Chapter 1. System Requirements for Operating Linux

Contents

1.1. Hardware for x86
1.2. Hardware for Itanium
1.3. Hardware for AMD64 and Intel 64

Abstract

The SUSE® Linux Enterprise Server operating system can be operated on a wide range of hardware. It is impossible to list all the different combinations of hardware SUSE Linux Enterprise Server supports. However, to provide you with a guide to help you during the planning phase, the minimum requirements are presented here.

If you want to be sure that a given computer configuration will work, find out which computers have been certified by SUSE. Find a list of these computers at http://developer.novell.com/yessearch/Search.jsp.

1.1. Hardware for x86

Computers based on x86 constitute a cost-effective way of building high-performance systems. The preconditions to operating SUSE Linux Enterprise Server on this platform are as follows:

CPU

The number of CPUs supported depends on the kernel used. Specifically, these are as follows:

Table 1.1. CPUs Supported by the Kernel

Kernel

Oldest CPU Type

Maximum Number of CPUs

kernel-default

PentiumPro, Athlon

1

kernel-smp

PentiumPro, Athlon MP

32

kernel-bigsmp

Pentium II, Athlon XP

128


Memory Requirements

A minimum of 512 MB is required. The minimum recommended memory is 1 GB. For a multiprocessor system, 256 MB per processor is required. Systems with less than 1 GB main memory need additional swap space that extends the virtual memory to 1 GB.

Hard Disk Requirements

The disk requirements depend largely on the installation. Commonly, you need more space than the installation software itself needs to have a system that works properly. Minimal requirements for different selections are:

System

Hard Disk Requirements

Minimal X Window System

1.2 GB

GNOME Desktop

3.2 GB

KDE Desktop

2.7 GB

All patterns

7 GB

Boot Methods

The computer can be booted from CD, USB hard drive, floppy, or the network. A special boot server is required to boot over the network. This boot server can be configured with SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. To use USB hard drives, the BIOS or firmware must support booting from USB devices. Create an bootable USB hard drive with mkbootdisk, which is found on the first installation CD in the directory /boot/i386/ or /boot/x86_64. For more information, read the documentation in the /boot directory.

1.2. Hardware for Itanium

The Itanium architecture is 64-bit and allows operation of large servers.

CPU

Itanium II (older Itanium CPUs are no longer supported). Dual core CPUs and hyperthreading are also supported.

Maximum Number of CPUs

At most, 1024 CPUs are supported. For the calculation of the CPU count, a dual-core CPU counts as two CPUs and a hyperthreaded CPU with two siblings also counts as two CPUs. 1024 CPUs could mean 512 dual cores, 512 single cores with hyperthreading, or 256 dual cores with hyperthreading.

Memory

A minimum of 1GB RAM per CPU socket is required.

Hard Disk Requirements

The disk requirements depend largely on the installation selected. Commonly, you need more space than the installed software itself needs to have a system that works properly. Minimal requirements for different selections are:

System

Hard Disk Requirements

Minimal System

4 GB

Recommended

10 GB

Boot Methods

Options for booting the computer depend on the available hardware. All boot methods available to the machine should work. A special boot server is required to use PXE boot over the network. This may also be set up with SUSE Linux Enterprise Server.

1.3. Hardware for AMD64 and Intel 64

The AMD64 and Intel 64 architectures support the simple migration of x86 software to 64 bits. Like the x86 architecture, they constitute a value-for-money alternative.

CPU

All CPUs available on the market to date are supported. This includes dual-core CPUs.

Maximum Number of CPUs

The maximum number of CPUs supported by AMD64 and Intel 64 is 128.

Memory Requirements

A minimum of 512 MB of memory is required. Requirements depend on the application. However, the minimum recommended is 1024 MB or 512 MB per CPU on multiprocessor computers. The theoretical upper limit on the amount of memory supported by the kernel is 512 GB.

Hard Disk Requirements

The disk requirements depend largely on the installation selected. The required space for this architecture is similar to x86 but you should plan some space for compatibility libraries. Minimum requirements for different selections are:

System

Hard Disk Requirements

Minimal X Window System

1.4 GB

GNOME Desktop

3.5 GB

KDE Desktop

3 GB

All patterns

8.5 GB

Boot Methods

The computer can be booted from CD or network. A special boot server is required to boot over the network. This can be set up with SUSE Linux Enterprise Server.