Telia Connect, a Danish subsidiary of Telia, Scandinavia's largest telecommunications and Internet service provider, executed a long-term agreement with the Nuremberg-based SUSE Linux AG for the maintenance of its IBM zSeries G7 mainframe systems.
Telia Connect's positive experience with SUSE Linux Enterprise Server started in 2001, when the ISP consolidated a heterogeneous farm of 70 Unix servers on one IBM mainframe. Since then, the Internet pages and e-mail accounts of more than 400,000 customers continue to be processed on one single IBM S/390 mainframe.
The search for a technical solution for the Telia Connect offer called "Server Connect" culminated in a decision in favor of a combination of the IBM mainframe and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. Through the "Server Connect" concept, Telia Connect provides enterprise customers with computing power suitable to their needs. Telia Connect performs the overall investment as well as the maintenance of the systems. This offer is especially appreciated by rapidly growing enterprises as well as companies with the extended need for a secure solution.
"The combination of IBM zSeries machines and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server not only meets our high standards with respect to stability and hundred-percent availability," explains Arne Larsson, CEO of Telia Connect. "In SUSE Linux Enterprise Server we have also found an operating system that allows us to react very flexibly to our customers' demand for performance. Through the system maintenance and the production support, SUSE Linux AG gives us the security we need in order to meet our customers' expectations regarding the quality of our services."
In connection with z/VM, the IBM host operating system, z/OS, enables the distribution and administration of the available resources in so-called "virtual machines", thus providing the basis for implementing the solution. Within these virtual machines, one independent SUSE Linux Enterprise Server operates for each customer. In late May 2002, SUSE was the first worldwide manufacturer to present a 64-bit Linux version for IBM zSeries G7, which is similar to the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for S/390 version released in October 2001, exploiting the possibilities of this new processor architecture. The support of HiperSockets, a unique high performance feature of IBM eServer zSeries, substantially increases the data exchange speed between the virtual servers within the mainframe. This technology ensures optimum data transfer between the host operating system z/OS and the Linux partitions. Just as SUSE Linux Enterprise Server allows modifications of the network and hard disk configuration while the system is active, Telia Connect customers are provided with an unlimited virtual server capacity with zero downtime.
About SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server presents professional Linux users an unprecedented full-service offer. In addition to the operating system basis, optimized for stability and security, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 7 offers all server services relevant on Linux. Release cycles of one year provide planning security. The system maintenance guarantees long-term investment security, since the certifications of leading hardware and software providers remain valid even after an update. Within the scope of its system maintenance, SUSE offers all relevant patches, fixes, and updates in a quality-assured and documented state, allowing companies to operate their IT infrastructure on the basis of a secure, powerful, and stable operating system from the outset.
About Telia Connect
Telia Connect meets customers' request for consolidating server platforms and disaster-proof solutions. Telia Connect has, in cooperation with IBM, developed solutions where a large number of servers can be consolidated into one virtual machine running Linux and business mission critical application. More information on Telia Connect can be found at www.teliaconnect.com
About Novell
Novell, Inc. is a leading provider of information solutions that deliver secure identity management (Novell® Nsure™), Web application development (Novell exteNd™) and cross-platform networking services (Novell Nterprise™), all supported by strategic consulting and professional services (Novell NgageSM). Active in the open source community with its Ximian and SUSE Linux brands, Novell is firmly committed to open source and offers comprehensive Linux products and services for the enterprise, from the desktop to the server. Novell's vision of one Net - a world without information boundaries - helps customers realize the value of their information securely and economically. For more information, call Novell's Customer Response Center at (888) 321-4CRC (4272) or visit http://www.novell.com. Press should visit http://www.novell.com/pressroom.
Novell is a registered trademarks; Nsure, exteNd and Nteprise are trademarks; and Ngage is a service mark of Novell, Inc. in the United States and other countries. SUSE is a registered trademark of SUSE Linux AG. * All third-party trademarks are the property of their respective owners.