Red Hat NETWORK SATELLITE SERVER 3.6 Installation Manual

Red Hat NETWORK SATELLITE SERVER 3.6 Installation Manual Manual pdf 5 page image

Chapter 1.IntroductionRHN Satellite Server provides a solution to organizations requiring absolute control over and privacyof the maintenance and package deployment of their servers. It allows Red Hat Network customersthe greatest exibility and power in keeping servers secure and updated.Two types of RHN Satellite Server are available: One with a stand-alone database on a separate ma-chine and one with an embedded database installed on the same machine as the Satellite. This guidedescribes the installation of both types of Satellite.Although the two types of RHN Satellite Server are functionally similar, some differences do exist.These variations are primarily isolated to hardware requirements, installation steps, and maintenanceactivities, but may also crop up during troubleshooting. This guide identifies distinctions between theSatellite types by marking the differing instructions as either Embedded Database or Stand-AloneDatabase.1.1. Red Hat NetworkRed Hat Network (RHN) is the environment for system-level support and management of Red Hatsystems and networks of systems. Red Hat Network brings together the tools, services, and informa-tion repositories needed to maximize the reliability, security, and performance of their systems. To useRHN, system administrators register the software and hardware profiles, known as System Profiles,of their client systems with Red Hat Network. When a client system requests package updates, onlythe applicable packages for the client are returned (based upon the software profile stored on the RHNServers).Advantages of using Red Hat Network include:• Scalability — with Red Hat Network, a single system administrator can set up and maintain hun-dreds or thousands of Red Hat systems more easily, accurately, and quickly than that same admin-istrator could maintain a single system without Red Hat Network.• Standard Protocols — standard protocols are used to maintain security and increase capability. Forexample, XML-RPC gives Red Hat Network the ability to do much more than merely downloadfiles.• Security — all communication between registered systems and Red Hat Network takes place oversecure Internet connections.• View Errata Alerts — easily view Errata Alerts for all your client systems through one website.• Scheduled Actions — use the website to schedule actions, including Errata Updates, package in-stalls, and software profile updates.• Simplification — maintaining Red Hat systems becomes a simple, automated process.1.2. RHN Satellite ServerRHN Satellite Server allows organizations to utilize the benefits of Red Hat Network without havingto provide public Internet access to their servers or other client systems. System Profiles are storedlocally. The Red Hat Network website is served from a local Web server and is not accessible from theInternet. All package management tasks, including Errata Updates, are performed through the localarea network.Advantages of using RHN Satellite Server include: