Reliability, Availability and Serviceability

Swap over network file system (NFS)This feature allows you to use NFS over Internet protocols (IP) to access remote storage for local server needs. You can cut costs by using less expensive diskless servers. And by using swap over NFS, you can protect your systems against application restarts and costly downtime.

Control groupsSUSE Linux Enterprise Server features control groups for more fine-grained management of CPU, memory, storage and networking resources. Control groups let you assign specific hardware resources to applications, processes and threads. Such precise control helps you optimize system performance and maximize uptime for your mission-critical workloads.

Device mapper multipath I/OAsynchronous and multipath I/O capabilities reduce your overall disk read/write times and enable redundant storage paths and networks. The results are more efficient load balancing, improved performance and higher availability.

Carrier Grade LinuxSUSE Linux Enterprise Server supports the Linux Foundation's latest Carrier Grade Linux standard (CGL 4.0) and is validated for use in telecommunications environments.

Service Pack 2 (SP2) kernel improvementsSUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP2 ships with a modern 3.0 kernel, delivering greater RAS. Customers get improved scalability and data integrity with btrfs. A more resilient file system, new snapshot and rollback capabilities increase service availability. SP2 supports the RAS features in the latest Intel and AMD processors–like CPU and memory hot plugging.

Advanced Security

AppArmorThis security framework protects your Linux OS and applications from external and internal threats and zero-day attacks. AppArmor® comes with default policies for quick deployment so you can secure mission-critical applications quickly. Security profiles completely define what system resources individual programs can access, and with what privileges. AppArmor also includes learning-based tools and advanced statistical analytics that simplify the development of customized policies, even for the most complex applications. Additionally, changing security policies with AppArmor is dynamic, eliminating the need to reboot the system.

True firewall protectionSUSE Linux Enterprise Server protects your network from internal and external attacks with a "stateful" firewall. The Linux netfilter framework lets you establish an effective firewall that separates networks from each other. With the help of iptables—a generic table structure for the definition of rule sets—you can precisely control which packets are allowed to pass through a particular network interface. Setting up this kind of packet filter is simple with SuSEfirewall2 and the corresponding YaST® administration module.

Trusted Platform Module (TPM) supportSUSE Linux Enterprise Server includes support for the TPM standard, which facilitates the authentication of common hardware devices.

Comprehensive and precise security administrationSUSE Linux Enterprise Server exposes the latest hardware security features like the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) instruction set. Applications and hardware that leverage AES operate more securely as a result. Other capabilities include certificate creation and management, VPN, encryption, authentication, access control lists, intrusion detection and more.

New security features with SP2SP2 adds roll based access controls to AppArmor, enabling improved security. Fanotify offers standard APIs to Linux kernel, enabling greater usage of third-party anti-virus tools.

Cross-Platform Virtualization

Support for XenBoost hardware utilization and efficiency with this open source hypervisor that's integrated into SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. Xen 4.1 delivers superior performance–especially for I/O intensive workloads. The key is thorough support for single root I/O virtualization (SR-IOV) and single root address translation services (SR-ATS).

Support for Kernel Virtual Machine (KVM)A subscription to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server also includes full commercial support for KVM, an emerging open source hypervisor. KVM boosts performance by leveraging the Linux kernel's resources. Like Xen, it ships free with SUSE Linux Enterprise Server.

Paravirtualized driversWith paravirtualized drivers, you can run virtual Windows servers with near-native performance. These drivers are available with the SUSE Linux Enterprise Virtual Machine Driver Pack.

Optimized for major third-party hypervisorsAchieve greater utilization of older systems and increase performance on newer hardware. Run SUSE Linux Enterprise Server as a guest operating system in virtual environments created with VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V or Citrix XenServer. And it's affordable—one subscription entitles you to run an unlimited number of virtual guest instances per physical server.

More choice with SP2KVM now supports Windows guest operating systems in addition to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. And new with SP2 is commercial support for Linux Containers–highly efficient, low overhead OS virtualization. Use the virtualization solution that's right for you.

Simplified Administration, Development and Systems Management

YaST/AutoYaST/WebYaSTYaST is a user-friendly environment for installing and configuring Linux systems. Predefined patterns simplify setup and deployment. AutoYaST extends this functionality to larger numbers, letting you deploy server subsets or entire groups—even unattended. WebYaST offers the functionality of YaST via a web browser.

Efficient package management with ZYppManaging package installations and resolving dependencies can be a nightmare. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server includes ZYpp, the fastest update stack available on any enterprise distribution. System updates that once took hours now take just minutes.

Subscription and patch management toolsIncluded with SUSE Linux Enterprise Server is access to Customer Center and the Subscription Management Tool (SMT). Easily manage your systems through an intuitive, web-based portal, or centrally manage software updates on a per-system basis within your corporate firewall.

Cross-architecture debuggingNow you can analyze System z core dumps on an x86 system, eliminating the need for a duplicate mainframe server. This simplifies systems management and keeps costs under control.

Software development kit (SDK)Included with SUSE Linux Enterprise Server is a comprehensive SDK that contains several integrated development environments and also supports popular programming languages, such as C, C++, Java, Perl, Python, PHP and Ruby. The SDK also includes libraries, compilers, debuggers, simulation tools and editors necessary for developers, as well as Tomcat, a popular application for serving web applets.

More convenience and capabilities with SP2Unattended upgrades are now possible from SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 SP4 to 11 SP2. Upgrading major releases are now just as easy as upgrading minor releases. YaST integration with snapper improves system visibility, while enhancements for FCoE make configuring shared storage and Ethernet networks easier.