, nor the possible flame-fests containing in mailing lists and Usenet groups.

There are other reasons. Enterprise Linux distributions will come with, sometimes proprietary, packages that support high availability and redundancy, like clustering, greater RAID capabilities, stronger alerting and management and other items.

So, let’s take a closer look at the leading contenders: Novell SUSE, Red Hat, CentOS, Ubuntu Server and Oracle’s unbreakable Linux!

Novell is a big player, and in fact own the UNIX trademark – but that’s really a different matter, Linux is not UNIX. Still, at least you know Novell aren’t going to try and sue anyone for alleged IP infringement.

SUSE
Novell sell SUSE Linux Enterprise which they claim runs from the desktop to the data centre.

Novell put forward arguments that SUSE is the most interoperable platform, that it works with Microsoft Windows, SAP and IBM systems.

While other Linux distributions from different vendors are undoubtedly able to also mix with hardware and software and networks from those providers, Novell pin their competitive advantage not on purely software matters but to an extensive network the company has with hardware and software partners including that trinity of Microsoft, SAP and IBM.

Novell continue to emphasise their partnerships when it comes to the matter of support. Here, Novell claim a wide range of consulting and partner organisations who will all work together to ensure SUSE deployments run securely without disruption.

A SUSE certification program is available, which means application developers can have their software certified as running correctly and reliably on the SUSE platform. While SUSE is fundamentally Linux, and Linux software runs on any Linux, this certification can give peace of mind to some that mission critical applications have been tested on the very same platform and have been proven to work.

SUSE is a tremendous example of just what enterprise Linux is all about. It’s not just the software – heck, you can get the operating system for free. It’s the company behind it that you’re paying for, and their strength and expertise and relationships and credentials.

Here Novell illustrate perfectly just why a business, having opted for Linux, would do well to consider an enterprise Linux release. You will never be in the unenviable position of facing a technical glitch with only yourself to fix it.

Red Hat
Red Hat have been around for years. They’re well known, they’re popular and they’ve been active in contributing back to the Linux community with significant time and money spent on enhancing the Linux kernel and other products.

Red Hat are the only Linux house to offer a certification to individuals – the Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE), in a comical spin on Microsoft’s former Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) cert. This program is well regarded as a tough one that genuinely proves technical expertise.

Red Hat, the company, have a free distribution available called Fedora (which I use myself) and a paid enterprise-grade product called Red Hat Enterprise Linux, otherwise known as RHEL or simply Red Hat. In the latter case discussions about “Red Hat” may or may not include Fedora depending on whether it is the company or the product under consideration.

Like Novell, Red Hat put forward the strengths of their enterprise platform as certified hardware and certified applications; you can buy specific hardware and specific software knowing it has been thoroughly tested and proven to perform in a robust manner.

Unlike Novell, Red Hat don’t claim a worldwide partnership that provide support but instead have their own massive round-the-clock collection of in-house technician and engineers (presumably all RHCE’s.)

Red Hat also emphasise the wide range of deployment options that Red Hat has been tested with, which include the typical operating system on server, but also virtualised, cloud computing and software as a service (SaaS) models.

Read on for CentOS, Ubuntu and Oracle!

CentOS
It’s not really possible to talk about Red Hat Enterprise Linux without reference to CentOS. While Fedora is a “typical” free Linux, with a massive range of open source applications available, RHEL includes some extra apps not available in Fedora.

These include backup tools, RAID and clustering utilities and other items. Yet, despite being an obvious value-add to Red Hat, the company puts its money where its mouth is and has made even these custom in-house apps available as open source.

Consequently, CentOS is a totally independent Linux distribution which is built purely from the RHEL sources – with proprietary items like logos and trademarks removed.

This means CentOS is another free fully redistributable open source Linux distro but with the unique advantage it is functionally equivalent to the otherwise commercial RHEL.

At least, equivalent in terms of software. What you don’t get with CentOS is support beyond the usual Linux community options.

Click on the Support / Commercial support dropdown on CentOS’ web page and you are greeted with a placeholder page telling you more content will come in time.

Nevertheless, CentOS is meritable; it means system admins can pretty much run the same Linux on their laptops as they use on the servers but without any extra cost. Or, CentOS can be a proof-of-concept for a company before committing the funds to RHEL.

Nevertheless, as good as CentOS is, it’s arguably not an enterprise Linux distro because it doesn’t include the bits that go beyond the operating system – namely the strength of a large company backing the product to the hilt, giving you confidence and support whenever needed.

Ubuntu
In a similar vein is Ubuntu Linux, server edition.

Ubuntu is possibly the most popular – certainly the most popularised – Linux available today. It isn’t available just a single release; it comes in both a desktop and server edition.

Both are built on top of Debian Linux which is reputed for its stability (Ubuntu adding a regular release cycle, a consistent environment, and other items that make it friendlier to beginners.)

The server edition is freely available, with optional paid support available. This support takes the form of an annual service level agreement with live phone support and e-mail support available. The support can be 24x7 or 9x5 depending on requirements, but on the face of it appears less mobile than that offered by Novell and Red Hat, in that if a fleet of on-foot in-person engineers are available to come to you it is not promoted.

Oracle
Oracle are known for databases, but what may be less known about them is their “Unbreakable Linux” program. That name is compelling; everyone wants an unbreakable system.

If you are considering an Oracle deployment then it’s well worth looking at Oracle’s Linux platform to run it on. Even if you’re not considering a database server, Oracle’s unbreakable Linux has the same world-class service and support as Oracle’s traditional database system.

As with SUSE and Red Hat, Oracle promote the concept of validated configurations – tested hardware and software platforms. Software houses can certify their apps to work with the program.

Some terminology must be clarified. Oracle Unbreakable Linux is actually a support program.

It’s not a distribution. The distribution shipped is labelled Oracle Enterprise Linux but behind the scenes it’s fundamentally Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

Remarkably, this means if you’re looking for a good enterprise Linux platform you’ll find that a Red Hat option is not limited for choice with support partners.

The argument put forth by various organisations that Linux can’t compete with other operating systems because it lacks support is totally blown away by the truly enterprise-class support offerings that exist, and not by unknown third parties but by vendors and major players.

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BY David M Williams
Source：iWire