Systems/Enterprise:
XIMIAN RELEASES VER 1.2 RED CARPET
GRID ENTERPRISE SOLUTION
Ximian Inc, the leading provider of desktop and server solutions enabling
enterprise Linux adoption, announced the availability of version 1.2 of Red
Carpet Enterprise, its software solution for providing companies with
centralized software management and version control of Linux-based
workstations and servers. Version 1.2 offers a host of new features and
capabilities, which enhance the management of Linux systems while simplifying
installation and administration tasks. The server-based Red Carpet Enterprise
deploys entirely behind the firewall and enables organizations to
automatically update the installed Linux software on groups of systems either
on demand or according to a preset schedule. With enhancements provided in
version 1.2, corporations can have a Red Carpet Enterprise system up and
running in less than an hour.
Version 1.2 adds to the functionality of Red Carpet Enterprise originally
released in the fall of 2002. New capabilities include the ability to rollback
a system to a previous configuration of installed software, thereby avoiding
costly downtime due to conflicting software upgrades. Version 1.2 also enables
intelligent proxy connections through a one-way firewall, enabling system
administrators to update systems within an organization even if those systems
are separated for geographic reasons or business purposes by a firewall. In
addition, Red Carpet Enterprise version 1.2 has expanded its operating system
support to include recent Linux distributions such as Red Hat 8.0, Mandrake 9
and SuSE 8.1.
"From Web, print, file and other servers at the 'edge' of the network to
workstations and corporate data center systems, Linux is increasingly critical
to corporate computing," said David Patrick, president and CEO of Ximian. "We
designed Red Carpet Enterprise to help companies deploy and manage software on
Linux-based systems--automatically and securely. Version 1.2 reflects direct
feedback from customers and makes Red Carpet Enterprise even more flexible in
enabling companies to lower the cost of Linux solutions."
"We believe that Ximian's Red Carpet Enterprise, combined with SuSE Linux
Enterprise Server 8 solves one of the biggest obstacles to enterprise Linux
deployment--software management and maintenance," said Boris Nalbach, CTO at
SuSE. "We are seeing increasing interest from our customers in Red Carpet
Enterprise as a way to dramatically simplify management of their Linux servers
and workstations. We look forward to working with Ximian to help our mutual
customers reduce the total cost of ownership of their Linux solutions."
Prior to the use of Red Carpet, IT and engineering personnel developed
their
own software updating solutions or manually updated systems with the latest
packages, an expensive and time-consuming process. With Red Carpet Enterprise,
administrators use a single, powerful solution to automatically deliver and
update packages to Linux systems across their organizations. Without the need
for expensive and time-consuming third-party customization or services,
administrators can build secure, private software "channels" to deliver Linux
packages that have been internally developed or customized, as well as
packages from the optional broad Red Carpet library of applications from
Ximian and other leading Linux vendors.
"Protecting today's enterprise from the ever changing roster of internal
and
external network threats and attacks requires staying current with the latest
security software," said Jim Melvin, president and CEO of Mazu Networks. "Red
Carpet Enterprise addresses our customers' needs for easy administration of
up-to-the minute updates. We look forward to working with Ximian in the future
to deliver our PowerSecure updates quickly."
"We selected Red Carpet Enterprise to manage and maintain web, FTP and
other
servers running our custom version of Red Hat Linux," said Joe Pranevich,
Operations Manager for US Web Publishing at Lycos. "Red Carpet Enterprise
addressed our requirements for secure, centralized software management,
including deployment behind our firewall, sophisticated dependency resolution,
and scheduled updating. The result is that Red Carpet Enterprise helps us
ensure quicker deployment time on critical releases."
New Red Carpet Enterprise Features Include:
- System rollback-To improve the reliability of systems, administrators can
recall the last working configuration. This is especially important in cases
where updated packages create unexpected conflicts.
