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Solaris-UNIX and Red
Hat Linux |
Oracle
Cloud Computing |
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| Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle
Corporation. |
WebLogic is a registered trademark of BEA Systems and Oracle
Corporation. |
Java, MySQL,
and Solaris are registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems and
Oracle Corporation. |
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| Oracle
Corporation Infrastructure Strategies |
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In 2009, Oracle Corporation acquired Sun Microsystems hardware and software: Solaris operating system, MySQL database, Java programming language, and SPARC hardware - servers and storage systems.
The Oracle Corporation's stated strategy is to become an end-to-end service provider for corporate and public sector clients. Oracle has been emphasizing that its software will simplify the development, management, and monitoring of
service oriented architecture while delivering performance and scalability. In conjunction with additional acquisitions, Coherence Tangosol software is being used to provide value-based application performance to distributed and frequently accessed data. Tangosol Data Grid is an enabler for the use of XPT: Extreme Transaction Processing in financial services, telecommunications, travel, and logistics industries.
Solaris, IBM AIX, and HP-UX servers, represent approximately 10% of the installed base of server operating systems and have high reliability and service ratings among mainframe distributions.
Collectively, they serve as an alternative to the Microsoft Windows family of operating systems.
Solaris Operating System
Sun Microsystems developed and positioned Solaris-UNIX as a base operating system platform and front end for scalable databases, web servers, middleware, and virtual machines to IBM mainframe operating systems - z/OS, z/VSE, and z/VM.
Oracle Corporation has extended the featureset and
made enhancements to the Solaris 11 operating system to support
virtualization, isolation of workloads, and network virtualization for
provisioning VM: virtual machine deployment. The secure-by-default
features for startup, role-based root access, phone-home automatic
reporting and auditing have been implemented to support recurring cloud
deployments. The Solaris 11 release is integrated in
the Oracle software environment: 1- Java programming language 2- Oracle VM 3- Oracle
applications 4- Oracle WebLogic 5- Oracle Fusion middleware 6- Oracle
Database 11g products.

Solaris is a component in the Oracle Corporation SOA:
service oriented architecture strategy and development platform roadmap. Solaris Cluster
extends Solaris virtualization technologies and provides support for Oracle applications and databases. In addition to managing resources such as load balancing and global virtual IP addresses,
security and networking capabilities have been improved in deploying active applications
through Solaris Cluster scalable data services. The system and volume management choices
are included with replication modules.
Oracle Solaris 11 - Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is central to the Oracle Corporation strategy for delivering expanded services and software offerings to its clients: public, private, and hybrid clouds. Oracle
hardware and software infrastructure provides scalability, data addressing, storage subsystems, and performance. Management tools deploy and provision systems and services to meet elastic requirements.
Oracle Solaris 11 supports and enables:
| SaaS |
Software as a Service |
Consumer-facing cloud computing system which provides websites that deliver bi-directional services and digital content. |
| IaaS |
Infrastructure as a Service |
Virtualizes a server into the cloud. The operating environment is
moved into the cloud: operating system, database software, applications and data. Access is through Internet connectivity. |
| PaaS |
Platform as a Service |
The operating system or database is built to run directly in a cloud environment. |
This cloud strategy brings challenges and risks: applications need to scale for handling orders of magnitude, the inability to manage peak activity means a loss of service and revenue,
and dislocation to customers, and security must be built in at each level to ensure that applications and services run with integrity and safely.
| Solaris Operating System Design |
Oracle Hardware and Software Stack |
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The Oracle Solaris cloud deployments are implemented using default features for startup, role-based root access, automatic reporting, and auditing. Oracle Solaris 11 integrates Oracle Solaris Zones, dynamic resource
management, and network bandwidth control. Computing resources can be divided into multiple environments that can be provisioned and migrated. As cloud deployments scale, the assumption is that Oracle customers will repeatedly deploy multiple VMs.
The Solaris operating system provides virtualization for an elastic cloud infrastructure which can expand and contract on demand while providing services.
| Security - Application Stack |
Controls file access and protects system resources with integrated, multilevel security through immutable zones, data link protection, role-based administration, and
hardware-accelerated encryption for on-disk and network data. |
| Tools - Software Installation and Deployment |
Cloud applications and services are deployed, configured, and updated with the AI: Automated Installer and IP: Image Packaging System
controls updates. |
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High-Availability |
Intelligent zone migration and remote and local clustering keep applications running even in the event of a hardware failure. |
| Monitoring and Usage |
Oracle Enterprise Manager Ops Center provides visibility into cloud computing resource availability and the ability to track services consumption and expense. It is used to manage the hardware and software stack:
firmware, operating systems, virtual machines, servers, storage, and networking components. |
The Solaris operating system uses the ZFS file system for storing up to 256 quadrillion ZB: Zetabytes without media limits. The file system space automatically is allocated across
storage devices. The advantages with the ZFS file system include: 1- root and boot environments 2- integrated volume management 3- built-in compression 4- data integrity with
copy-on-write and RAID-Z 5- Tiered storage with Flash. 6- Snapshot, clone, and rollback for backup, restore, and migration.
