Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) this week used the LinuxWorld conference in San Francisco as the platform to announce several additions and enhancements to its Linux offerings.
– The Disaster Tolerant Solution for Linux brings to Linux users a system for backing up and recovering data over a metropolitan-area optical link – up to 100KM in length – to aid in recovery from a disaster. It achieves these distances through Dense Wavelength-Division Multiplexing (DWDM). The solution consists of the HP MC/ServiceGuard 2.0 software and the HP StorageWorks XP disk array portfolio.
– HP Servicecontrol Manager 3.0, a new version of HP’s software for managing multiple servers at once, adds a graphical user interface and support for Extensible Markup Language (XML). Administrators now will be able to write scripts in XML to invoke management actions by the ServiceControl software. ServiceControl has tools for fault monitoring, configuration and workload management. It is offered free with Proliant servers. Version 3.0 will become available in the fourth quarter, according to HP Linux Business Strategist Mike Balma.
– HP has expanded its Linux certification program for Compaq Evo commercial desktop PCs to include all models in the line. It has certified Red Hat Inc., SuSE Linux AG, MandrakeSoft SA, and TurboLinux Inc. distributions of Linux to run on the machines.
– The HP Print Server Appliance 4200, announced at LinuxWorld, introduces an updated version of Print Server Appliance software that runs a new version of the Samba open-source file and print server. The 4200 model can support as many as 350 users and 50 printers and is available now for an estimated street price of US$1,999
– A new service, the HP Software Porting Assessment Express Service, allows users of Unix platforms, including Sun Microsystems Inc. Solaris and IBM Corp. AIX, to easily migrate to Linux for a preset fee.
– Version 2.0 of HP Secure OS software for Linux is enhanced with the inclusion of several open-source applications, including Sendmail. Each of these applications can be run in a protected software space through the compartmentalizing system in Secure OS. The price of Secure OS also is being reduced to US$600 per machine from the previous price of US$3,000 per machine. Version 2.0 will be available in the fourth quarter.
Details can be found on the company’s Web site at http://www.hp.com.
