SUSE steps up to support innovative ARM solutions for customers

SUSE has unveiled SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for ARM, the first commercial enterprise Linux distribution optimised for ARM AArch64 architecture servers. SUSE’s fully supported enterprise Linux will allow hardware and software providers to create and provide innovative ARM-based solutions more quickly for enterprise IT customers. In 2015, SUSE announced collaboration with partners to bring SUSE Enterprise Storage to devices powered by 64-bit ARM technology. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for ARM is a major step toward delivery of ARM support for software-defined storage systems and other solutions.

 

“SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for ARM will give customers more choice, flexibility and opportunities to cost effectively upgrade their business processes,” said Ralf Flaxa, SUSE president of engineering. “It does that by giving our hardware and software partners an established, rock-solid open source foundation on which to build efficient ARM-based infrastructure solutions. And they will be able to do it faster than ever before.”

 

Lakshmi Mandyam, senior marketing director of Server Programs at ARM, said, “The ARM server market enables innovation and choice for solution providers across a variety of workloads. SUSE has responded to customers demanding workload-optimised server platforms that can radically expand what is possible in modern data centres. The commitment from SUSE to support specific ARMv8-A features, coupled with their enterprise-class product support, will accelerate time to deployment for the entire ARM server ecosystem.”

 

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for ARM will bring the same benefits and interaction to the ARM AArch64 ecosystem that SUSE partners providing x86-64, Power and z Systems solutions already experience. Highlights include:

• Advanced tools to more quickly compile, package, and deploy Linux solutions for ARM AArch64 systems
• Storage optimiSation leveraging ARM System-on-Chip features
• A foundation for network integration and support for encryption and compression engines or custom FPGA features
• Enhanced security for commercial workloads sharing certified development processes with SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 for x86-64 which provides the highest security level for commercial operating systems via Common Criteria EAL4+ support

 

Initial solutions being developed by SUSE partners include large-scale storage, high performance computing and networking systems.

 

“Cavium and SUSE have worked closely in validating full support for the ThunderX® Workload Optimised server processor family with this release of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server,” said Larry Wikelius, vice president of the Software Ecosystem and Solutions Group at Cavium, Inc. “SUSE has a distinguished track record of leadership in Linux, and this release ensures a rich feature set and application optimisation for systems leveraging Cavium’s 48-core, high performance, high memory bandwidth processors along with industry-leading customer support. This combination is ideal for accelerating the delivery of innovative solutions in the large system server, telco and storage markets that Cavium serves.”

 

Al Gillen, IDC group vice president of software development and open source, said, “ARM processor technology is gaining traction as an alternative to x86 server-class processors, not only for servers and IoT devices, but also for system categories like storage, networking and high performance computing. The release of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for ARM and its support for multiple ARM AArch64 technology partners establishes a solid foundation for open innovation and growth of a diverse ecosystem of solutions.”

 

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for ARM will be available by the end of the year, as will 64-bit ARM support for SUSE Enterprise Storage. Solution provider partners will be able to choose from a menu of standard SUSE Premium Support options to support their own product development, test, and customer support