Red Hat and SUSE Linux Running on zSeries can now Easily Join to Microsoft Active Directory
BELLEVUE, Wash. – April 30, 2008 –Likewise® Software a leader in delivering authentication and audit solutions for mixed networks, today announced support for IBM® zSeries® servers that are using either Red Hat® or the Novell® SUSE® Linux platforms. Customers that rely on zSeries for their mission critical applications can now use Likewise Software products to directly join their systems to Microsoft® Active Directory.
zSeries servers are used by IBM customers for business-critical installations where scheduled and unscheduled downtime costs are high. zSeries machines can provide a lower total cost of ownership than other platforms for organizations where the risk is very high for system failures and service outages.
Mainframes such as zSeries are often used in government, financial services, retail, and manufacturing industries. "The world's top banks and retailers are relying on the security features in zSeries servers to ensure sensitive business transactions," said Barry Crist, CEO of Likewise Software. "Now these enterprises can improve their TCO by running RHEL and SUSE on zSeries and authenticate to Active Directory via Likewise. Literally everyone wins in these scenarios."
Likewise Software solutions join non-Windows systems such as zSeries servers running Linux platforms to Microsoft Active Directory. Once the Linux/UNIX/Mac machines have been joined to AD, a user who has been provisioned for UNIX, Linux or Mac access can now interactively login to the Linux/Unix/Mac machine with his or her Active Directory credentials. The user can also access any kerberized services that the Linux/UNIX/Mac machine hosts.
"Linux is in the third phase of an evolution toward becoming a recognized data center operating system environment," according to Gartner. "The first phase was its use in basic infrastructure and network edge; the second phase began more deployments in Web serving and applications; and the third phase is in secure, reliable, mission-critical applications and databases... In 2008, 20% to 25% of user expenditures allocated to Linux will be for mission-critical applications."1
Availability and Pricing
Organizations can request a free evaluation copy of Likewise Enterprise 5.0 here or by calling 800-378-1330. Likewise Enterprise list prices are $249 per server license and $49 per workstation license.
About Likewise Software
Likewise Software provides identity management solutions designed to improve operational efficiencies, increase security and help achieve regulatory compliance in mixed network environments. Likewise Open allows large organizations to securely authenticate Linux, Unix and Mac systems with a unified directory such as Microsoft Active Directory. Likewise Enterprise includes all of the core authentication technology that comes with Likewise Open, plus world-class migration, group policy, audit and reporting modules. For more information, visit www.likewisesoftware.com.
Likewise is a trademark of Likewise Software. All other trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners.
