Enterprise Linux 5 Beta 2

Features: Open source solutions provider Red Hat has announced the launch of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Beta 2. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, to be released in early 2007, will provide the latest open source technologies for improved performance, security and flexibility.

With a continued focus on technologies designed to drive costs out of deploying and managing infrastructure software, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 will deliver comprehensive integration that will significantly raise the bar for commercial-strength Linux virtualization in an x86 server environment, a Red Hat statement said.

Available in Beta 2, it incorporates a new, fully integrated server and storage virtualization solution. This release enables an integrated virtualization solution by coupling server virtualization with Red Hat's clustering support. For enhanced availability, failover at either the application or virtual machine level is provided by Red Hat Cluster Suite. Red Hat Global File System and Cluster Logical Volume Manager technology allows application data to be securely accessed and shared by any guest from any system.

"The incorporation of virtualization technologies into operating system software is a major industry development that will have long term impact on how customers design their computer infrastructure, how they deploy, and how the plan for scalability, availability and continuity," said Al Gillen, research VP, System Software at IDC.

"Integrating technologies such as virtualization is challenging and exciting, and the resulting product will enable customers to utilize their systems more effectively than ever before," said Tim Yeaton, senior vice president of Enterprise Solutions, Red Hat. "We continue to drive down costs by optimizing performance, manageability and availability. Other customer-driven innovations, such as security, are inherent to our development model."