Red Hat Network detailed features and benefits

An in-depth look at the technical capabilities of Red Hat Network

As technology demands on your organization grow and budgets shrink, look to Red Hat® for effective systems management solutions. Need to automate your Linux® environment? Deploy your applications anywhere, anytime? The right management tools can maximize the performance of your IT systems and staff.

Red Hat Network architecture overview

Red Hat Network (RHN) is available in 2 different deployment models based on your system management needs and size of deployment.

Hosted model

Red Hat NetworkYour individual systems connect with RHN via the Internet and exchange packages and information from the central RHN servers.

Features:

  • Intuitive web user interface for easy systems management

  • Hosted database repository

  • No additional infrastructure needed in your environment

  • Takes only minutes to set up

Satellite model

Red Hat NetworkAll RHN functionality is on your network, giving you greater capabilities and customization. The RHN Satellite server connects with Red Hat over the public Internet only to download new content and updates. This model lets you take your RHN solution completely offline if desired.

Features:

  • Embedded Oracle database to store packages, profiles, and system information

  • Instant systems updates for security fixes or to provide packages or applications needed immediately

  • API layer for creating scripts to automate functions or integrate with existing management applications

  • Ability to distribute custom or third-party applications and updates

  • Ability to create staged environments (development, test, production) to select, manage, and test content in a structured way

  • Creation of errata for custom content, or modification of existing errata to provide specific information to different groups

  • Access to advanced features in the RHN Provisioning module, like bare-metal Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) boot provisioning and integrated network install trees

  • Access to RHN Monitoring module for tracking system and application performance

Proxy Server

RHN Proxy Server is also available as an add-on for both Hosted and Satellite environments. The Proxy Server caches packages to speed downloads. In a Hosted environment, this can greatly reduce Internet bandwidth use. If you're using Satellite server, adding Proxy servers to remote locations with many systems can boost scalability and performance.

Red Hat Network module details

RHN Satellite Smart Management module consists of two modules: Management and Provisioning

Red Hat Network Management module

Enjoy more management capabilities and the ability to scale Linux deployments in your enterprise. The Red Hat Network (RHN) Satellite Management module includes all the functions of the Update module, plus everything you need to help your IT organization cut costs and drive productivity now. You can:

  • Group systems together for easier administration.

  • Automate formerly manual tasks.

  • Manage more systems per system administrator, schedule your updates for optimal times, and efficiently search for systems and packages.

  • Develop custom channels, define role-based permissions and policies, and use RHN's API access layer.

Note: A management subscription cannot be used in the absence of a full Red Hat Enterprise Linux subscription.


Functionality

  • Systems grouping

  • Systems permissions

  • Scheduled actions

  • System search

  • Package profile comparison tools

  • Multi-organization support

Enhanced features

  • Custom channels

  • Local package caching

  • Single port access

  • Local database repository

  • Channel cloning and management tools

  • Channel permissions

  • Errata cloning and management

Multiple organizations can be managed from one RHN Satellite server with complete separation of duties.

Red Hat Network Provisioning module

The Provisioning module lets you:

  • Manage the complete lifecycle of your Linux infrastructure.

  • Deploy, configure, manage, update, and then redeploy your Linux systems—all from a single GUI console complete with all the necessary enterprise functionality and controls.

Functionality

  • Bare-metal provisioning

  • Existing state provisioning

  • Virtual guest provisioning

  • Multistate rollback (includes snapshot-based recovery)

  • Configuration management

  • RPM-based application provisioning

  • Kickstart configuration writer

Enhanced features

When you upgrade to RHN Satellite, you also get enhanced features:

  • Bare-metal PXE boot provisioning

  • Integrated network install tree

  • Configuration management profiles

Red Hat Network Monitoring module (purchased separate from Smart Management module)

The Monitoring module lets you:

  • Track the performance of your Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems.

  • Get alerts regarding system performance so you can take action before problems arise.

Functionality

  • System monitoring using dozens of pre-built probes for Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems and popular applications from Oracle, MySQL, Apache, and BEA

  • Creating custom probes for applications not included in the pre-built probe set

  • Configuring warning and critical thresholds for each probe

  • Email or pager alerts when thresholds are reached

  • Grouping probes together into Probe Suites for fast deployment

  • Viewing graphs of probe performance over time



The Monitoring module requires that the system also have a Management module. You also need an RHN Satellite server to store the Monitoring module data.