RHEL 4.0 AS vs ES

[Alessandro Pilati]

Hi to all,
I would be happy to know the exact differences between RHEL 4.0 AS and ES.
Also links would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Alessandro

[Gopi Sekar]

I don't know the exact differences point by point. But I can tell you one thing:

Both AS and ES versions share the same RPM's, only first CD of AS and ES differs. Rest all are same (including the CD key, check sum and everythin). You can infact swap AS with ES without any problem.

All i know is only the kernel is different between AS and ES (I am not sure what exactly the difference).

Hope this helps,
Gopi

[Steven E. Protter]

Exact differences are explained on the redhat site.

http://www.redhat.com/software/rhel/

Application server:
AS
http://www.redhat.com/software/rha/appserver/

Its all GPL btw.

SEP

[Gopi Sekar]

Hey, just got this link:

http://www.redhat.com/software/rhel/compare/

It looks the main difference is number of CPU's supported, RAM support and hardwares supported.

Regards,
Gopi

[Alessandro Pilati]

Ok but what are the deep differences?
I noticed that there are some differences regarding the SLA and the support, but are there SOFTWARE differences? Kernel differences? and consequently Hardware support differences?

RedHat site is a little confusing about these differences...
The only clear difference is the PRICE :-)

Thank you for the answers.
Alessandro

[Gopi Sekar]

Yes only the kernel is different between AS and ES. The only other file which I could think of different is redhat-release file (which identifies the type of redhat installed).

I believe other than these everything else is same.

Regards,
Gopi

[noldi · Accepted solution]

Hello Alessandro,

as somebody else already stated, the main
difference is the number of CPU's/size of
memory you can address as well as CPU
architecture (for example IBM
Power5/Mainframe Support
is only available with AS).

So technically with AS you can have a bigger
machine running your business where with ES
you need multiple smaller machines carying
the same load.

Then there are differences in Support levels
and probably ISV restrictions that call for
AS.

So, if your machine specs are within the
limits of ES, and you don't need the extended
support options of AS, then ES would probably
be the better deal.

Best Regards,

Arnold Sutter, Tristar/redIT

[Arunvijai_4]

Hi,

Main differences are #CPUs, Platforms of choice, Support and Pricing ;)

Thanks,
Arun

[Ross Minkov]

I won't repeat what others already said... just add that at Red Hat they use the same version control repository for both AS and ES, which means they build them with the same bits. You can run ES on a system with more than 2 CPUs, but if you call Red Hat for support and they discover that you have more than 2 CPUs... ;-) Same for the memory... Also some premium level of support are only avail with AS, as some cpu architectures are avail only with AS.

-Ross

[Vitaly Karasik_1]

>only the kernel is different between AS and ES

AFAIK, there is no such difference - WS, ES and AS use the same kernels. The only difference it's SLA.

[Alessandro Pilati]

Thank you to all,
I leave the question opened so if someone has other information to add, I'll be pleasured to read these.

Points for all the good answers!

Regards,
Alex