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CNET editors' rating:
4.5 stars
Outstanding
Detailed editors' rating - Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 16 reviews
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Product summary
CNET Editors' ChoiceMay 01
The good: Allows foolproof package upgrades via Red Hat Network system management; includes the 2.4 kernel; adds Apache and printer configuration tools.
The bad: Sound configuration is text-based and must be performed after installation.
The bottom line: With new configuration tools and an excellent Web-based system management service, Red Hat 7.1 deserves serious consideration as a Linux solution for your organization.
Specifications: License qty: 1 user; License type: Complete package; Min hard drive space: 500 MB; ; See full specs
CNET editors' review
- Reviewed on: 05/28/2001
New kernel
Red Hat 7.1 includes the 2.4.2-2 kernel, which supports up to 64GB of RAM, far more than the 4GB limit in the 2.2 kernel series. While the 2.2.x kernel can't take full advantage of servers with more than four CPUs, the 2.4 series is much more scalable, with SMP (symmetric multiprocessor) support for machines with as many as eight CPUs. The 2.4 kernel also offers hot-pluggable support for a wide range of USB devices and vastly improved support for CD-R/RW drives.
Installation
Red Hat 7.1 offers an array of installation options that set it apart from typical Linux distributions. If you use an older version of Red Hat (as far back as version 3.0.3) and wish to keep your existing user files, you will find 7.1's upgrade procedure quick, painless, and efficient. In contrast, competing distributions such as SuSE Linux and Linux-Mandrake offer package updates that can be error-prone and take more time than performing a complete installation.
Prior versions of Red Hat have included automated server and workstation installation options. Version 7.1 adds a laptop installation option that enables support for a significant number of PCMCIA cards, touchpads, and LCDs. This version also offers improved support for hundreds of graphics cards and smoother font rendering, thanks to XFree86 4.0.3. If your system has a 3D graphics accelerator, the installation process lets you select a 3D accelerator card from an extensive list--a feature conspicuously absent from previous versions. Unfortunately, sound card detection and installation continue to be sore points. Red Hat still requires that you use the text-based sndconfig utility to detect and configure your sound card after the installation process is complete.
Version 7.1 lets you choose either KDE 2.1 or GNOME 1.2 as the default desktop and gives you the option to install both, either, or neither. However, we were surprised to discover that GNOME 1.4, which includes leading-edge apps such as Nautilus and Evolution, was excluded from this release, especially since Red Hat is a well-known supporter of GNOME.
Enhanced security
The new Red Hat also offers beefed-up security options. The installation process helps you set up a firewall and disables notoriously insecure protocols such as FTP and Telnet by default. During installation, a firewall configuration screen lets you specify which ports and services are allowed to pass through your firewall.
Managing multiple user accounts and passwords can be a significant burden for a systems administrator. On the client side, Red Hat Linux lets you specify which NIS, LDAP, or Kerberos server you'd like for user authentication. Red Hat's support for client- and server-side centralized user authentication is an attractive option for organizations looking to minimize the number of passwords that users are required to remember.
New configuration tools
Version 7.1 includes apacheconf, a handy tool that lets you modify the basic configuration of Apache Web Server (version 1.3.19-5 is included with the distribution). While it's not a complete replacement for editing your httpd.conf file manually, apacheconf does an adequate job of configuring Apache's most common settings, including the server name, the administrator's e-mail address, the maximum number of connections and requests per connection, and so on. apacheconf's clean graphical interface can save a lot of hair-pulling, particularly during the setup of Apache's virtual hosting, which lets you configure multiple Web sites on one physical server.
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- Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 16 reviews
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