Red Hat NETWORK SATELLITE SERVER 4.1.0, Installation Manual

Page: 5 / 80

Chapter 1.
Introduction
RHN Satellite Server provides a solution to organizations requiring absolute control over
and privacy of the maintenance and package deployment of their servers. It allows Red
Hat Network customers the greatest flexibility 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 machine and one with an embedded database installed on the same machine as
the Satellite. This guide describes 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 maintenance activities. They may also appear during troubleshooting. This guide
identifies distinctions between the Satellite types by marking the differing instructions as
either Stand-Alone Database or Embedded Database .
1.1. Red Hat Network
Red Hat Network (RHN) is the environment for system-level support and management of
Red Hat systems and networks of systems. Red Hat Network brings together the tools,
services, and information repositories needed to maximize the reliability, security, and per-
formance of their systems. To use RHN, 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, only the applicable packages for the client
are returned (based upon the software profile stored on the RHN Servers).
Advantages of using Red Hat Network include:
•
Scalability — with Red Hat Network, a single system administrator can set up and main-
tain hundreds or thousands of Red Hat systems more easily, accurately, and quickly than
they could maintain a single system without Red Hat Network.
•
Standard Protocols — standard protocols are used to maintain security and increase
capability. For example, XML-RPC gives Red Hat Network the ability to do much more
than merely download files.
•
Security — all communication between registered systems and Red Hat Network takes
place over secure Internet connections.
•
View Errata Alerts — easily view Errata Alerts for all your client systems through one
website.