- Increased system control and alerts-With the new Instapull capability,
administrators can execute or "push" immediate updates of software packages to
groups of Linux systems. Red Carpet Enterprise also now enables users to
exclude an update in cases when that package is not necessary but already
scheduled. New email alerts can automatically notify administrators about the
status of both scheduled and end-user initiated updating sessions.
- Updates through firewalled internal networks-Thanks to the addition in Red
Carpet Enterprise of an intelligent proxy connection through a one-way
firewall, administrators can update systems within an organization even if
those systems are separated by a firewall. So in cases when systems must
remain separate for business purposes, those systems do not require additional
work to maintain.
- Streamlined installation and configuration-Corporations can have Red
Carpet
Enterprise up and running in less than an hour, thanks to an improved
installation time of just 30 minutes for the server, and five minutes for each
client. Administrators can also specify software to be installed on a file by
file basis or by selecting an entire directory.
- Extended Linux platform support-Red Carpet Enterprise now supports systems
running several additional Linux platforms, including Red Hat 8.0, Mandrake 9
and SuSE 8.1.
- Additional browser support-Administrators can now use both Mozilla and
Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 browsers to access the Web-based Red Carpet
Enterprise management console from either Windows or Linux PCs.
Custom Software Management and Updating
Red Carpet Enterprise offers both an intuitive Web-based administration
console and a powerful command line interface to enable administrators to set
up the Red Carpet Server to centrally configure and distribute software
selections as well as organize groups of machines for both software
installation and updates.
The command line interface provides a host of additional time-saving power
tools, from querying systems for installed software to adding packages to be
distributed. Updates for workstations and servers can be initiated
automatically "on demand" by users of the Red Carpet client, or unattended on
specified schedules. The web-based administration console also includes
flexible reporting, detailing download and installation activities.
The Red Carpet Enterprise server tightly integrates with the Red Carpet
graphical client and Red Carpet Daemon software used to update hundreds of
thousands of Linux systems worldwide. Red Carpet is a software management
solution that efficiently and securely keeps Linux systems up-to-date. Its
intuitive software channels and automatic dependency and conflict resolution
let users easily install, update and maintain software over the Internet from
Ximian, leading Linux grid distribution providers and a growing library of
other third-party independent software vendors (ISVs).
Especially important for mixed computing environments, Red Carpet uniquely
provides multi-platform support, updating systems running a broad range of
Linux distributions, including Red Hat, SuSE, Mandrake, Debian and more.
Pricing and Availability
The Red Carpet server starts at $2,500 with a software license starting at
$200 for each managed system, with organizational volume pricing available.
Customers may optionally subscribe to the Red Carpet library subscription
service, starting at $60 per system per year, which provides updates to the
latest software from Ximian, leading Linux distributions and third-party
vendors.
http://www.ximian.com
The Red Carpet Suite Of Products And Services
Red Carpet Enterprise is part of a suite of Red Carpet products and
services
for end users and corporate customers. For organizations that prefer a hosted
solution, Ximian offers Red Carpet CorporateConnect, a Web-based service
that provides customers with many of the same capabilities of Red Carpet
Enterprise.
For individuals, Red Carpet Express is a time-saving subscription service
that
provides customers with priority, high-bandwidth Internet downloading and
updating of Linux software from Ximian, leading Linux distributions and
third-party vendors.
About Ximian Inc
Ximian is the leading provider of desktop and server solutions enabling
enterprise Linux adoption. Ximian products, in use by over 1,000,000 people
worldwide, provide the interoperability, management functionality and ease of
use required to integrate Linux users and systems into mixed corporate
computing environments. Ximian offers both a complete Linux desktop
environment and productivity application suite and enterprise software
management solutions to dramatically reduce the cost of deploying and
maintaining Linux systems. Ximian founders are pioneers of the open source
GNOME and Mono projects. The company has secured funding from leading venture
firms Charles River Ventures and Battery Ventures.
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