Red Hat is attempting to flatten barriers to adoption of virtualisation with the release of Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5 today. However, the release is squarely aimed at customers planning to virtualise Linux rather than consolidate servers across operating systems.

RHEL 5 is the first Red Hat distribution to build in the Xen hypervisor that supports operating system and storage virtualisation. Also, to combat potential confusion, Red Hat has rejigged tariffs to offer a premium licence that allows unlimited usage of virtualised instances.

Buyers can choose between two versions of RHEL 5. The new Advanced Platform edition provides unlimited use of RHEL 5, including virtualised systems and storage. It succeeds the previous high-end platform for RHEL 4 known as the AS edition and carries the same pricing.

An edition simply called RHEL 5 is also available and includes the ability to run four guests. It succeeds RHEL 4 ES.

“We’re not just announcing a new version but fundamentally changing the way we package and sell,” said Tim Yeaton, Red Hat senior vice-president for marketing.

Yeaton added that because the product is sold via subscription, customers will be able to adopt virtualisation and other new features at a time of their choosing. Red Hat has also extended its Red Hat Network management tools to support virtual servers.

Yeaton said he expects most early-adopters of RHEL 5 to virtualise Red Hat instances. Customers that choose to virtualise other versions of Linux, Windows or Unix will need to pay attention to individual terms and conditions.

“Red Hat is not just selling the technology but differentiating on the basis of the licensing model,” said Neil Macehiter of analyst firm Macehiter Ward-Dutton.

“The Advanced Platform is clearly targeted at encouraging proliferation of Red Hat within the enterprise and reducing barriers to adoption caused by complexity of negotiating licensing agreements. That’s a positive move although it ignores the reality in most organisations that there is going to be a mix of environments.”

Simon Crosby, chief technology officer of Xen development leader XenSource, said the Red Hat implementation is superior to the current version of Novell’s Suse Linux Enterprise Server.

However, he cautioned that the release is only suitable for virtualising Linux. “They’ve taken their time and I think they’ve done a good job,” Crosby said, adding that Red Hat’s approach is “still Linux virtualising Linux”.

Crosby also questioned Red Hat’s approach to management tools for not following the direction of interoperability standards developer the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF).

Other new features of RHEL 5 include support for the latest x86 hardware including quad-core processors.

To complement the release, Red Hat announced more plans to help position itself as a stack provider. These include pre-packaged solutions for datacentre, database server and high-performance computing where services, support and training will be provided to accelerate deployments.

Also, Red Hat will offer a web store called Red Hat Exchange (RHX) that will let users purchase and gain direct Red Hat support for a range of open-source packages including SugarCRM, EnterpriseDB, GroundWork systems management and the Alfresco enterprise content management package.

Users will have the benefit of “one throat to choke” while partners will gain awareness through Red Hat’s reach, Yeaton added.