Open source vendor Red Hat has announced the latest release of its Enterprise Linux platform, version 5.3, offering enhanced virtualisation, scalability, OpenJDK and support for Intel Core i7.
The new release features increased scalability of virtualised x86-64 environments and includes the ability to support virtual servers with up to 32 virtual CPUs and 80GB of memory. Physical server limits have also been expanded, which Red Hat hopes will cope with the latest hardware systems, with up to 126 CPUs and 1TB main memory.
The performance of virtual servers should be improved with the addition of support for Hugepage memory and Intel Extended Page Tables (EPT). This will enable customers to configure larger virtual systems, which Red Hat says should reduce costs.
One of the biggest improvements with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3 is the added support for Intel Core i7 (Nehalem) processors. Red Hat has described this as one of the most significant advances for Intel processor architecture since the Pentium Pro.
Internal tests showed gains of 1.7x for commercial applications and gains up to 3.5x for high-performance technical computing applications, when compared to previous Intel processors.
Support for Java has also been given a boost with the new release. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3 includes OpenJDK, an open source implementation of Java SE 6.
In total, Red Hat’s Release Notes for the new platform documents over 150 additions and updates.
Scott Crenshaw, vice president, Platform Business Unit at Red Hat, said: “Through the compelling enhancements in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3, Red Hat has once again delivered a rich set of features, developed through rapid innovation with the open source community, that will benefit customers leveraging Red Hat’s reliable subscription model.”
“With the challenge to carve costs out of IT budgets, the flexibility, reliability and ease of our subscription model has more value to customers than ever. With Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3 today, customers have access to the latest in open source, including leading virtualisation scalability and performance.”
Customers with a Red Hat Enterprise Linux subscription will receive the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3 update, which is available for immediate download from Red Hat Network.
