SUSE Studio: Point-and-Click Linux Appliances
It has been a few months since Novell launched the SUSE Appliance program. So we checked in with Novell to see how the effort was going so far. Matt Richards, director, emerging technologies, and Steve Hale, VP and worldwide data center channel lead, offered me a few updates on Oct. 30. Here’s a recap of my conversation.
If you’re unfamiliar with the software appliance concept, it’s easy. Instead of taking the time to setup a server, install all the applications, configure and deploy it and hope it all works, you can skip all that and jump straight to the end. SUSE Studio, Novell says, allows you to log on to Novell’s network, configure your server there, test it out on Novell’s VM, save changes, and download a working image.
Essentially, you do all the hard work in the cloud and then test drive it. The packaged image is ready to go in any format you want. ISO, USB boot image, Live CD, VM Ware HyperVisor image and coming soon, an Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) Image.
The big idea here is the quick turnaround. It lets ISVs (or VARs and MSPs) get it right the first time, and then simply deploy the image ASAP. That means hardware is up and running faster than a traditional install, and you’ve eliminated the need to configure anything post-install. This obviously translates to happier customers and (hopefully) no troubleshooting.
And while SUSE Studio is the crown jewel of the Appliance program, it doesn’t make the whole thing up. Matt Richards boasts that the complete end-to-end solution is a combination of Remote Configuration Tool (self explanatory) and the Life Cycle Management Server (specifically for managing update repositories to your appliances). Plus, you’ll be getting enterprise level support from the Novell/SUSE team.
Early Adopters
Since the end of July 2009, 43,000 users had signed up for SUSE Studio and there are now roughly 11,000 to 14,000 builds per week. Steve Hale noted that over 100 new partners had joined the SUSE Linux Enterprise program, and he asserted that momentum was constantly building from ISVs.
Ironically, somebody apparently used SUSE Studio to build a fake Google Chrome OS. They stopped hosting the image, not because it violated anything (it was, in fact, an appliance based around the Google’s web browser) but because of internet traffic problems. (Google eventually pulled the actual site.)
Lastly, I asked the team point blank: “Is anyone else doing something like this?” Novell says that while the appliance approach exists in bits and pieces, Novell/SUSE is the first team to take all the components and roll them into one.
As we’ve reported, Canonical has been kicking around an Ubuntu software appliance strategy and Red Hat has its own software appliance strategy.
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I just wanted to share my experience with Suse Studio. I wanted to create a custom Linux appliance with a pre-installed application (http://nedi.ch) that made it easy for people to get started.
In the beginning I tried to create a package file (DEB/RPM) that could be easily be installed in Linux. After much frustration, I gave up on the packaging task.
However, once I tried Suse Studio I was able to create a custom Linux appliance in just a few hours! The Suse Studio tool is amazingly powerful and yet simple to use. I was totally geeked out when I built my appliance and then tested it within just a few minutes.
Keep up the great work, Novell/Suse!
Tristan: Thanks for sharing your SUSE Studio experiences. The VAR Guy spoke with Groundwork Open Source a few days ago and they described a similar experience with SUSE Studio… Curious to see if more ISVs give the appliance approach a look.
-TVG
I checked out SUSE Studio, and color me impressed. My question is, what’s Novell’s angle? The service appears to be free. Do they use this to broaden SUSE’s footprint? Do they use SUSE Studio to sell maintenance contracts? How will this work going forward (now that the chief architect, Nat Friedman, left the firm)?
BH
Bob: The VAR Guy thinks Novell’s SUSE Studio effort attempts to meld the best of the old (ISV relations) with the best of the new (fast application development/deployment).
Back in the 1990s, Windows won because of application support. Fast forward to the present, and Novell seems to have a compelling SUSE Studio strategy to ensure ISV support and, therefore, bolster demand for SUSE maintenance contracts.
But that’s just The VAR Guy’s spin. Our resident blogger will reach out to Novell to see if they have additional comment.
-TVG