Red Hat announces HA Clustering product

[Keith Barrett]

from  http://www.businesswire.com/industryspecific/



Red Hat Unveils Linux Clustering
Solution; Adapted Version of Red Hat Linux 6.2 Delivers
Advanced Security, Scalability and Availability for a Reliable
Internet Infrastructure


    Business/Technology Editors

    RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 10, 2000--Red
Hat, Inc. (Nasdaq:RHAT), a leader in open source Internet infrastructure solutions, today
announced the Red Hat(TM) High Availability Server 1.0, a specialized version of the
award-winning Red Hat Linux 6.2 solution.
    Red Hat High Availability Server is an out-of-the-box clustering solution that delivers
dynamic load balancing, improved fault tolerance and scalability of TCP/IP based
applications. It lets users combine individual servers into a cluster, resulting in highly
available access to critical network resources such as data, applications, network
services, and more. If one server in the cluster fails, another will automatically take over its
workload. The Red Hat High Availability Server is ideally suited to Web servers, ftp
servers, mail gateways, firewalls, VPN gateways and other front-end IP-based
applications where virtually uninterrupted service is required.
    "The Red Hat High Availability Server is optimized specifically for Internet Service
Providers (ISPs) and corporate customers who want to dramatically reduce the time
needed for implementation," said Paul McNamara, vice president, products and
platforms, Red Hat, Inc. "In today's demanding Internet environment, server failure means
lost revenue and diminished customer satisfaction. With this product, we are providing
customers with a flexible, affordable, and highly available front-end Internet infrastructure
solution. Because the Red Hat High Availability Server software can be installed on any
off-the-shelf commodity hardware that supports Linux--it offers service providers and
corporate IT departments an option for increased availability at a significant overall cost
savings."
    The product supports heterogeneous network environments, allowing individual
members of the cluster to run Red Hat Linux or virtually any other OS including Solaris(R),
and Windows NT(R). Because the Red Hat High Availability Server is an open source
product, customers are free from expensive technology lock-in that often occurs with
proprietary solutions.

    New Security Features

    The Red Hat High Availability Server has a number of inherent security features
designed specifically for high availability Web front-end applications. Remote system
access is disabled by default, and unused network services are not installed or started in
the standard installation.
    The Red Hat High Availability Server can be configured in two main ways. In Failover
Services (FOS) mode, the system can be configured as a two node cold failover cluster
ideally suited for applications where simple, affordable redundancy is needed such as
firewalls, static Web servers, DNS, and mail servers. In Linux Virtual Server (LVS) mode,
the system can be configured as an n-node cluster consisting of a two node load
balancer, which accepts requests and directs those request to one of any number of
IP-based servers based on a configurable traffic management algorithm.

    Red Hat High Availability Server 1.0 Features and Benefits

    -- Easy Installation: The Red Hat High Availability Server is based on the award
winning Red Hat Linux OS. Red Hat's engineers have created a special installation-class
that installs only those packages that are needed with the clustering packages. The Red
Hat High Availability Server is installed for optimal performance--saving time and hassle.

    -- Higher Performance and Scalability: The Red Hat High Availability Server supports
the scalability that meets the growth demands of today's highly dynamic IP environments.
The number of cluster nodes is limited only by the hardware and network used. The
product has advanced cluster features that provide high levels of performance including
an ability to configure servers to bypass the load balancers when returning traffic back to
the client, increasing the overall performance of the cluster. Additionally, because
individual nodes can be taken off-line for maintenance or upgrades without interruption of
service, the product eliminates costly downtime.

    -- Maximized Flexibility: The Red Hat High Availability Server offers Systems
Administrators a high degree of flexibility. In LVS mode the product supports four load
balancing methods (Round Robin, Weighted Round Robin, Least Connections, and
Weighted Least Connections) and three traffic forwarding techniques (IP Masquerading,
Tunneling and Direct Routing). Virtually every popular IP service is supported including
Web (http), email, FTP, LDAP, DNS, and others.

    -- Increased Security: The Red Hat High Availability Server has built-in security
features designed to withstand common attacks. Systems Administrators can setup sand
traps, providing for redirection of IP traffic from a potential attacker to a secure address.
Out of the box, finger, talk, wall, and other daemons are disabled or not installed. In
addition, multiple traffic routing and scheduling techniques along with virtual IP addresses
allow you to create a security barrier for your network.

