Performance and security in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Modern datacenters and next-generation IT requirements depend on capable platforms, with open source solutions offering a strong foundation for open hybrid cloud and enterprise workloads.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 is a culmination of several years of effort by both the Red Hat engineering team and associated partners. The substantial performance and security focus ensures it's able to capably power applications running on physical servers, cloud services and containerized applications.
This is a Linux platform that has broken multiple world records, and sets industry standards for performance and security. Below, where Red Hat Enterprise Linux is used will be outlined, along with the performance and security feature set.
Where it's used
The datacenters currently in use by enterprises are in the midst of a convergence of physical and virtual cloud systems, and platforms are required that can meet next-generation IT requirements.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 can power the entire spectrum of enterprise IT, including applications running on physical servers along with cloud services. A platform that can adapt to changing business environments is certainly the best approach for many enterprises.
The US Navy is utilizing Red Hat Enterprise Linux combined with IBM blade servers in order to solve the issue of datacenter systems on a ship being susceptible to vibration and damage. These servers, stored in a ruggedized server room, will use Red Hat Enterprise Linux to handle a number of functions onboard the ship.
Setting world records
Following introduction over a decade ago, Red Hat Enterprise Linux has grown to become the leading enterprise Linux platform, and one that powers a substantial amount of infrastructure. In fact, over 90 per cent of the 2013 Fortune 500 companies rely on Red Hat Enterprise Linux for datacenter and cloud applications.
The latest release, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, again pushes the platform forward to meet the needs to modern enterprises. Soon after release, the platform broke several world record-breaking results when running on HP ProLiant servers.
When using a redesigned Java server benchmark called 'SPECjbb2013-MultiJVM', HP found powerful performance on max-jOPS and critical -jOPS.
The benchmark noted that Red Hat Enterprise Linux achieved the one processor world record for max-jOPS (16,252) and critical-jOPS (4,721) metrics, as well as the two processor record for max-jOPS (119,517) and critical-jOPS (36,411) metrics.
These results are almost certainly only the start for the capabilities of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, especially considering that the platform can power a range of IT workloads.
Performance
Business needs are changing as a result of converging technologies and processes, such as bare metal servers, virtual machines and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS).
The combination of the above technologies is creating a robust datacenter environment that's adaptable and able to meet the changing needs of enterprises.
A powerful, unified platform such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 enables enterprises to use a solid foundation to balance demand while utilizing new trends and technologies such as virtual machines and the open hybrid cloud.
"Red Hat is delivering a true open hybrid cloud platform that gives both ISVs and applications a consistent runtime platform across bare metal systems, virtual machines, and public and private clouds. This will be essential as applications move from on-premises to the cloud," explained the president of products and technologies at Red Hat, Paul Cormier.
Security
Attackers have become increasingly capable in recent years, and are now often able to break into nearly any computer system.
As a result, securing a Red Hat Enterprise Linux system needs to become a top enterprise priority, and one that cannot afford to be overlooked. Courses are available however that are tailored to the needs to enterprises, and can teach a strong technical understanding of file system access control lists and managing users and password-aging policy requirements.
System auditing is also key for ongoing security, and this forms another focus of Red Hat security training.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 again pushes performance and security forward, and can offer enterprises operational improvements across the board. With a focus on security, enterprises can ensure that the spectrum of IT applications in use are capably powered.
Try Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 with a 30-day free evaluation download.