OpenServer Release 6 Reviewers' Guide

Part 2 >

OpenServer Release 6

The Most Reliable Operating System Just Got More Powerful

Reviewer’s Guide Note

Thank you for your interest in reviewing OpenServer 6 software. This guide will provide detailed information on the following areas:

• Company Overview
• Product Introduction
• Features & Benefits
• System Requirements
• Getting Started
• Pricing & Support
• Competitive Advantage
• Target Markets
• Key Messages

Disclaimer

The OpenServer Reviewers' Guide is provided for informational purposes only, and the information herein is subject to change without notice. Please report any errors herein to Xinuos. Xinuos does not provide any warranties covering and specifically disclaims any liability in connection with this document. No part of this document may be copied or translated to another language without the express written consent of Xinuos.

The OpenServer Reviewers' Guide and other Xinuos documents included are provided “as is” and may include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. Xinuos reserves the right to add, delete, change, or modify Xinuos documents at any time without notice. The documents are for information purposes only. Xinuos makes no express or implied representations or warranties of any kind. The OpenServer Reviewers' Guide was originally distributed to accredited members of the press, and is here reproduced for information purposes only.

Copyright © 2005, Xinuos and the associated Xinuos logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Xinuos, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group. All other brand or product names are or may be trademarks of, and are used to identify products or services of, their respective owners.

Xinuos Inc. is the owner of the UNIX® operating system and a leading provider of UNIX-based solutions. The company has developed and licensed innovative technologies for more than 25 years.

Xinuos is a provider of software solutions for small-to-medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and replicated branch offices. Xinuos solutions include UNIX platforms; e-mail and collaboration, messaging, authentication, and e-business tools; and services that include technical support, education, consulting, and solution provider support programs.

Based in Las Vegas, Nevada, Xinuos helps millions of customers to grow their businesses everyday. Xinuos has a worldwide network of thousands of resellers and developers. Xinuos Global Services provides reliable localized support and services to partners and customers.

OpenServer 6 delivers continued UNIX reliability to small-to-medium-sized businesses and branch offices. OpenServer 6 has undergone impressive new modernization, including large file support, and support for a broader array of modern applications. With a decade of rock-solid stability and dependability,
OpenServer has passed the test of time for businesses.

OpenServer provides an affordable all-in-one server to small-to-large businesses. Out of the box, OpenServer lets businesses manage e-mail, simplify collaboration, protect data with secure back-ups, connect a mobile workforce, and share high-speed Internet access. In addition, OpenServer delivers a reliable platform for single certification enabling less work for ISVs and more applications for customers:

• OpenServer drives more reseller profits per system. In addition, OpenServer has superior security, scalability, and reliability. Open industry standards increase compatibility and make it easier to integrate diverse applications and systems; open industry standards also provide vendor neutrality.
  
• Xinuos delivers complete operating systems that are stable, reliable and secure and have stood the test of time. A single, experienced vendor provides support, a dependable roadmap, and unencumbered intellectual property (IP).
  
• OpenServer Release 6 provides a powerful new kernel with SVR5 technology enabling the development partner to port their modern application to OpenServer 6 taking advantage of large file support, multi-level threading, increased memory support, Java support, as well as updated Samba and Apache. This new modernization effort brings power and reliability to the end user and opens a broader market to the developer.
  
• Single certification allows ISVs to certify to one common kernel; DDI interface-compliant drivers will work on both UnixWare 7x as well as OpenServer 6.

For Xinuos customers, OpenServer Release 6 is:

Companies invest in IT solutions to improve speed, communication and productivity throughout their business. Not only does the system administrator need solutions that are easy to manage, deploy, and support, but the businesses’ employees need the tools necessary to improve their own productivity. Employees need powerful solutions that are easy to use.

Businesses are built on reliability and stability. OpenServer 6 helps customers run their businesses on the most secure operating system for UNIX-on-Intel. Identity theft is ever increasing, and viruses constantly attempt to invade business operations. Xinuos’s customers rely on Xinuos’s UNIX platform to provide the high level of security needed in a demanding, fast transaction business. Businesses need systems that are always up and always responsive, and they demand a level of security able to meet customer demands. OpenServer Release 6 includes new features and improvements that make it the most dependable UNIX-on-Intel platform available on the market.