Oracle Corporation Investment in UNIX-Solaris and Linux
The consensus is that Oracle Corporation will be evaluating UNIX-Solaris and its investment in the Oracle-Sun Microsystems hardware platform in relation to the broad industry support for specialized utilization of Linux-variants and its own cloud and mobile computing strategies. Oracle has been investing in both UNIX-Solaris and Linux operating systems. By contributing to and supporting the open source Linux operating system base code, Oracle Corporation is positioning its hardware architecture to meet emerging and new client computing requirements in multiple ways. The capability to migrate from Solaris to Linux or have both operating systems coexist on a hardware platform removes issues associated with endianness and provides an economic incentive both to continue licensing the Oracle database and develop applications with Oracle software. Failure to account
for a varying endianness across architectures when writing code for mixed platforms leads to failures and bugs that can be difficult to detect. A big-endian machine stores the most significant byte first; a
little-endian machine stores the least significant byte first. In these standard forms, the bytes remain ordered by significance. Mixed-endian and middle-endian forms also are possible where the ordering of bytes
within a 16-bit word can be different from the ordering of 16-bit words within a 32-bit word. Endianness is important as a low-level attribute of a particular data format. The order in which the two bytes of a UCS-2
character are stored in memory is of considerable importance in network programming where two computers with different byte orders may be communicating with each other.
Several leading hardware and software companies have based their information technology operations on Linux and open source software. Accordingly, Oracle Corporation has been transitioning software to work on Linux-variant
operating systems in order to adjust its strategy and respond to competition in the market.
Oracle Solaris and Red Hat Linux Enterprise - Commentary
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is open source software designed for large data centers and virtualization. It is acknowledged to be a stable platform for enterprise applications.
For Red Hat Enterprise Linux, a typical implementation would be either a Fedora Core or CentOS deployment. Each version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux is supported for up to 10 years. Oracle Corporation - Solaris 11 contains a number of significant changes,
including an installer that replaces JumpStart, new packaging, and a requirement to use the ZFS: Zetabye file system for root. Since the changes in Solaris 11 impact system management functionality, the impact on operational procedures can
be substantial. The evaluation of Solaris 11 is a convenient juncture for evaluating whether to upgrade Solaris or consider an alternative operating system.
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The Oracle business model is based on licenses, support, and maintenance agreements. For enterprises currently utilizing Oracle SPARC hardware and the Solaris operating system, there are reasons to consider
migrating to Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Oracle’s integrated hardware and software provide the greatest benefit when running Oracle software products and the requirement is to have a single point of purchase and support. However, Oracle
customers in the past have expressed issues relating to indiscriminate cost increases and possible limitations on deployment options. There continues to be a wariness not to be locked into a single vendor and the Oracle roadmap.
With open source software, organizational enterprise retains the ability to control software licensing costs by combining commercial distributions with an affiliated non-commercial software distribution.
The selection of an operating system for an information technology infrastructure has long-term implications. The selection process must take into account not only the featureset of the current operating system, but
the ability for the operating system to enable and support business requirements. Reduced total cost of ownership, flexibility, scalability, and uncertainty regarding Oracle Corporation’s long term commitment to the SPARC
architecture and the Solaris operating system are all reasons for migrating to Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
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In order to review and print course topics, prices, and dates, invoke the Search button. |
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SYS-ED Training Service: Solaris and Oracle Development Platform
When it comes to the Solaris operating system, there is a viable alternative to the training offered by Oracle Corporation. SYS-ED’s Solaris and Oracle development platform courses
teach and explain the new and transitional featureset in multiplatform and hybrid information technology. We provide multi-platform expertise in system administration, performance design, and application development for Fortune 1000 companies, government municipalities, and healthcare providers.
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Industry Standard Curriculum
Student Course Evaluations
SYS-ED’s Solaris operating system curriculum incorporates the experience of our staff with Sun Microsystems hardware, Oracle Corporation database, UNIX- and Linux-variants, and programming languages. A component of the SYS-ED training service is to configure a prototype environment which affords a client the opportunity to review benchmarks
and assess processor migration and the costs associated with an implementation. Project specifications and client-specific exercises are incorporated into lesson plans. We refer to this premium
training service as educational consultancy.
In addition to teaching industry standard courses,
SYS-ED staff and CETi Technology Partners have been evaluating benchmarks in the public domain and migration of the Oracle database to an Intel platform and assessing Oracle Corporation's efforts to make its
existing product line work with: 1- open source Solaris, MYSQL, and Java 2- commercial WebLogic and Tangosol software 3- the longstanding Oracle product line.
