Open source offerings provider Red Hat has released the Enterprise Linux 6.1, the first update to the platform since the launch of Enterprise Linux 6 in November 2010 that offers customers open source enterprise environments, spanning physical, virtual and cloud deployments.

The improvements present in Enterprise Linux 6.1 are in system reliability, scalability and performance, coupled with support for upcoming system hardware.

Red Hat said Enterprise Linux 6.1 also delivers patches and security updates, while maintaining application compatibility and OEM/ISV certifications.

Red Hat Platform Business vice-president and general manager Jim Totton said Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.1 provides more enterprise reliability, performance and control throughout the data centre.

Totton said, "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.1 continues to lead Linux innovation as we drive adoption across workloads that include physical, virtual and cloud deployments. We’re pleased to provide these new capabilities to our global customers today."

The technology updates in Enterprise Linux 6.1 include: additional configuration options for advanced storage configurations; enhancements in virtualisation, file systems and resource management; smoother enterprise deployments and tighter integration with heterogeneous systems; support for automatic failover for virtual machines; and improvements to network traffic processing.

Red Hat and HP recently announced that the combination of Red Hat Enterprise Linux with KVM running on a HP ProLiant BL620c G7 20-core Blade server delivered a record-setting SPECvirt_sc2010 benchmark result.

Red Hat and IBM also recently announced that the companies submitted a benchmark to SPEC in which a combination of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization and IBM systems delivered 45% better consolidation capability than competitors in performance tests conducted by Red Hat and IBM.

IBM has collaborated with Red Hat in the development of the update.

Cross-IBM Linux and Open Virtualisation director Jean Staten Healy said, "Building on our decade-long partnership to optimise Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM platforms, our companies have collaborated closely on the development of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.1."

"Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.1 combined with IBM hardware capabilities offers our customers expanded flexibility, performance and scalability across their baremetal, virtualised and cloud environments. Our collaboration continues to drive innovation and leading results in the industry," said Healy.