Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Server Version comparison chart
| Version 3 | Version 4 | Version 5 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AS | ES | AS | ES | Advanced Platform | base server | |
| Server Architecture support | ||||||
| x86, AMD64, Intel64, Itanium2 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| IBM POWER | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| *Note: For IBM System z and S/390 information please refer to the mainframe page | ||||||
| Server Support limits as defined by Red Hat Enterprise Linux Product Subscription | ||||||
| Maximum physical CPUs/sockets [1] | Unlimited | 2 | Unlimited | 2 | Unlimited | 2 |
| Maximum memory | Unlimited | 8GB | Unlimited | 16GB | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Maximum virtualized guests/instances | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Unlimited | 4 |
| Storage virtualization (with Red Hat GFS and Cluster Suite) | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Yes | No |
| Included Red Hat Network modules | Update Module | Update Module | Update Module | Update Module | Update Module | Update Module |
Desktop Version comparison chart
| Version 3 | Version 4 | Version 5 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WS | Desktop | WS | Desktop | Desktop | Desktop with Workstation option | Desktop with Multi OS option | |
| Desktop Architecture support | |||||||
| X86, AMD64, Intel64 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Itanium2 | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Desktop Support limits as defined by Red Hat Enterprise Linux Product Subscription | |||||||
| Maximum physical CPUs/sockets [1] | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Maximum memory | Unlimited | 4GB | Unlimited | 4GB | 4GB | Unlimited | 4GB |
| Maximum virtualized guests/instances | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 4 |
| Storage virtualization (with Red Hat GFS and Cluster Suite) | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | No | No | No |
| Included Red Hat Network modules | Update Module | Update Module | Update Module | Update Module | Update, Management, & Provisioning modules | ||
Technology capabilities and limits (certified[/theoretical]) [3]
| Version 3 | Version 4 | Version 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum logical CPUs [4] | |||
| x86 | 16 | 32 | 32 |
| Itanium2 | 8 | 256/512 | 256/1024 |
| AMD64/Intel64 | 8 | 64/64 | 64/255 |
| Power | 8 | 64/128 | 128/128 |
| System z | 32 (z900) | 64 (z10 EC) | 64 (x10 EC) |
| Maximum memory | |||
| X86 | 64GB [5] | 64GB [5] | 16GB [6] |
| Itanium2 | 128GB | 2TB | 2TB |
| AMD64/Intel64 | 128GB | 256GB/1TB | 256GB/1TB |
| Power | 64GB | 128GB/1TB | 512GB/1TB |
| System z | 256GB (z900) | 1.5TB (z10 EC) | 1.5TB (z10 EC) |
| Maximum filesize (Ext3) | 2TB | 2TB | 2TB |
| Maximum filesystem size (Ext3) | 2TB | 8TB | 8TB/16TB (16TB in 5.1) |
| Maximum filesize (GFS) | 2TB | 16TB/8EB | 16TB/8EB [7] |
| Maximum filesystem size (GFS) | 2TB | 16TB/8EB | 16TB/8EB [7] |
| Maximum x86 per-process virtual address space | Approx 4GB | Approx 4GB | Approx 3GB [6] |
| Maximum number of virtual CPUS in Guest (x86) | -- | -- | 32 [8] |
| Maximum memory in paravirtualized guest (x86) | -- | -- | 16GB |
| Maximum memory in fully virtualized guest (x86) | -- | -- | 16GB |
| Maximum number of virtual CPUS in Guest (x86_64) | -- | -- | 32 [8] |
| Maximum memory in paravirtualized guest (x86_64) | -- | -- | 80GB/unlimited |
| Maximum memory in fully virtualized guest (x86_64) | -- | -- | 80GB/unlimited |
| Required minimums | |||
| X86 | 256MB | 256MB | 512MB |
| AMD64/Intel64 | 256MB | 256MB | 512MB |
| Itanium2 | 512MB | 512MB | 512MB |
| Power | 512MB | 512MB | 1GB minimum/ 2GB recommended |
| Minimum diskspace | 800MB | 800MB | 1GB |
| Kernel and OS features | |||
| Kernel foundation | Linux 2.4.21 | Linux 2.6.9 | Linux 2.6.18 |
| Compiler/toolchain | GCC 3.2 | GCC 3.4 | GCC 4.1 |
| Languages supported | 10 | 15 | 19 |
| NIAP/CC certified | Yes - 3+ | Yes - 4+ | Yes - 4+ |
| Compatibility libraries | V2.1 | V2.1 and V3 | V3 and V4 |
| Common Operating Environment (COE) compliant | Yes | Yes | N/A |
| LSB compliant | Yes - 1.3 | Yes -3 | Yes -3.1 |
| GB18030 | No | Yes | Yes |
| Client environment | |||
| Desktop GUI | Gnome 2.2 | Gnome 2.8 | Gnome 2.16 |
| Graphics | XFree86 | X.org | X.org 7.1.1 |
| OpenOffice | V1.1 | V1.1.2 | V2.0.4 |
| Ximian Evolution | V1.4 | V2.0 | V2.8.0 |
| Default browser | Mozilla | Firefox | Firefox 1.5 |
Notes:
* Subscriptions are available for systems larger than 8 sockets, please contact your Red Hat sales representative for details.
[1] Red Hat defines physical CPUs equivalently to sockets, so a multi-core and/or hyperthreading CPU is counted as a single socket when determining which subscription to purchase
[3] Certified limits reflect the current state of system testing by Red Hat and its partners, and set the upper limit of support provided by any Red Hat Enterprise Linux subscription if not otherwise limited explicitly by the subscription terms. Certified limits are subject to change as on-going testing completes.
[4] Red Hat defines a logical CPU as any schedulable entity. So every core/thread in a multi-core/thread processor is a logical CPU
[5] The "SMP" kernel supports a maximum of 16GB of main memory. Systems with more than 16GB of main memory use the "Hugemem" kernel. In certain workload scenarios it may be advantageous to use the "Hugemem" kernel on systems with more than 12GB of main memory.
[6] The x86 "Hugemem" kernel is not provided in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
[7] If there are any 32-bit machines in the cluster, the maximum gfs file system size is 16TB. If all machines in the cluster are 64-bit, the maximum size is 8EB.
[8] Officially support 125 CPUs across the entire machine.