First launched at the LinuxWorld event in April, the Integrated Stack is now shipping worldwide and includes SLSES, as well as IBM’s DB2 Express-C database and the WebSphere Application Server Community Edition middleware it acquired with GlueCode in May 2005 and subsequently rebranded.
The stack is delivered on IBM System x or BladeCenter servers and also comes with the Likewise management technology from Centeris Corp to ensure that it interoperates with Windows environments.
Waltham, Massachusetts-based Novell is pitching the stack as a quick and easy way for customers to deploy Linux in existing Windows environments. According to the company, the stack is designed to be used as a web application server and database, or file and print server, or both.
While the mixed source stack might not be one of the open source purists, most small-to-medium enterprises are more concerned with getting the right tool for the job, and Novell could not resist taking a swipe at Linux rival Red Hat.
Red Hat Application Stack offers a pure open source solution at a higher price point with less functionality and limited Windows integration, the company stated of the application stack issued following Red Hat’s recent acquisition of JBoss.
Novell said pricing for the Integrated Stack varies depending on the hardware configuration, but that the software subscription cost for the first year is $349.
Meanwhile, Novell has also announced that it has promoted Thomas Francese to the position of executive vice president for worldwide sales. Francese joined Novell in October 2005 as president of EMEA, which was then a problematic region for the company.
He has been promoted to take care of Novell sales, channel and alliances activities following the promotion of president and chief operating officer, Ron Hovsepian, to the chief executive’s office in June. Both Hovsepian and Francese are former IBMers.
