Red Hat Enterprise Linux Advanced Platform

The World's Leading Open Source Virtualization Solution

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Advanced Platform provides dramatic capabilities beyond basic Enterprise Linux 5. Integrated server and storage virtualization technologies. In a single, easily managed product. With a complete and highly functional environment.

With virtualization that has the capabilities an IT organization needs:

easy to deploy
simple to manage
flexible
available

Virtualization Support in Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Included in Red Hat Enterprise Linux Advanced Platform

Critical technologies in a single solution. Fully integrated. Ready to go. No need to purchase additional products from multiple vendors.

Unlimited virtualized guests. Multiple operating systems, multiple versions, multiple performance and security settings, all running on the same server using Red Hat's virtualization technology.
Storage virtualization. Multiple guests, running on the same or different servers, access and share logical storage volumes and file systems. Reap the full benefits of server virtualization with shared storage.
High availability clustering and failover. Application and guest operating system failover.
Management. Includes comprehensive management capabilities.

Integrated server and storage virtualization

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Advanced Platform provides a complete, integrated virtualization solution by including the Red Hat clustering support.

For enhanced availability, failover at either the application or virtual machine level is provided by Cluster Suite.
Global File System and Cluster Logical Volume Manager technology allows application data to be securely accessed and shared by any guest from any system.

GFS and Cluster Suite

Read More in Red Hat Magazine
Automated failover and recovery of virtualized guests in Advanced Platform

Please note that with the release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Advanced Platform, Red Hat Cluster Suite and Global File System are now included in the subscription offering.

Red Hat Cluster Suite and Global File System are still available as layered offerings for Red Hat Enterprise Linux versions 3 and 4.

Global File System
Cluster Suite

Designed for the mainstream market, Red Hat Enterprise Linux Advanced Platform provides the industry's most complete and effective virtualized environment.

Advanced Platform eliminates the need for third party high availability, cluster file system, and logical volume management products, providing a single integrated solution.

Virtualization capabilities

Feature	Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Advanced Platform
Supported para-virtualized guests	Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Update 5 (x86 and x86-64 only)
Supported fully-virtualized guests	Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3
Hardware and application certification	All Red Hat Enterprise Linux OEM and ISV partner certifications are valid for virtualized and non-virtualized environments except where noted
Para-virtualized guest processor hardware requirements	x86 with PAE x86-64 Itanium2 (Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Update 1 only)
Fully-virtualized guest processor hardware requirements	Intel Virtualization Technology or AMD-V
Virtualized guest memory requirements	Each active guest requires the same physical memory that it would require in a non-virtualized environment. The minimum recommended physical memory per active guest is 512MB.
Architecture support for virtualization	Supported at product release: x86, x86-64 Itanium2 is fully supported on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Update 1

Comparison of Red Hat Enterprise Linux server to
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Advanced Platform

Feature	Red Hat Enterprise Linux Advanced Platform	Red Hat Enterprise Linux server
Number of supported guest operating systems	Unlimited	4
Manageability	Red Hat Network virt-manager - GUI libvirt/virsh - scriptable library and shell
Manageability	Conga cluster/storage GUI	N/A
Cluster Suite failover	Yes	No
Distributed Lock Management	Operates fully distributed across multiple virtualized guests and physical systems	Operates within a single virtualized guest or physical system
Global File System
Logical Volume Management
Maximum supported server size	Unlimited	Up to 2 CPU sockets