SUSE has announced partner program expansion to include support for 64-bit ARM server processors. This expansion makes available to partners a version of SUSE Linux Enterprise 12 that allows them to develop, test and deliver products to the market using 64-bit ARM chips from vendors including AMD, AppliedMicro and Cavium along with server manufacturers Dell, E4 Computer Engineering, HP and SoftIron to provide customers with more choice, flexibility and opportunities to save on their technology infrastructure.
“SUSE has always been a leader in porting Linux to other platforms, and this program brings the same benefits and interaction to the ARM AArch64 ecosystem that our partners providing x86-64, Power and System z solutions already experience,” said Ralf Flaxa, SUSE vice president of engineering. “SUSE’s ARM partner program will provide ARM ecosystem partners access to AArch64-supported SUSE Linux Enterprise 12 software and expertise, establishing relationships that will result in supported enterprise solutions on different hardware platforms to meet a variety of customer needs.”
Matt Eastwood, IDC senior vice president, Enterprise Infrastructure and Datacentre, said, “Interest in ARM servers is growing, and the first ARM server units are already shipping into market. The technology is seeing early adoption today for specific use cases, and interest is expected to increase going forward. We expect that ARM will also have significant relevance to IoT solutions. The release of SUSE Linux Enterprise for AArch64 is an important step to helping to build a Linux software ecosystem around ARM server products.”
ARM server processors provide a scalable technology platform that can be configured to meet diverse business and application needs in the data centre, such as efficient web-scale workloads and rapid cloud build out. Partners can take advantage of SUSE Linux Enterprise support for ARM processors in various market areas, including purpose-built appliances, such as security, medical and network devices; hyperscale computing; distributed storage; and software-defined and classic networking.
To simplify partner access, SUSE has also implemented support for ARM and AArch64 into its openSUSE Build Service. This allows the community to build packages against real 64-bit ARM hardware and the SUSE Linux Enterprise 12 binaries, improving time to market and compatibility for AArch64 solutions. End users benefit as partners take less time to build, test and release to market products based on 64-bit ARM architectures.