| FIXME / Chapter 1. System Requirements for Operating Linux | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 3. Acknowledgments |  | 1.2. Hardware for Itanium |  |
| FIXME / Chapter 1. System Requirements for Operating Linux | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3. Acknowledgments | | 1.2. Hardware for Itanium | |
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.
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:
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 |
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.
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 |
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.