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 performance 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 maintain hundreds or thousands of Red Hat systems more easily, accurately, and quickly than that same administrator 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.
Scheduled Actions — use the website to schedule actions, including Errata Updates, package installs, and software profile updates.
Simplification — maintaining Red Hat systems becomes a simple, automated process.