During the recent State of the Penguin webinar, Wim Coekaerts, Executive Vice President of Oracle Software Development, and Robert Shimp, Senior Vice President of Oracle Software Product Strategy, discussed how cloud infrastructure is evolving and where automation, security, and innovation converge to drive design and implementation options for hybrid cloud environments. They emphasized that addressing these challenges across the infrastructure while navigating at cloud scale is critical for businesses to succeed.

This blog delves deeper into these challenges and how they can be overcome with the advanced capabilities in Oracle Linux.

Infrastructure at scale

Oracle Linux has a long-standing reputation for expanding the scalability and performance of the Linux operating system while simultaneously improving stability. The platform’s initial focus was on the Oracle Database, where the objective was to provide an unparalleled support experience for database customers. This led to the creation of Oracle Exadata. Recognized as the premier solution for running Oracle Database, Oracle Exadata is engineered to deliver high performance and scalability for mission-critical applications and databases. For more details, refer to “Why Oracle Database Runs Best on Oracle Linux.”

Oracle Linux is widely used across industries, supporting both Oracle and non-Oracle workloads on systems based on Intel/AMD (x86_64) and Arm (aarch64) architectures. With its advanced scalability and performance features, Oracle Linux provides an ideal platform for handling complex workloads with ease. In fact, it serves as the foundation for Oracle Cloud, with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure running on Oracle Linux in all cloud regions globally. By testing and tuning Oracle Linux at scale, we help ensure that our customers receive a highly optimized operating system that delivers exceptional performance and reliability. 

Oracle Linux has a large and growing partner ecosystem, simplifying integration with existing infrastructure. Its ability to support a wide range of products and services attests to its strength in handling complex workloads. Consequently, it has become a trusted platform for building robust and secure infrastructure at scale. The Hardware Compatibility List for Oracle Linux and Virtualization and the ISV Catalog provide information on certified hardware and software that support Oracle Linux.

Reducing manual processes in DevSecOps with automation

Reducing manual processes is a critical aspect of modern DevSecOps, and automation has emerged as a key enabler for achieving this goal. Oracle Linux Automation Manager, based on the open-source AWX and Ansible projects, provides a powerful solution for automating IT infrastructure, reducing manual processes, and streamlining IT operations. With its ability to help automate the deployment, configuration, and management of IT resources, Oracle Linux Automation Manager helps organizations achieve greater efficiency and agility in their operations. Read this blog post for details how to use Oracle Linux Automation Manager to help automate secure configurations across a group of machines, based on the Security Technical Implementation Guide (STIG) published by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA).

In addition, Oracle Autonomous Linux further enhances automation capabilities in Oracle Linux and is designed to eliminate manual processes and human error. This service is available in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. It automates patching, tuning, and application of security updates with Oracle Ksplice, reducing the need for manual intervention and increasing the security and reliability of IT operations.

Enhanced security with Oracle Ksplice

Oracle Ksplice offers best-in-class support for Linux issues and provides non-disruptive security patches, covering not only the Linux kernel but also hypervisors and critical Linux user space libraries. When customers apply security patches using Ksplice, applications can continue to operate without interruption, whether they are running on bare metal, virtual machine, or in a container. This service is available for customers with Oracle Linux Premier Support or Oracle Cloud Infrastructure subscriptions.

Ksplice’s Known Exploit Detection feature further enhances the security of Oracle Linux systems by laying down tripwires for select privilege escalation vulnerabilities whenever a system is patched using Ksplice. If an attacker attempts to exploit a vulnerability that has already been patched, Ksplice will immediately send an alert to administrators, allowing them to stay ahead of potential security threats and quickly respond to attempts to exploit known vulnerabilities. This feature provides added peace of mind for administrators and IT teams.

Oracle Ksplice is an essential tool for improving security and minimizing the impact of patching on IT operations. To learn more about this service, read:

We run the same Oracle Linux as our customers on-prem and in cloud

Oracle’s commitment to Oracle Linux is evident in its development and deployment. Oracle Linux has been the Linux standard at Oracle for over 16 years and is the backbone for highly demanding workloads. It is used to build Oracle’s product portfolio, including Oracle Database, MySQL, Middleware, Java, Oracle’s Engineered Systems, and Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications. 

Applications developed or supported/certified on Oracle Linux will run without modification on Oracle Engineered Systems, including Oracle Exadata, Oracle Database Appliance, and Oracle Private Cloud Appliance, as well as on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. Oracle is the only vendor that offers the same Linux it runs internally and on its public cloud to customers. Oracle Linux images are available in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, Microsoft Azure, and Amazon Web Service, making it easier for customers to run Oracle Linux in public clouds or on-premises. This consistency is essential for agility and enables organizations to develop applications once and run them virtually anywhere.

In addition to its consistency across different environments, Oracle Linux offers a number of advanced security features that are critical for organizations handling sensitive data. With built-in security features such as SELinux, secure boot, and kernel lockdown mode, Oracle Linux helps provide a secure and stable platform for organizations looking to build a reliable and robust infrastructure to develop and run their applications.

Oracle Linux is a great choice for developers

Since its debut in 2006, Oracle Linux has been completely free to use and easy to download. Oracle Linux is an excellent choice for developers due to its robust and flexible architecture, advanced security features, and compatibility with a wide range of programming languages and tools. With its built-in support for leading programming languages such as Java, Python, Ruby, and Perl, Oracle Linux offers developers the freedom to choose the tools and languages that work best for them.

Our latest work to help developers is the gprofng profiler, an addition to the GNU binutils tool suite that can profile applications written in C, C++, Java, and Scala. It is compatible with processors from Intel/AMD (x86_64) and Arm (aarch64), providing a versatile profiling tool that can be used across a range of platforms.

Once the profile information has been collected, gprofng offers various ways to display and analyze the data. It provides performance information at the function, source line, and instruction level, allowing developers to identify and optimize performance bottlenecks in their code. By analyzing the profiling data, developers can gain insight into the performance characteristics of their applications, enabling them to make informed decisions about code optimization and resource allocation.

Flexible support options and more value

Oracle offers a complete Linux-based solution stack – applications, middleware, database, management tools, operating system, virtualization, hardware, engineered systems, and cloud. With Oracle as their Linux support provider, customers can have a single point of contact for all their support needs.

Oracle Linux Support can be significantly lower in cost than competing vendors’ Linux support. Customers can decide which of their systems should be covered by a support subscription and at which level each of them should be supported. This makes Oracle Linux an ideal choice for both development and production systems.

Final thought

For those who joined the State of the Penguin webinar and have read this post, thank you for your time and interest. If you weren’t able to join the live event, you can listen to the replay for Wim Coekaerts’ and Robert Shimp’s perspectives. Building on this event, we encourage you to register for these upcoming Oracle Linux live webinars:

  • March 29, 2023 – How to increase security and simplify application deployments with KVM
  • April 26, 2023 – Automate your IT operations and boost productivity

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