Red Hat, Inc. has announced the general availability of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.3, which introduces new capabilities around Linux containers and the Internet of Things (IoT).
The company says Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.3 also features lightweight tunnels, enabling guest instances of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.3 to be more secure, efficient, scalable and flexible. Additionally, enhancements to the bulk packet memory allocator improve performance for both 40 and 100 Gb networking interfaces.
Meanwhile, high-transaction applications like databases, event processing, and virtual machines need improved input-output (IO) rates and lower latencies to help enterprises realize their benefits. New hardware technologies like non-volatile memory address these concerns, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.3 expands support for high speed, low latency non-volatile memory devices.
In addition, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.3 makes performance-sensitive Parallel NFS (pNFS) clusters easier to manage with support for the Block SCSI layout format and the Flex Files layout format.
For security, the latest version of the OS features a consistent compliance checking mechanism across containerized and traditional non-container workloads for better overall operations efficiency. This is provided through enhancements to OpenSCAP, an open source implementation of the Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP), which provides a standardized compliance checking solution for enterprise-level Linux infrastructure. Configuring SCAP-based policies with the OpenSCAP Workbench graphical user interface is now easier, as well.
Meanwhile, improvements to Red Hat’s Identity Management solution, provides better performance for large installations, support for smart card authentication with Active Directory, and support for configurable authentication strength across individual hosts and services.
Linux Containers
Linux containers provide a compelling mechanism to help enterprises scale to new levels of operational efficiency. They provide an innovative packaging and management format that can speed application development and drive more flexibility in managing life cycles based on the application.
The combined characteristics of containers increase both application portability and infrastructure flexibility and allow organizations to more clearly delineate the roles of developers and IT administrators. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.3 bolsters support for Linux containers via numerous incremental improvements in addition to enhanced management tools (Atomic CLI / Cockpit) and an updated container runtime (docker engine). It also includes a new container signing capability as a Technology Preview.
IoT
Industrial IoT implementations consist of vast connected networks of “smart” edge devices feeding information in real-time to centralized datacenters, allowing for improved operational efficiency and reduced operating costs. These implementations need to be backed up by a solid, enterprise-grade operating system.
For enterprise-scale IoT, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.3 introduces two key features: support for communication with Bluetooth LE (Low Energy) devices - an extension of the Bluetooth standard, Bluetooth LE is specifically designed for low energy devices like IoT sensors; and kernel support for the Controller Area Network bus (CANbus) protocol - CANbus is a controller area network used in automobiles and high-end industrial controllers.