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This information selectivel has been selectively incorporated into our courses and training programs.
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Specialized Training
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Security, Load Balancing, and Networking
Our exercises demonstrate and teach:
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The SYS-ED training service provides a framework for
organizations to implement operational strategies and return on
investment associated with installing Solaris 10 and 11,
database migration, and application development.
Few software or consulting firms, let alone training
companies, have the multidisciplinary expertise that SYS-ED has with
Solaris, Oracle database platform, WebSphere MQ middleware, and IBM DB2
database. If your organization has a requirement for Solaris training,
contact Oracle University and review course subject matter and
performance objectives. Then compare the quality and value of the
Solaris training that SYS-ED offers.
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New York State
Department of
Education Standards |
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Courseware for Teaching
SYS-ED’s Solaris, UNIX, and Linux
courseware is highly respected. The Computer Education
Techniques knowledge base is a service for answering questions, inclusive of the
research and validation of the accuracy of information in the public domain.
Citation of source documentation and examples are used for providing answers to
the questions. Content is selectively added to SYS-ED course hand-outs and
training aids. SYS-ED's strategy is to have our courseware reviewed by
the New York State Department of Education and serve as an alternative to
NRV: Nationally Recognized Vendor
curriculum.
Upon completion of a instructor-led course at the client
location, it is standard policy to organize subject matter for future
utilization in a web-based training infrastructure.
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Oracle Corporation Investment in Solaris and
Linux Operating Systems |
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Featureset and Oracle Strategy
Virtualization is central to the Oracle
cloud computing model and its strategy for an integrated
software environment. The CPU utilization and memory
management in the Solaris Containers can support virtualized
workloads. The Solaris operating system has been enhanced to
provide a 1- Fully virtualizable network environment for
more effective sharing of networking resources and
increasing the scope for server consolidation projects. 2-
Networking resource management capabilities which allow
organizations to meet quality of service goals. 3- Efficient
scalability as network load increases through a reduction in
latency and increased throughput.
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Open Source Linux
The independence of the Linux kernel and its
inclusion in the GNU General Public License provides flexibility and
alternative Linux-variant base operating system choices for
implementation into an existing software infrastructure. Linux can be
installed on x-86 desktop and servers, Sun Ultra Sparc, IBM Power
Systems, HP Itanium, X64 AMD Opteron-based systems, and IBM mainframe
systems, tablet PCs and smartphones. Migration to Linux typically allows
for operation with fewer CPUs and results in annual savings on software
database licenses. There are Linux-variants which can be used on the
same hardware platform as an existing UNIX base operating system. This
can be a significant advantage when managing virtualization and logical
partitioning across both UNIX and Linux operating system platforms.
Public cloud services are being developed built using Linux in conjunction with other open source software.
The Linux Foundation is a non-profit organization supported by the
leading hardware and software companies for contributing and
collaborating with the developer community to improve Linux operations
and client software services. There have been a number of
advancements in technology by hardware manufacturers - Hewlett-Packard, Dell, IBM, and Oracle, and cost-driven information technology services being marketed which use Linux deployments
- Google, Amazon, and Twitter.
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Oracle Corporation and Linux |
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| The Oracle Corporation strategy includes a commitment to Linux and open source standards. |
| 1- Ext3 File System |
| Oracle is working to ensure that the data=guarded mode is stable and that improved performance can be included in the mainline Linux kernel. |
| 2- Linux Kernel |
| Oracle is working to create improvements in block I/O for utilizing the higher disk speeds: hardware virtualized timers, guest and hypervisor debugger and bugfixes, transcendent memory,
SSL live migration, and xend locking. |
| 3- Xen APIs and Windows Paravirtualized Drivers |
| Oracle has participated in changes made to the XenAPIs and Windows Paravirtualized drivers. Xen configurations have been tested with Oracle workloads and OL kernels. |
| 4- Xen Hypervisor |
| Comprised of Xen's open source server software and an integrated web browser-based management console, the Oracle VM is free, scalable server virtualization software which supports Oracle and
non-Oracle applications. |
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| Linux Operating System |
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| Specialized Linux Training Services |
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Linux: New Code and Enhancements |
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Oracle Corporation contributes to the development of enterprise-class capabilities of Linux and contributes code to the Linux community. |
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1- Ext3 File System |
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A new mode has been proposed for Ext3, the journaled file system used by the Linux kernel. The new mode is data=guarded; it maintains all the security protections
of data=ordered mode, without requiring all the dirty data on the file system to be written during a single fsync. |
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2- AIO: Asynchronous IO Kernel Subsystem |
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The AIO: Asynchronous IO Kernel has been developed to replace the existing asynchronous I/O AIO interface in the kernel with a new AIO API. This kernel based
implementation provides a single access point allowing most system calls to become asynchronous. |
| 3- Kernel I/O Subsystem Tuning |
| The new generation of SSD: Solid State Disks has significantly increased the transfer rate. |
| 4- NFS on IPv6 |
| The NFS IPV6 code has been integrated into mainline for the Linux client; work on the server side currently is in progress. |
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Emerging Trend: Oracle Solaris to Red Hat Linux
In order to reduce costs in the datacenter, information technology management is moving to commodity x86-based servers to replace legacy RISC servers. There can be advantages in migrating from Solaris to Red Hat Enterprise Linux including a
reduction in TCO: Total Cost of Ownership and increased deployment options. Red Hat has reported that IBM has migrated 700 organizations from Solaris to Red Hat Linux.4
The emerging trends include:
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Migrating Solaris workloads to Red Hat Enterprise Linux: web server farms, web applications/portals, ERP systems, database applications, and homegrown applications.
