Novell gathers system vendor support for SuSE Linux

Novell received some oomph to both its servers and desktops last week with several announcements that pair its SuSE Linux operating system with machines from HP and IBM.

Novell at its BrainShare event last week announced its next operating system, Open Enterprise Server. The product is expected to ship before year-end and will include both NetWare and SuSE Linux Enterprise Server kernels. Services such as file and print or identity management will be layered on top and run on both platforms.

Last week, Novell announced a joint agreement with HP to certify Novell’s SuSE Linux operating system to run on HP Compaq desktop and notebook systems. SuSE Linux is HP’s standard Linux distribution. HP will also provide support for the systems.

Late last year, HP announced that Novell’s NetWare was being added back into its factory-installation of ProLiant servers. NetWare also is certified to run on HP’s BL-class blade servers.

IBM also announced that it will preload SuSE Linux Enterprise Server on its iSeries, pSeries, xSeries and zSeries servers, as well as on its BladeCenter blade servers. IBM’s systems work with both Red Hat and SuSE Linux.

In addition, Dell supports SuSE Linux on its PowerEdge servers.

Gateway last fall announced an alliance with SuSE to preload the Linux operating system on Gateway 955, 975, 995, 960 and 980 servers.

It remains to be seen if the same vendors that are preloading Novell’s NetWare and SuSE Linux, will support and preload Open Enterprise Server. I’d expect to see announcements in this area in the coming months.

Open Enterprise Server will become Novell’s operating system of choice in the next year, replacing standalone copies of NetWare and the company’s Nterprise Linux Services.