Red Hat provides Information Technology Center of Lower Saxony with high performance and vendor-independence

Industry: Government
Geography: Germany
Goal: Replace obsolete technology.
Solution: Software: Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Applications: Nivadis; BEA WebLogic
Hardware: HP Integrity Servers (IA-64) and Fujitsu Primergy Servers
Systems Management: Red Hat Network Satellite Server
Benefits: Low-cost solution for high-performance systems. Central, secure IT management. Professional support with open source flexibility.

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Informatikzentrum Niedersachsen (IZN) is a government organisation in the German state of Lower Saxony responsible for providing information and communication technology to other government organizations, including the Lower Saxony Police Department. IZN recently led a project to migrate the police department’s critical IT systems to Red Hat Enterprise Linux and 64-bit servers from HP, creating a centralized architecture based on open standards. Now more than 11,000 employees at police stations across the state have access to the central application server through an easy-to-use web application.

Obsolete technology creates multiple problems

The Lower Saxony Police Department had relied on a Mikado processing system since the early 1990s. In the new millennium, however, the system was becoming obsolete, both with regard to the software itself and also the hardware which was supported. The administrative effort and cost required to support the system was no longer justifiable. An additional concern was that the Mikado system was not compatible with “INPOL-neu,” a new tracing and information system used by the central police authorities in Germany.

Against this background, IZN worked with Mummert Consulting to find a new operation processing system called Nivadis. For the first time, this system integrated all the procedures necessary for processing criminal events, investigations, research, and statistics and also provided information on criminal records. Nivadis is browser-based and uses BEA WebLogic to connect to a central database where all relevant information is stored. The graphical interface of Nivadis is based on well-known PC programs, so it is easy and convenient to use. Task-specific views are called up with individual registration profiles. Data entry is supported with catalogue aids and system-based plausibility controls so that a very high level of data quality is achieved. This Java-based system replaced 23 individual applications, which had to be called up in parallel under the old system. In order to use Nivadis, clients only need a standard web browser (in this case Mozilla), and all internal system processes and database inquiries run at the IZN centre. Therefore, it was absolutely essential to use a high-performance, reliable platform.

Figure 1. The Nivadis interface.

Itanium 2 support, central management, and open source policies tip the scales for Red Hat

As IZN and the Lower Saxony Police Department evaluated possible platforms for the new program, they considered both UNIX and Linux. However, UNIX was rejected because of its proprietary format and high costs. They decided to go with Linux, a choice that was made easier when the State of Lower Saxony passed a decision in favor of open source software.

In order to ensure optimum performance for this critical system, the project leaders decided to use a 64-bit hardware platform. When they began implementation in 2003, Red Hat Enterprise Linux was the only Linux distribution to support this platform. Red Hat also offered central, secure management of the installation via Red Hat Network Satellite Server. Finally, Red Hat’s clear open source policy allowed a greater degree of independence with its products than any other vendor.

For these reasons, Red Hat Enterprise Linux was ultimately selected as the department’s platform of choice. Rollout began in 2003 with 18 HP Integrity rx2600 servers and Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES. Now more than 80 servers at IZN run different versions (AS, ES, WS) of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. In addition to the Nivadis project, IZN is also creating a central archive built around Enterprise Linux with full text search facility for the police authorities in Lower Saxony. HP is the main hardware provider, but IZN also employs some Fujitsu-Siemens Primergy servers.

Red Hat Network Satellite Server combines effective management and high security

All systems are maintained and administered centrally by only three staff members via Red Hat Network Satellite Server. “The use of RHN Satellite Server makes it possible for us to run and maintain the servers in a very effective way and also ensures greatest-possible data security,” explains Marcus Brand, certified Linux specialist at the IZN UNIX Service Center. “We administer extremely sensitive data, and therefore cannot make use of a permanent connection to the Internet for the management solution. The Satellite Server can be completely disconnected from the Internet and, if we so wish, only creates a link to Red Hat Network in order to download updates and patches. This is considerably more efficient and faster than first copying the patches onto a CD and then feeding them to the network. Using the Provisioning Module we are also in a position to completely set up new computers via the central management interface. This means that we have the entire installation under control at one central point, which offers a tremendous savings as far as administrative costs are concerned.”

Open source competence clearly with Red Hat

From the start, Red Hat Enterprise Linux performed smoothly and almost completely error-free. Even when demands are being made on the system by more than 11,000 users, there are no performance bottlenecks and the entire system is stable all round.

“HP supplies the support for the Nivadis systems,” Breest says, “but open source competence clearly lies with Red Hat and its customer service team. The two together do an excellent job resulting in short reaction times and expert help. In order to set up new systems, for example, we use the kick start functionality via RHN Satellite Server. This worked for X86 systems error-free from the beginning and was extremely efficient. Initially we had some problems doing this with the Itanium systems, but Red Hat helped us find a workaround so that we were also able to make full use of the potential of the RHN Provisioning Module.”

The Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation at IZN has completely fulfilled expectations and will be expanded further in the future. For the purpose of supporting the growing archive system alone, new servers will be set up regularly and integrated into the existing infrastructure.

“Linux has made considerable progress in recent years,” Breest says. “We will certainly use Red Hat Enterprise Linux in the future for new areas of application.”

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