I just received a new Linux server box with 1.9TB SATA RAID.
Presently SUSE Enterprise Server 8 is installed by the manufacturer.

Would I be better off with SUSE 9.2 and the 2.6 kernel because of the huge disk array and very high number of files on disk?

The operating system is on a small 36 GB hard disk, quite separate from the main RAID drives.

Sooner or later I will attach a SCSI LTO2 or SDLT powerloader to this server as well.

Thanks

If you just got SLES 8 on a server, your upgrade protection should automatically provide you with SLES9 licensing as well. If it doesn't, your manufacturer screwed you somehow. SLES is licensed yearly - basically about $349 for a 2 CPU server, a pretty good deal .

Why would you EVER use a consumer version on a production box when you have an enterprise license? The enterprise license provides you with support, especially over a greater period of time.

What it doesn't provide you with is the newest, neatest toys, which you shouldn't be worried about if you want a stable production server.

While you're at it, go to http://www.redbooks.ibm.com - look for a redbook on performance tuning on linux servers. This will tell you more specifics about what you can do with your box.

Jon Johnston
Creative Business Solutions
IBM, Microsoft, Novell/Suse and Sophos Consulting
952-544-1108
http://www.cbsol.com
Blog:http://bingo.cbsol.com

thanks,

I read the license and it says upgrades can be 'requested'. I will look further into SLES9 tomorrow and give them a call.

I found an IBM redbook 'Tuning IBM Eserver Servers for performance' Is that the one you meant?

I am not worried about the latest 'toys' but about better performance with the 2.6 kernel in my application.