Novell eases SUSE server management

Novell is offering Linux enterprise customers a systems management tool for SUSE Linux servers and associated hardware.

SUSE Manager is aimed at companies running SUSE Linux and other distributions in physical, virtual and cloud environments.

The software is based on an open source project called Spacewalk, and lowers the total cost of ownership of enterprise Linux systems as deployments become larger in scale, according to Novell.

SUSE Manager is also designed to ease migration away from Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server to the SUSE alternative.

"SUSE Manager is a giant step forward in the maturity of enterprise Linux," said Markus Rex, senior vice president and general manager of open platform solutions at Novell.

"By providing advanced integration with the operating system, single-console management of physical, virtual and cloud environments, and support for multiple Linux distributions, SUSE Manager enables Linux deployments to reach new levels of reliability, efficiency and performance."
Enterprise users should expect a consistent set of systems management tools and features, according to Novell, and can ensure good levels of hardware performance and a reduction in downtime.

Administrator time is freed up through the automation of monitoring, management and provisioning tasks, Novell said, and the system uses the Zypp package management stack for fast and accurate updating.

SUSE Manager lets IT teams manage their Linux systems through a single overview of hardware, virtual systems and cloud environments, extending to IBM System z and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server-based appliances.

Customers can also optimise workloads via the console and tweak performance and availability.