What is the purpose of the YES Certified Program?

The two main goals of the YES Certified Program are:

  1. Help customers easily identify and purchase hardware solutions that have been tested for compatibility and are supported in a SUSE environment—including SUSE Linux Enterprise products—in native and virtualized mode.
  2. Help Hardware Vendors deliver and market solutions that work well and are easily supported in a SUSE environment.

What is the difference between the YES Certified Program and other programs?

YES Certified is for hardware applications. Because these products interact directly with an operating system, SUSE has developed rigorous compatibility tests to ensure very high levels of compatibility between hardware and the operating system.

Hardware Vendors participating in the YES Certified program agree to a close relationship with SUSE for delivering support to customers. Support contacts are created to deliver joint support and "warm handoffs" between SUSE and the vendor when supporting customers using YES Certified products. In addition, YES Certified configurations are documented and published as official YES Certified bulletins on the SUSE website.

Why should products on my network be YES Certified?

Information technology is a critical asset for any business and deploying compatible and supported hardware protects and enhances your valuable information technology assets.

For hardware, SUSE works closely with companies testing products through the YES Certified program. If you call SUSE for end-user or system integrator support and your network incorporates YES Certified products, SUSE technicians can reference existing support documentation such as YES Certified bulletins and Technical Information Documents. If the error persists, technicians can duplicate the situation in a SUSE lab or work with the product vendor, leveraging the relationship that was developed during the testing process, to resolve the problem. In short, YES Certified is the first line of hardware interoperability assurance for SUSE customers.

What are YES Certified bulletins?

SUSE publishes a YES Certified bulletin documenting tested product configurations. YES Certified bulletins detail what products were used in testing—such as versions of SUSE products—network adapters, controller devices, and supported drivers. Bulletins also indicate specific product configuration, the date of the testing, special network configuration information or other related information important to product interoperability in a SUSE environment. For example, a bulletin can tell you if a particular if a server using a particular device and driver handles memory over 100 GB correctly. This information may be in the form of a configuration note or a line item indicating whether or not certain functionality is supported.

To view specific YES Certified bulletins, visit the YES Certified bulletin search.

Can I run SUSE Enterprise Storage on non-YES Certified Hardware?

SUSE supports SUSE Enterprise Storage as a software appliance on all hardware configurations that meet the minimum hardware requirements as per the official SUSE documentation: https://documentation.suse.com/ses/6/single-html/ses-deployment/#storage-bp-hwreq.

It should be noted that performance and functionality may be limited based on the hardware capabilities.

SUSE strongly recommends that customers deploy hardware that is YES certified, using provided reference architectures, configurations, and published solution blueprints as these have been explicitly tested and are ideal for production deployments. By using one of these recommended solutions, customers benefit from an unbroken support chain from the ISV (Independent Software Vendor) through SUSE to the IHV (Independent Hardware Vendor) and even component manufacturers, thus helping to improve implementation success.

Of course, customers have the choice to use hardware that is not certified or even out of warranty as long as it meets the minimum hardware requirements. However, this does not ensure that we can provide the full intact support chain and comes at a higher risk. SUSE will provide the best support we can, within reason, in these circumstances.

What types of products are eligible to be YES Certified?

Computer systems including servers that run SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, workstations/desktops/​laptops/network clients that run SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop or Virtualization platforms that run SUSE Linux Enterprise as the perfect virtualized guest.

Vendors—if your product does not fall into one of these categories, a Generic Test Request form may be requested from devsup@suse.com.

What products are not eligible to be YES Certified?

Hardware: SUSE does not test individual motherboards, individual LAN devices, individual storage devices, or any backup devices. Vendors cannot move a motherboard from a YES Certified system into a non-tested system and expect that second system to be considered YES Certified. YES Certified system tests are executed against complete computer systems, not the motherboard itself.

System Components: While SUSE does test some system components as part of the complete computer system YES Certification, SUSE does not test products such as cabling, power supplies, and some types of I/O cards. These components may affect system performance, but in most cases do not have a direct effect on compatibility with the operating system.

Undefined Test Criteria: As new technologies emerge products will be developed that do not fall into any of the SUSE standard testing categories, but have a direct interface to the SUSE Linux Enterprise operating systems. In these cases, SUSE will not offer compatibility testing until we have the opportunity to define or develop specific compatibility testing criteria and programs for that category of product.

If I swap components in a YES Certified computer system, is it still considered YES Certified?

Products using the YES Certified logo are tested in specific configurations which are documented in YES Certified bulletins. Customers should check the YES Certified bulletins to verify the computer system they receive is the same as the computer system that was tested. If the computer system is modified in any way, its certification may become void.

In general, vendors are allowed to swap some tested components for another similar tested component. They may also swap components such as cabling, power supplies. Vendors are not allowed to swap any non-tested components or low-level components such as motherboards or BIOS. The only exception to this rule is that a vendor may exchange memory within certain limitations. Buyers should make sure that, if such a modification takes place, the dealer tests the system thoroughly for system integrity.

Please note: If the product is modified in any way other than stated in these conditions, its certification is void. Specific guidelines for Hardware Vendors for swapping components in computer systems are part of the YES Certified System test kit.

Why should my products be associated with a logo that says they're SUSE-compatible and what is the "value proposition" of the logo as it would appear on my product?

In short, your product can achieve instant credibility in the crowded Hardware Vendor marketplace.

In many cases, government agencies and quality-conscious enterprises require that products in a bid be tested for compatibility and achieve a compatibility status—allowing these organizations to stipulate that all bidders' products meet specified high standards of quality and interoperability.

In addition, when your company invests time and money to complete YES Certified testing, the technical expertise you gain is likely to show up in reduced post-sales support. Since your company engineers have already worked with SUSE to test your products on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop or other SUSE software, your staff has plenty of real-world experience when it comes to installing and supporting your products on SUSE platforms. Testing reduces the amount of post-sales support calls because problems are found and fixed before your product ships, saving you time and money.

The YES Certified logo is a valuable trademark of SUSE and recognized around the world as the mark that indicates a product's compatibility with SUSE technologies. When the YES Certified logo is tightly integrated with your corporate and product messages, you can achieve maximum value from your partnership with SUSE.

Does my company need a formal relationship with SUSE to participate in the YES Certified Program?

Yes, becoming a SUSE partner is required. Hardware Vendors can join the Partner Portal for Technology Partners.

As a Hardware or Software Vendor, where do I go to get my products YES certified?

Partners can have products tested for a fee by an Authorized Testing Center.

Where do I get the YES Certified logo for use on my product website, packaging, and promotional material?

Visit the YES Certified Mark Usage Authorized page for information about authorized use of the YES certified mark.

Partner Portal Technology Partners can download the YES Certified, and Partner Portal membership logos from the Brand Guide (partner login required).