    -- Availability: The Red Hat High Availability Server dramatically reduces the likelihood
of system failure by quickly detecting component server and application failures and
redirecting workload to the remaining servers in the cluster. If one or more servers fail,
others take over with minimal interruption. 

    -- Excellent Value: Uses inexpensive commodity hardware to lower your overall cost
of purchasing and maintaining the system.

    -- Support: A one year support package that includes standard hours installation and
configuration assistance and 24x7 server-down support for two Linux Routers of a
Piranha cluster, configuration of Piranha and Linux Virtual Server and any services
required to run these applications, including httpd and ftpd, and configuration of Piranha
and Linux Virtual Server for connectivity to one node behind the Linux Routers for either
httpd or ftpd service.

    Pricing and Availability

    The price of the Red Hat High Availability Server is $1995. It is available online at
www.redhat.com or at select resellers. Red Hat High Availability Server includes a full
year of installation and configuration support via telephone or the Web from Red Hat's
global support staff.

    Open Source Momentum

    International Data Corp. (IDC) research states that paid Linux shipments grew faster
than any other server operating system over the past two years, and their preliminary
figures for 1999 show Linux shipments hold 24.6 percent of the server operating system
market, up from 15.8 in 1998. IDC also states that Red Hat Linux is by far the most
popular distribution, preferred by 68.7 percent of U.S. Linux users.
    Research firm Netcraft, Inc. (www.netcraft.com), states that as of May 2000, 36
percent of all public Web sites run on Linux-based operating systems, making Linux the
most popular choice for deploying public Web sites. IDC research shows 40 percent of all
spending on Linux servers is for Internet related applications, firmly entrenching Linux
servers in the Internet infrastructure.
    Finally, IDC predicts that by 2002, there will be more than 55 million handheld and
notebook-style information appliance devices and that by 2005, shipments of these
appliances will exceed shipments of PCs.
    Red Hat's numerous alliances with industry leaders and the demand for Linux-based
applications has created open source support from many of the industry's leading
software and hardware manufacturers, including Compaq, Computer Associates, Dell,
Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, Netscape, Novell, Oracle and SAP.

    About Red Hat, Inc.

    Founded in 1994, Red Hat (Nasdaq:RHAT), is the leading provider of open source
Internet infrastructure solutions, ranging from small embedded devices to high availability
clusters and Web serving. Red Hat applies its technological leadership to create open
source solutions for Internet infrastructure and post-PC environments, offers services
backed by the best understanding of open source and the most comprehensive resources,
delivers the brand of a widely trusted open source leader and corporate partner, and
persists in an indelible commitment to the virtues of open source to lead a revolution in the
computing industry.

    Red Hat is based in Research Triangle Park, N.C. and has offices worldwide. Visit Red
Hat on the Web at www.redhat.com. For investor inquiries, contact Lippert/Heilshorn at
(212) 838-3777.

    LINUX is a trademark of Linus Torvalds. RED HAT is a registered trademark of Red
Hat, Inc. All other names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

    FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS Forward-looking statements in this press
release are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934. Investors are cautioned that statements in this press release that
are not strictly historical statements, including, without limitation, management's plans
and objectives for future operations and management's assessment of market factors,
constitute forward-looking statements which involve risks and uncertainties. These risks
and uncertainties include, without limitation, product plans and performance, the ability to
continue to develop the Linux kernel and other software, reliance upon strategic
relationships, Red Hat's dependence upon an open source business model, reliance upon
independent third-party Linux developers, management of growth, expansion of Red
Hat's business focus and operations, the possibility of undetected software errors, the
enforceability of the GNU General Public License and other licenses under which Red
Hat's products are developed and licensed, the scarcity of Linux-based applications, the
risks of economic downturns generally, and in Red Hat's industry specifically, the risks
associated with competition and competitive pricing pressures, the viability of the
Internet, and other risks detailed in Red Hat's filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, copies of which may be accessed through the SEC's Web site at
http://www.sec.gov.

    --30--gk/bos*

    CONTACT: Red Hat, Inc. (East)                 
             Becky McAninch                       
             (919) 547-0012                       
             mcaninch at redhat.com                  
                 or                               
             Schwartz Communications for Red Hat     
             Peter Gorman or Laura Ackerman          
             (781) 684-0770                          
             redhat at schwartz-pr.com                  
             
    KEYWORD: NORTH CAROLINA 
    INDUSTRY KEYWORD: HARDWARE INTERNET NETWORKING SOFTWARE PRODUCT 


-- 

Keith Barrett
Red Hat Inc. HA Team
kbarrett at redhat.com