System News for Sun Users - The Blog

Zone and Crossbow Deliver a Higher Level of Security

Chrooting, a technique commonly used with MySQL at the file system level, is typically achieved by creating a separated and minimal operating system disk-image to improve system and application security by providing them with a higher degree of isolation. Thierry Manfe has written a how-to that goes a step farther, utilizing the zone and Crossbow virtualization technologies that come with OpenSolaris to get to the next level in terms of isolation.

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Configuring a Development Environment to Practice OpenSolaris, Solaris Cluster Technologies

Learn how to set up a single x86-based system with OpenSolaris, configuring a training and development environment for Solaris 10/Solaris Cluster 3.2 and using VirtualBox to set up a two node cluster. These instructions can be found in the white paper “Practicing Solaris Cluster using VirtualBox” by Thorsten Frueauf. The presented configuration can be used to practice using various technologies such as Crossbow, COMSTAR, ZFS, IPsec, software quorum, and zone clusters.

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Three-part Tutorial on OpenSolaris and Zones in AWS

Sean O’Dell has written a three-part tutorial on setting up Solaris Zones within an instance of OpenSolaris 2009.06 in the Amazon Cloud EC2 by utilizing the virtual networking features provided by Crossbow. His step-by-step guide explains how to get the environment up and running, and how to use Crossbow with NAT to build a complete virtual network connecting multiple Zones within a Solaris EC2 host. He also describes how to backup zones and save a fully configured environment and then clone it.

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Virtualization with Crossbow Network Gives Admins Improved Flexibility

“One of the most compelling features in OpenSolaris 2009.06″ is the Crossbow network virtualization system, which allows OpenSolaris administrators to provide individual network services or virtual machines with their own virtualized network adapter and stack, writes Jason Brooks in his eWeek review.

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White Paper from Open HA Cluster Summit 2009

“Open HA Cluster on OpenSolaris,” a white paper by Thorsten Frueauf, technical lead of Sun’s Project Colorado, was originally presented at the Open HA Cluster Summit 2009, where the author explained how to set up a system with OpenSolaris, serving as a host for at least two VirtualBox OpenSolaris guests, and shows how to setup a two node Open HA Cluster with them by using technologies like Crossbow and COMSTAR.

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Short Items of Interest to Solaris Users

• Updated Book of Less Known Solaris Features
• Bandwidth Limiting and Flow Accounting with Crossbow
• End-of-Software Support Statements
• I/O Analysis using DTrace
• More on Solaris 9 End of Life
• Solaris 10 Upgrade Resources
• Freeware Covered by Solaris Support Contract
• UltraSPARC with Solaris 10 Supports Platform Specific Routine
• Latest x86 Installation Check Tool

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Run Solaris 10 Environments on Top of OpenSolaris Kernel

Solaris 10 Containers on OpenSolaris allows system administrators to adopt technologies found in the OpenSolaris kernel by maintaining Solaris 10 Operating System environments on top of the OpenSolaris kernel. Technologies like Crossbow networking and ZFS enhancements are now available as long as the Solaris 10 environment meets the standard Solaris Zone requirements.

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Short News Items of Interest for SysAdmins

• Google App Engine for Java
• Windows XP on Sun Netra X4200
• Monitoring SNMP Traps on T2/T2plus Systems
• Crossbow and VNICs in Non-global Solaris Zone
• ZFS with Non-JBOD or “Smart” Storage
• Install Solaris 9 OS From a Flash Archive Dynamically
• Using OpenSSL to Create SSL Certificates
• Solaris Patch Presentation

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Blogger Argues for Open Networking

Providing compute, bandwidth and storage on demand is among the first priorities Sunay Tripathi argues for in his recent blog, “Crossbow: Virtualized Switching and Performance.” There he also argues for a move to open standards, open technology and off-the-shelf hardware as a means to realizing his aim. “The cloud needs to be built in such a manner that a user can take his physical network and migrate it to an operator’s cloud and at the same time have the ability to build their own clouds and migrate stuff between the two,” he writes.

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Short Items of Interest to the OpenSolaris Community

• Mounting an S3 Bucket as a Filesystem on OpenSolaris
• GUI on OpenSolaris EC2 Instance
• Run a Carrier Grade Web Content Management System Freely and Easily
• Flash Player 10 for OpenSolaris
• Skype on Solaris
• The Virtualization Aspects of Project Crossbow

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