A key factor of Enterprise Linux, according to project manager Gerald Pfeifer, is high-availability (HA) and the support of enterprise-critical applications, for which Novell together with Oracle developed the Oracle Cluster File System (OCFS). The HA extension supplemented the system with the Distributed Replicated Block Device (DRBD) in version 8, together with Heartbeat and Pacemaker cluster management tools. Administration is through a command line interface, on the one hand, that allows for scripting and Novell's own GUI on the other. Novell now reports that the DRBD version is 8.2.7. The YaST module is Yast2-drbd version 2.13.1.

Another factor is Novell's interoperability with Microsoft technologies. SUSE Enterprise Desktop (SLED) version 11 includes next to the codex for MP3 and AAC support for the WMA and WMV Microsoft formats. According to Pfeifer this support satisfies a request from Windows customers who largely develop in these formats. Next to that is Moonlight, the Mono porting of MS Silverlight to Linux. Unfortunately the support for in-development Sharepoint for GNOME's Nautilus data browser is not yet part of the Enterprise product deal.

Desktop users, however, should be happy with enhancements in the GNOME Network Manager in the better support for UMTS cards, which Pfeifer says should provide a more comfortable notebook roaming.

Interoperability should become even better through extensions. The Mono extension brings .NET applications to Linux on an enterprise level, by company claims. Pfeifer: "The scalability in things processing and working memory are partly better than under Windows." Thus customer requests for Mono on the mainframe will become a reality.

Novell calls its virtualization solution a "perfect guest operating system for virtual computing." Thanks to the benefits of VMI used by its collaborator VMware, Novell claims a performance win under VMware ESX of 10% better than its predecessor. The cooperation with Microsoft brings support for Windows Server on SLES/Xen as well as guest on leading hypervisors.

SLES 11, SLED 11 and the Mono extension is available now. The HA extension should be ready the second quarter 2009. During the course of the year the SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 family hopes to have additional Real Time Extension, Thin Client and Point of Service offspring.