Novell Sets New Performance Records with SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time

Novell today announced that in independent tests performed by the Securities Technology Analysis Center (STAC(R)), SUSE(R) Linux Enterprise Real Time delivered the lowest mean and maximum latencies ever recorded at high rates with the Reuters Market Data System (RMDS), as well as the highest RMDS throughput for a two-socket server. These impressive results for Novell were significantly better than similar benchmark tests performed by STAC on other Linux* and UNIX* operating systems. Novell was able to achieve simultaneously high throughput rates and extremely low latencies because of close collaboration with its technology partners - HP, Intel(R) and Voltaire. Customers using the solution from Novell and its partners which produced these record-breaking results will be able to compete more effectively in their markets.

"Market data latency and throughput have a huge impact on the overall speed with which a trading firm can execute a transaction in response to new information," said Jack Gidding, associate director of STAC. "In some markets, firms can profit from as little as one millisecond of advantage over competitors, which drives them to find new technologies that can reduce sub-millisecond latencies from the systems fueling their trades."

In its newly-released report, "RMDS 6.3 with Novell(R) SUSE Linux Enterprise Real-Time on HP c-Class Blades, Intel Xeon(R) processors, and Voltaire InfiniBand,"STAC measured the performance of a market data stack based on the Reuters Market Data System when running on SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time and compared it to the same stack using a general purpose operating system and gigabit Ethernet technologies.

"Novell's mission is to make IT work as one, ensuring our customers are able to leverage their many technology investments effectively and efficiently in support of their business objectives," said Roger Levy, senior vice president and general manager of Open Platform Solutions at Novell. "Working closely with our technology partners, we are providing customers with innovative, high performance solutions based on open source and open systems - solutions which perform better than more costly and proprietary alternatives."

SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time offers impressive throughput and latency results

According to the independent tests performed by STAC, SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time delivered 10.1 million updates per second, the highest throughput ever recorded on their standard benchmark test for a two-socket Linux or UNIX system configuration - more than 670 percent higher than an alternative solution using a general purpose operating system and gigabit Ethernet technologies. In the same tests, SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time achieved the lowest mean RMDS latencies recorded to date by STAC on Linux or UNIX systems at nearly all throughput rates, as well as the lowest maximum RMDS latencies at rates above 200,000 updates per second. SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time was able to maintain under 0.67 milliseconds of mean latency at rates of up to 750,000 updates per second and maximum latencies never exceeded 3.01 milliseconds at up to these same update rates.

The tests were conducted using the latest HP* blade servers and Intel Quad-Core Xeon processors, along with Voltaire InfiniBand hardware and Voltaire Messaging Accelerator (VMA) software. The specific solution independently tested by STAC is available for customers to purchase and implement today, and is fully supported by Novell and its partners.

"Financial services industry customers want technology infrastructure solutions that save money while delivering unparalleled performance and functionality," said Mark Potter, vice president and general manager, BladeSystem, HP. "The combination of industry-leading HP BladeSystem servers with the SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time operating system provides them a cost-effective, energy-efficient and industry-standard computing platform. This platform delivers performance levels formerly found only on costly, proprietary systems."

Nigel Woodward, global director for financial services at Intel, said, "Capital markets customers demand low-latency, high-performance solutions for their market data needs. We believe that platforms based upon Intel Xeon 5400 series processors, coupled with SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time, combine the power of low-latency computing and an open architecture to enable the type of performance expected by capital markets customers around the world."

Asaf Somekh, vice president of strategic alliances at Voltaire (NASDAQ: VOLT), said, "The results of this STAC Report simply underscore what we've known all along -- that together, Novell and Voltaire can deliver new value to mutual customers by providing a combined solution that increases transaction rates, lowers latency and improves CPU utilization. The inclusion of Voltaire's VMA software enhances predictability for the solution which is critical for market data implementations where a single trade can make or break a financial institution’s gain for the day."

About SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time is a fully supported real-time operating system, specifically engineered to reduce the latency and increase the predictability of time-sensitive, mission-critical applications such as RMDS. With SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time enterprises can respond more rapidly to market changes, increase the reliability and availability of their critical business services - even under heavy system loads - and improve resource utilization.

To review a copy of the "RMDS 6.3 with Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Real-Time on HP c-Class Blades, Intel Xeon, and Voltaire InfiniBand" STAC Report go to http://www.stacresearch.com/novell . For more information about SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time, visit: http://www.novell.com/linux/realtime .