... h2. Session Title: What Makes OpenSolaris Interesting or Why OpenSolaris? or What's So Cool About OpenSolaris Anyhow?
*Problem Statement:* Why should I consider OpenSolaris?
*Audience(s):* All
*Author:* Roman Strobl / Brian Leonard
h2. [Slides|http://wikis.sun.com/pages/viewpageattachments.action?pageId=48105451]
Presentation slides are [here|http://wikis.sun.com/pages/viewpageattachments.action?pageId=48105451]. A slimmed down version of the slides is available as WhatMakesOpenSolarisInterestingSession-POA [here|http://wikis.sun.com/pages/viewpageattachments.action?pageId=48105451] \- Gregg Sporar delivered it in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
h3. Demo scripts
* [Desktop|CompizDemo]
* [ZFS Basics|ZFSBasicsDemo]
* [Time Slider|ZFSTimeSlider]
* [DTrace Basics|DTraceBasicsDemo] or [DTrace/Chime Basics|DTraceChimeBasicsDemo]
* [Introduction to SMF|SMFIntroDemo]
* [Introduction to IPS|IPSIntroDemo] or [Package Manager|IPSGUIDemo]
* [Introduction to Sun Studio|SunStudioIntroDemo]
h3. Description
This presentation introduces the key features of OpenSolaris that make it an attractive choice. These include the ZFS file system, the dynamic tracing tool DTrace, it's Role Based Access Controls and the Service Management Facility. By combining these leading edge features with the familiarity of the GNOME Desktop and the GNU tools, you can see why it's an operating system worth considering.
h3. Long abstract
There is a new OpenSolaris distribution created by Sun Microsystems that is available as a Live CD. Unlike previous releases of the Solaris operating system, it can be installed on a majority of x86 desktop/laptop computers.
OpenSolaris 2008.11 is the first operating system that uses ZFS (Zettabyte File System) as its root file system. ZFS, with its essentially unlimited storage capacity, greatly simplifies data management.
OpenSolaris also includes the enterprise features from Solaris, including its observability and performance tuning tools. DTrace is available to give operational insights that allow users to tune and troubleshoot applications and the OS itself, and can be used safely in production environments. The Service Management Facility (SMF) is a better way to manage and monitor your system services.
The GNOME desktop combined with popular GNU tools help make OpenSolaris more familiar to Linux users than any previous Solaris release, making it easier to move to OpenSolaris.
IPS, a new network-based packaging system which which makes it easier to get up-to-date software, will be explained in detail.
The whole session is demo-driven: you will see demos of working with ZFS, using DTrace to monitor applications, SMF to manage your system services and IPS to install software. A brief discussion of upcoming OpenSolaris releases will be included.
h3. Short abstract
There is a new OpenSolaris distribution created by Sun Microsystems that is available as a Live CD. Unlike previous releases of the Solaris operating system, it can be installed on a majority of x86 desktop/laptop computers. It's the first operating system that uses ZFS (Zettabyte File System) by default, which has advanced data management features. OpenSolaris provides many of the enterprise features from Solaris, including observability and performance tuning tools. OpenSolaris is more familiar to Linux users than any previous Solaris release, many changes have been made to make it easier to move to OpenSolaris. A new network-based packaging system called IPS is available which makes it easier to get up-to-date software.
The whole session is demo-driven: you'll see demos of working with ZFS, using DTrace for monitoring applications, introduction to the Service Management Facility (SMF), overview of IPS packaging and a quick demo of developer tools. A brief discussion of upcoming OpenSolaris releases will be included.
\--\-
Operating Systems are naturally sticky - so why should one invest the time to consider another? This presentation demonstrates features of OpenSolaris that make worth considering, such as:
* Zetabyte File System
* DTrace
* Service Managment Facility
* Role Based Access Control
* Network Virtualization (project Crossbow)
Yet OpenSolaris' GNOME user interface and GNU tool set will make you feel right at home.
\--\-
Operating Systems are naturally sticky - so why should one invest the time to evaluate another? Consider these issues:
* Your file system is out of space - how easy is it to add more capacity? |
... The presentation addresses the features in OpenSolaris that help solve these (and other) problems. Specifically we will look at the Zettabyte File System, DTrace, the Service Management Facility, Crossbow and RBAC using demonstrations where possible.
h3. Speaker bio
Brian Leonard is a Technology Evangelist for Sun Microsystems. Brian has over 18 years of software development experience evolving from the terminal, to the desktop, to the web (and back to the desktop).
In his current role, Brian works to create and foster the community around OpenSolaris, the open source distribution of Solaris from Sun Microsystems. Brian has spent the majority of his career working as a Java application developer and deployer, and he now gets to showcase why features like ZFS and DTrace make OpenSolaris the ideal operating system for these roles. You can follow Brian's exploits with OpenSolaris on his blog [The Observatory|http://blogs.sun.com/observatory]. |