Businesses evolve with changing technologies. As new technologies are developed, businesses can improve their performance and profit. At Xinuos, we have been listening to customers’ needs and developing new technologies to adapt to the changing way in which businesses and IT managers run their business. Businesses today need instant information on new, mobile devices and clients. Stronger business collaboration tools enable business managers to make more intelligent decisions at a faster pace. With the increasing mobile nature of business, strong server support is necessary to serve up instant information to a mobile workforce.

Xinuos recognizes the significant investment companies make in their hardware and software IT solutions. With a large number of small businesses running Xinuos UNIX, a good ROI is imperative. With OpenServer 6, businesses have significant investment protection including the ability to expand the computing environment, scalability (both up and out), support for large file systems to handle growth of business data, as well as binary compatibility all the way back to the XENIX platform.

Features & Benefits

OpenServer Release 6 provides a powerful new kernel with UNIX SVR5 technology enabling development partners to port their modern applications to OpenServer 6. The product provides large file support, multi-level threading, increased memory support Java support, as well as updated Samba and Apache. This new modernization effort brings power and reliability to the end user and opens a broader market to the developer.

OpenServer Release 6:

• Gets work done faster
• More than double the performance
  of previous versions
• Multi-processing capabilities:
  increased from 4 to 32 processors
• Increased Memory Support–up to 64 GB
• Dynamic loadable drivers
• Handles greater workloads
• Larger file support up to 1 Terabyte
• Works with thousands of UNIX applications, as well as:
• Thousands of applications written for MySQL, PostgreSQL, Apache, Tomcat, and the latest version of Java
• Works in a secure environment
• Includes latest security enhancements, including: SSH, IP Filter, IPsec, File System Access Control Lists, and Encrypted File Systems

New Features and Benefits

Technical Overview

OpenServer Release 6 is specifically designed to address the need to modernize the OpenServer operating system—with an intense focus on adding support for kernel-level threads and large files. To achieve these requirements, Xinuos has replaced the existing OpenServer kernel with the SVR5 kernel. OpenServer Release 6 also gives users the option of using the latest KDE graphical desktop or they can use the traditional OpenServer Desktop, also known as the traditional X-Windows/ CLI interface.

This kernel improvement dramatically improves the speed and performance of OpenServer. It also meets a growing customer need for larger file size support (up to 1 Terabyte) and greater memory support. This change also allows OpenServer customers to gain a broader exposure to UnixWare applications. A key element of this release for ISVs and IHVs is the ability to “single certify” on one operating system and function on both.

System Requirements

Hardware Requirements

The hardware that you will need to support an installation of OpenServer 6 will vary depending on the installation options you choose. All installations have the following minimum requirements:

Processor
At least one Intel® Celeron®, Pentium®, Pentium II, Pentium II Xeon™, Pentium III, Pentium III Xeon, Pentium 4, or Intel Xeon microprocessor, or a microprocessor that is 100% compatible (e.g., AMD Athlon™, Athlon 64, Duron™, Sempron™, or Opteron™ processor). A Pentium P4 or one of higher performance is recommended, up to 32 CPUs are supported.

Memory
A minimum of 64MB of Random Access Memory (RAM) is required. For running graphically-intensive applications like Java or KDE, a minimum of 128 MB of RAM is required. 256MB of memory is recommended and up to 64 GB is supported.

Disk Size and Partitions
A hard disk of 4GB is needed to install all the packages included in the media kit. Small footprint installations can run in partitions as small as 1 GB. An 8GB disk is recommended and disks up to 1TB are supported.

Additional space will be needed for data and user files.

Mouse
A serial, USB, or PS/2-compatible mouse is recommended to access all graphical desktop functionality.

HBA
At least one IDE, SCSI, SATA or SAS Host Bus Adapter (HBA) is required, and up to 32 HBAs are supported by default. Additional HBAs (up to a maximum of 1024) can be added; however, the driver for any HBA added above 32 must support such a configuration.

Video
A Super VGA monitor and video adapter capable of at least 1024x768 resolution is required to run the graphical desktop. Systems running Merge from the Optional Services CD will require a 1280x1024 16-bit (or better) graphics adapter. The graphics adapter used during a fresh installation must have an IBM VGA compatible mode.

Network Card
At least one NIC is required for networking; up to 4 NICs of the same manufacturer and model can be connected at one time.

Media Devices
A 3.5-inch diskette is recommended and is required if:

• You want to perform an installation from the media kit CD-ROMs and your system does not support bootable CD-ROMs.
• You need to install vendor-supplied software (such as device drivers) from diskettes.

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