Novell recently launched SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 Service Pack 1 (SP1), which seems much more focused on the virtualization side of things than in the past. 

SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 SP1 is optimized for all IT infrastructures – physical, virtual and cloud – and offers numerous advancements.  The new service pack includes the latest Xen 4.0 hypervisor with significantly improved virtual input/output performance.  And for the first time, Novell introduces support for the new open source virtualization hypervisor, KVM, joining Red Hat and other Linux platform providers.  This new update also adds support for the Linux integration components in Microsoft Hyper-V – an industry first.

The new release also adds support for Intel Xeon processor 7500 and 5600 series, which offers virtualization hypervisors a much needed performance boost for running enterprise applications.

“With our long history of collaboration, Intel and Novell share the common goal of developing solutions that provide our customers with Linux-based solutions ranging from basic infrastructure and high performance computing to mission-critical enterprise workloads,” said Doug Fisher, vice president, Intel Software and Service Group and general manager, System Software Division. “The combination of Intel Xeon processor 7500 and 5600 series and SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 Service Pack 1 provides even more opportunity for enterprise customers to run the most mission-critical workloads, replace costly legacy proprietary platforms, and deploy virtualized workloads for data center operational efficiencies.”