LINUX
The GNU/Linux operating system has established
itself over the last decade as an open source enterprise grade operating
system. The Linux kernel started from humble beginnings in 1991 by
Linus Torvalds whilst he was a student of computer science at the
University of Helsinki. Linux popularity quickly grew and the project
enlisted a vast network of developers across the world. Linux was
first developed for the 32-bit x86 based personal computers but nowadays
runs on a large number of hardware architectures including 64-bit
Intel Itanium (IA64).
Linux is distributed by a number of commercial
and non-commercial organizations who add packaged versions of the
GNU/Linux operating
system, documentation, enhancements to the core Linux kernel and
commercial support. Red Hat Enterprise Linux, for example, is a
distribution of GNU/Linux where the commercial support is sold by
annual subscription.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Features Comparison Chart
|
Feature
|
Advanced Server
|
Enterprise Server
|
Workstation
|
Supports X86 systems
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Supports Itanium & AMD64 systems
|
Yes
|
No
|
Yes
|
Supports IBM z, i, p, & S/390 series systems
|
Yes
|
No
|
No
|
Supports systems with >2 CPUs
|
Yes
|
No
|
No
|
Supports >8GB memory (X86)
|
Yes
|
No
|
Yes
|
Subscription to Red Hat Network
|
1
year
|
1
year
|
1
year
|
12x5 services available
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
24x7 services available
|
Yes
|
No
|
No
|
Includes desktop applications
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Includes network server applications (e.g. dhcp, dns)
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
No
|
Supported by leading ISV applications
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
