As an IT manager, how can you manage your Linux infrastructure more
effectively so that you can attend to tedious management tasks and still
have time for the fun stuff, like implementing new projects and systems?
What kinds of system management tools are available to help you tame the
beast that is Linux? In this article, we'll discuss and compare
management tools offered by Novell's SUSE and Red Hat.
Red Hat Network (RHN)
About a year ago, I did a review on Red Hat Network (RHN 4.0). RHN
provides systems management services for Red Hat Linux, including the
software that makes up the OS and the applications that run on your box.
RHN helps you manage availability, performance and systems
administration tasks. It includes patch management, OS deployment and
the ability to deploy fully configured systems.
The Red Hat Network functions are delivered separately in the form of
modules on a subscription basis. Available modules include an update
module (automated patches and fixes), a management module (supporting
systems administration and scheduling of activities) and a provisioning
module (supports provisioning on bare metal systems and facilitates
systems migration and monitoring) that also tracks systems performance,
including CPU, RAM and I/O. The system itself is delivered in three
options: a hosted service, a Satellite server (local server on your
network) and a proxy server, where an RHN proxy resides on the customer
network.
Novell's ZENworks
SUSE Enterprise Server ships with YaST and autoYaST, homegrown tools
that help manage your Linux environment. YaST is now open-source and
some third party companies have even provided "plug-ins" to help
administrate their applications. For example, both SAP and Oracle have
YaST plug-ins to help manage their environments.
To augment the services that YaST performs, Novell also sells a tool
called ZENworks Linux management. ZENworks uses automated policies that
give system administrators centralized control over Linux systems for
the purposes of desktop lockdown, imaging, remote management, inventory
and software management.
ZENworks also configures, updates and secures the environment from a
centralized location. Further, it provides centralized logging and
monitoring and allows you to access your systems via remote control. It
supports almost every environment out there, including all the major
flavors of Linux, Microsoft Windows, NetWare and several mobile
platforms also. The Linux management tool is available as a standalone
product or within the ZENworks Suite, bundled with Novell Linux Desktop
or with SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9.
Cost or flexibility?
Novell is currently trumpeting its lower total cost of ownership (TCO)
and supposed ease of maintenance of ZENworks vs. RHN. While RHN offers
the flexibility of providing more ways of using the product (ZENworks
runs only on the customer premises), that flexibility comes with a
price. ZENworks is clearly less expensive then RHN, coming in at a cost
of $69 per managed system.
While all RHEL users receive access to RHN as part of their overall
subscription fee, Red Hat charges separately for each of the service
modules; including management, monitoring and provisioning. Each module
costs an extra $96 or $192 per managed system. Some modules require the
purchase of additional servers such as the Satellite server, which
allows users to get the full functionality of RHN inside their firewall.
The cost of the server is over $13k and it requires Red Hat professional
services to install. Of course, one could purchase the RHN proxy
instead, which would cost approximately $2500 for each server (per
year).
RHN also provides support for Solaris and both tools provide
replication ability for enterprise rollouts.
A new feature in ZENworks Linux Management allows one to image any
Linux device with AutoYaST, KickStart or ZENworks imaging. AutoYaST and
KickStart perform scripted Linux installations on your devices, but
ZENworks imaging takes a snapshot image of a device and then restores
the image to that or any other device.
ZENworks imaging is also the only method that provides add-on images.
These are separate partial images of custom components that can be
automatically added to the device. An example of this is that one can
put unique sets of drivers or other files in companion add-on images,
then group various sets of add-on images. At that point, you can then
specify that ZENworks apply unique images to specific machines.
It's very easy to manage and control the imaging of your devices.
First you must create an imaging bundle in the system, then you choose
the type of preboot work you need. When that is done, you assign the
preboot bundle to a specific device or group of devices and then use the
ZENworks Control Center to apply the image the next time the device
boots. You can also specify that an image be applied immediately through
the ZENworks Control Center or you can send it into PXE and manually
re-image the device.
It is in the ZENworks control center that you control your prebook
services task. Here you have the flexibility to image many ways
including the AutoYaST bundle, Kickstart, ZENworks image bundle,
multicast bundle and the script bundle. The script bundle allows you to
write custom scripts to automate operations.
To create the bundles, from the Control Center Interface, you would
go to Bundles > New > Bundle > Preboot bundle. You would then select a
bundle type. It's very intuitive and pretty much point and click. The
inventory functionality is another very useful feature. From the control
center, you just click devices and then inventory. From here, you will
see information such as the last scan date, the MAC, IP and subnet mask
information, as well as the hostname and any aliases that exist for the
device.
