Johannesburg, 22 Oct 2002
Computer Associates (CA) has thrown its weight behind the Linux operating system, adding 23 new Linux applications over the past three months.
The move comes at a time when Linux, with its platform standardisation initiative in place, is growing in acceptance in the enterprise marketplace. With support from the eight-member Linux Consortium and giants such as IBM, HP/Compaq and now CA, it has surpassed Unix to become a leading challenger as a platform for embedded development.
According to Paul Le Roux, a database specialist at CA, Linux`s popularity is not supported by an adequate range of management tools. "In particular, Linux servers do not integrate well in an enterprise environment with equipment running on other platforms," he says. "At CA, we have set out to redress this situation."
This year CA released 23 Linux products to bring the Linux total for this OS up to 54. CA released its first Linux product in April 1999, a module for its Unicenter TNG framework package, and the following year it released a complete framework package, Unicenter TNG for Linux.
Since then, it has steadily continued to port its products over to the new platform. In keeping with the company`s agnostic approach to platforms, each offering works with the Caldera, Red Hat, SuSE and TurboLinux versions of Linux. These applications cover each of CA`s six product lines:
* Enterprise management (Unicenter);
* Storage (BrightStor);
* Security (eTrust);
* Portal and business intelligence (Cleverpath);
*.Database management and application development (Advantage and Jasmine); and
*.Software lifecycle management (AllFusion).
For enterprise management, the company offers modules for Unicenter covering service level management, job scheduling and cluster server management as well as network and systems management for devices, applications and databases running on Linux.
Its storage management line has products specifically designed to backup and restore Linux systems, and its enterprise backup software supports Linux in a heterogeneous environment.
In addition, CA offers a variety of security management applications covering virus protection, policy compliance, security monitoring and access control either in a Linux environment or for Linux boxes operating in a mixed environment.