Microsoft's second Windows Server 2016 test build runs Linux distributions

On Aug. 8, #Microsoft began rolling out its second Insider test build for #WindowsServer 2016.  Windows Server Insider Build #16257 for #WindowsServer2016 makes Windows Subsystem for #Linux (WSL), plus several Linux distributions -- #Ubuntu, #OpenSUSE, and #SLES -- available on Windows Server. (According to Microsoft's documentation, WSL was available on Windows Server 2016 as of Insider build 16215 and higher, but today's post is the first time Microsoft highlighted its availability on Server.) Testers can run node.js, #Ruby, #Python, #Perl, #Bash, and other related scripts and tools. Currently, however, WSL doesn't support persistent Linux services like daemons and jobs.

Today's Windows Server Insider build also includes the Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) , which enable Windows 10 client users to remotely manage and administer Windows Server Insider builds. (Testers need Windows 10 Fall Creators Update build 16250 or higher to use RSAT.)

According to today's blog post about the new test build, Delivery Optimization is now the downloader used by Windows Update for Windows Server, the way that it is on Windows 10 client since the Anniversary Update. This optimization can provide peer-to-peer bandwidth optimization between Windows Server machines if users so desire.

A list of known issues for Build 16257 is included in Microsoft's blog post.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/microsofts-second-windows-server-2016-test-build-runs-linux-distributions/

Dell's new high-end all-in-one PC offers Ubuntu Linux or Red Hat Enterprise Linux

If you know where to look you can find many great #Linux -powered laptops. Besides #Dell 's #XPS 13, Dell also offers several other blazing-fast, #Ubuntu -Linux powered laptops. System76 specializes in great Ubuntu laptops and #ZaReason offers a variety of Linux distributions on laptops and desktops. A top-of-the-line, all-in-one desktop PC? That's much harder to find. Now, Dell is offering a no-compromises all-in-one called the Precision Workstation AIO 5720.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/dells-new-high-end-all-in-one-pc-offers-ubuntu-linux-or-red-hat-enterprise-linux/

Dell doubles down on high-end Ubuntu Linux laptops

CEO and founder of #Dell, #MichaelDell, has long been a #Linux supporter. By 2007, under his guidance, Dell became the first major OEM to offer a laptop with pre-installed Linux. His Linux of choice? #UbuntuLinux. Ten years later, Dell is still selling Ubuntu Linux-powered laptops.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/dell-doubles-down-on-high-end-ubuntu-linux-laptops/

Learn about Open Source technologies on Microsoft Azure

#Canonical will be taking part in #Microsoft and IDC’s Enterprise Open Source Roadshow this autumn and winter. This roadshow will pass through many western European countries and showcase a number of Open Source technologies that are driving change in the software-defined datacentre. IDC predicts that by 2017, over 70% of enterprise companies will embrace Open Source and open APIs as the underpinnings for cloud integration strategies. This is already visible as developers search for flexible and agnostic platforms that enable them to work quickly and easily, even as the scale and complexity of software increases. Canonical’s Linux-based operating system, Ubuntu, delivers the platform of choice for many of these software developers. And Canonical’s Juju enables them to model & deploy open source technologies on endpoints such as Microsoft Azure with just a few clicks. Canonical will be demonstrating how to apply model driven operations to address the current phase change in software operations at the event. In addition to live demonstrations of open source technologies, attendees of the 2016 Enterprise Open Source roadshow will learn how the IT industry is: Adopting open source technologies with a focus on cloud-first datacenter modernization initiatives, Big Data projects, and DevOps oriented methodologies Focusing on governance, security, licensing and hybrid environment management for enterprise ready technologies Formulating a reassessment of IT skills and key competencies to develop talent for a new era

https://insights.ubuntu.com/2016/10/24/learn-about-open-source-technologies-on-microsoft-azure/

Samsung brings JavaScript to the internet of things

#Samsung has begun offering a stable 1.0 release of #JerryScript, its lightweight #JavaScript engine for the internet of things ( #IoT ). Requiring less than 64KB of system RAM, the open source engine is intended for resource-constrained devices like microcontrollers. JerryScript backs on-device compilation and can access peripherals from JavaScript. It uses a C API for embedding in applications, and #Ubuntu 14.04 #Linux is the only supported development environment.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/3117241/javascript/samsung-brings-javascript-to-the-internet-of-things.html

Cloud, Containers And Collaboration Come Of Age

The cloud computing marketplace has come of age, and the market is booming. As I discussed in my last article, Cloud is no longer a business strategy. It is just something we do. Further proof is demonstrated by #Amazon Web Services ( #AWS ) reporting huge Q2 numbers of $2.9B in revenue, up by more than $1B from the same time in 2015. #Microsoft reported its “intelligent cloud” segment was up 7%, totaling $6.7B, and their public cloud offering #Azure was up by 102% year-on-year. Finally, #Oracle announced the acquisition of born-in-the cloud ERP vendor #NetSuite for $9.3B. I believe Oracle had to step-up or get left behind in the cloud market, especially after several false starts and missteps from an execution perspective. #OpenStack continues to evolve as a leading cloud platform deployed across many large enterprises worldwide; dozens of service providers like Canonical’s #Ubuntu, #Dell, #HewlettPackardEnterprise, #Intel, #Rackspace Hosting, #RedHat and others are driving innovation and leadership.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/moorinsights/2016/08/03/cloud-containers-and-collaboration-come-of-age/#49c29eb770d9

Understanding Ceph and Its Place in the Market

Last month, the #Ceph community released its first set of bug fixes to the 10.2 Jewel release with version 10.2.1. This is good news, but what is Ceph? Ceph is a software-defined distributed object storage solution. Originally developed by Inktank in 2012, the solution was later acquired by #Red Hat, Inc., in 2014. It is open source and licensed under the Lesser General Public License (LGPL).

In the world of Ceph, data is treated and stored like objects. This is unlike traditional (and legacy) data storage solutions, where data is written to and read from the storage volumes via sectors and at sector offsets (often referred to as blocks). When dealing with large amounts of large data, treating them as objects is the way to do it. It is also much easier to manage. In fact, this is how the cloud functions—with objects. This object-drive model enables Ceph for simplified scalability to meet consumer demand easily. These objects are replicated across an entire cluster of nodes, giving Ceph its fault-tolerance and further reducing single points of failure.

Last year, the Ceph community released the support for an Erasure Coded pool. This means that instead of duplicating data objects and consuming doubles or multiples of the original data, through the concept of Erasure Code, the object gets fed through an algorithm where it is re-computed with additional padding to handle data inconsistencies or failures. This does come at a bit of a performance cost. Anyway, Ceph has also been designed to self-heal and self-manage. All of this happens at a lower level and is transparent to the user or a client application.

http://m.linuxjournal.com/content/understanding-ceph-and-its-place-market