Costa Mesa, CA, based Emulex Corp., announced that future version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 will support the networking company's drivers for its host bus adapter (HBA) boards. Emulex, which has a robust base of 1.6 million HBAs installed, already provides drivers in Linux environments. This latest, cooperative move by the three companies is viewed by industry analysts as a push for standardization of Linux and Emulex HBAs in IT environments.

Emulex's HBA technology preserves CPU power by helping out with I/O processes that can consume about half a system's processing capabilities with small-block input. The company provides corporate support for large, high-speed transactions.

What is significant is that Emulex is the first storage-related vendor to gain certification by both Red Hat and SUSE Linux.

In a recent statement endorsing the mutual benefits of open source computing, Deb Woods, Red Hat vice president of product management, said “The collaborative work Emulex has done in concert with the Open Source community is an example of how companies can successfully share valuable expertise and resources with the Open Source community to enhance the functionality of products in Enterprise Linux environments. We are extremely pleased with the quality of service this partnership brings to customers."