To address the situation, in the year 2000 Ximian?, the open-source desktop leader, introduced Red Carpet?, a comprehensive Linux software distribution and updating service designed to centralize these tasks within the organization.  Today hundreds of thousands of developers rely on Red Carpet to keep their Linux and UNIX systems up-to-date automatically, efficiently, and securely, while saving themselves and their organizations significant time and resources.

Extending the value of Red Carpet even further, Red Carpet CorporateConnect? is Ximian's unique ASP service that enables individual companies to manage and control their Linux desktop software standards through an intuitive Web management console.  With Red Carpet CorporateConnect, companies can now manage users and access privileges, create secure, private Red Carpet channels, and distribute and update internal software -- all of which translates into significant savings of time and money better spent on moving their businesses forward with new services.  

Linux IT administrators frequently mention the following challenges:

For example, to manage internal software updates manually the IT administrator must comb email lists and web sites for software revisions, sending emails when software is updated, or posting information on the Web/ftp site -- and hoping that people check it.  In addition, the administrator must use passwords or other procedures to block individuals who don't have access rights or a reason to enter, maintain ftp sites, and ensure that the most recent software is up and running - all very time-consuming pursuits.

Sometimes administrators resort to more forcible methods of installing software, such as using tar files or manually configuring machines.  Not only are these methods of installation time-consuming, they may promote invisibility to management tools built into the operating systems. Other "home grown" solutions, such as scripts and software used to solve distribution problems, may satisfy the needs of the organization, but at the expense of dedicated resources to maintain and improve the system as requirements change over time.

In each of these scenarios, valuable resources are derailed from the more important function of moving the business forward into the maintenance of basic infrastructure. Clearly, a seamless, automated system for software maintenance and version management can spell the difference between inefficiency and productivity in today's rapidly evolving Linux environment.

Each time applications are added, modified, or removed from the Linux workstation, Red Carpet compares them with the latest software version information from Ximian and select third-party software providers and operating systems vendors. Next, Red Carpet generates an on-screen list, organized into logical channels, of the new packages and updates that are available.  Finally, Red Carpet verifies the integrity of the new software, resolves all of the intricate software dependencies that could affect the desktop, and updates or removes obsolete files. In sum, Red Carpet saves its users hours of system administration effort.

Red Carpet CorporateConnect provides a Web-based management console that lets IT staff define the software that corporate users can download, enabling centralized management and version control of downloaded software. System components include:

Channel Manager

Defines the software applications, packages, and supported platforms;

User Manager

Invites and manages desktop users;

Group Manager

Defines software access privileges by team or workgroup; and

Reports

Shows downloaded statistics and installations by channel and user.

Once a week or once a day -- however often is desired -- administrators can connect to a set of servers containing the current version of software that they are supposed to be running.

Five components make up the architecture of Red Carpet CorporateConnect .

Log Server

The Log Server keeps track of all internal software and system updates and serves reports to the administrator through the Administrator's Console.

The Administrator's Console -- a Web-based interface to all software and user functions needed to control CorporateConnect -- can access and maintain CorporateConnect from any Web browser.

Pat is in charge of a software development group for a consulting company. The diagram below shows how the department's engineering workstations are connected and distributed by job function.

The department is divided equally between software engineers and web designers. To develop custom server-based solutions, the chip designers use a customized version of gcc, a software compiler. The web designers use PHP, an HTML-embedded scripting language. The entire department uses EMACS for text editing.

Pat's challenge is to keep track of whose software is up-to-date and which individuals have access to certain software.

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