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The SYS-ED training service provides guidelines and best practices on using the IBM Migration Factory and moving enterprises from Oracle/Sun to IBM and Linux: server assessments, discovery tools, and workload optimization.
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| Function |
Red Hat Enterprise Linux |
Solaris Operating System |
| Package Management |
RPM Package Manager: Software bundled into installable RPM packages that help automate software management. |
SVR4 packages and
IPS: Image Packaging System |
| Auto Installer |
Kickstart |
JumpStart |
| Logical Volume Manager |
LVM, LVM2, LVM2 supports snapshot capability |
SVM: Solaris Volume Manager |
| Software Updates |
Software Updater |
Solaris Update Manager |
| Software Update Management |
Red Hat Network and Red Hat Network Satellite |
Sun Connection / Oracle Enterprise xVM Operations Center for managing updates. |
| Default GUI |
GNOME |
GNOME |
| Free Software Package Repository |
EPL |
Sun Freeware and OpenSolaris Contrib pkg repository. |
| Init Scripts |
System V-style init scripts for starting, stopping, checking standalone services, etc. |
Pre Solaris 9 and Solaris legacy services. |
| General Administration Tools |
vmstat, top, iostat,
and netstat |
vmstat, top, iostat,
netstat |
| Military-grade Security |
SELinux | EAL Common Criteria Certified |
Trusted Solaris |
| Native Multipathing |
Included |
Included |
| Dynamic Tracing |
System Tap |
DTrace
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| Resource Management |
Resource Management |
Resource Manager |
| High Availability
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High Availability Add-on |
Solaris Cluster |
| File Systems |
ext2, ext3, ext4, ReiserFS, FAT, ISO 9660, UDF, NFS, support for encrypted file systems. |
The ext4 is similar to ZFS; the ext4 is scalable to unlimited sub directions with a file system size of EB. |
| Development Tools
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A recompile can be performed using GNU tools on SPARC and then moved to Linux. There may be issues with the API when moving to Linux. |
Oracle Solaris
DTrace Toolkit, GCC runtime libraries, gedit, memcached distributed
object caching framework, NetBeans |
| Networking |
IPV4 and IPV6 support |
IPV4 and IPV6 support |
| Integrated Firewall |
Netfilter |
IPFilter |
| Cluster File System |
GFS2 in Resilient Storage Add-on |
CFS: Cluster File
System in Solaris Cluster |
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Solaris and Red Hat Linux Training Programs |
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SYS-ED's
training programs utilize the full complement of delivery medium:
distance-learning, web-based,
and
technology driven classrooms. As part of conducting a training program, courseware is organized for utilization in courseware as a learning center. In order to accommodate employee workloads and staff in remote geographic locations,
component courses can be scheduled over non-consecutive weeks utilizing a combination of classroom training and distance-learning. At the client's discretion, checklist of completed tasks,
validation assessment, and a final examination can be utilized.
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Technology Exchange Websites
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Footnote 1:
SYS-ED staff and CETi Technology Partners are evaluating: 1- presentation slides distributed by Oracle Corporation Solaris Core Technology Development in 2011 regarding Solaris Express 11: strategy versus actual implementation, new features, and base code.
2- Oracle Solaris 11: Built for Cloud, An Oracle White Paper, November 2011.
Footnote 2: SYS-ED’s core UNIX and Linux curriculum have been submitted to the New York State Department of Education - Bureau of Proprietary School Supervision for technical review and licensing.
Footnote 3:
Sources Transaction Processing Performance Council, www.tpc.org and www.oracle.com/sunoraclefaster.
Footnote 4:
White Paper: Red Hat Enterprise Linux - Migrate from Solaris with Confidence.
Footnote 5:
Functional Comparison Red Hat Linux Enterprise and Solaris is based upon reviewing information available at http://searchenterpriselinux.techtarget.com.
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