Solaris Express B28 is out!

So I plunged into the world of Solaris Express again and upgraded to Build 28. You should use the CD images since the DVD images have issues with being bootable. This build includes ZFS and lots of driver updates and hardware support. I found that in order to get JET to support Solaris Nevada (a.k.a. Solaris 11), I had to update the /opt/SUNWjet/Utils/solaris/releaseinfo file by adding 5.11 to it. Other than that, it was a breeze to jumpstart. I decide that I would allocate ~20GB's on my drives for ZFS. So far, I'm very happy with ZFS. It's wonderful to be able to use 20GB's of storage for multiple purposes and not having to impose arcane limitations which increase inefficiencies where storage is concerned. There are also some new Zone features for ZFS that I'll have to explore as I get everything reinstalled on my machines. I'll do a little article on how I setup ZFS and how it is going. I'll also do a little article on how I setup Zones.

My only complaint soo far is the GAIM is completely messed up. Everything else seems to be working pretty well, but for some reason GAIM is confused about its directory structure. So no IM for me until I figure out a way around this.

Now I have to figure out if I can get the Directory Server to install on B28 and work:)

JET 4.1 is out!

For those who have not looked at the JET download page, now is a good time. Version 4.1 is out and it has many new features in the modules department:

• VxVM
• VxVM4
• VxFS
• EISCD
• SC3
• JASS
• Zones

It is very nice to see these modules finally released to the public. I have seen the other non-public modules for JET, and can only hope that they get released as well. I've already upgraded to 4.1 and have started to look at the Zones and Jass modules. I'll get the long promised JET articles out and then work on examples for these two modules.

Tons of news from Sun..

Well as everyone should know by now, the new Naigara T1 systems are out, Solaris 10 Update 1 is available, and the Solaris Enterprise System is shaping up.

Definitely take a look at the new T2000 server. This server has a lot of great features what will allow web and app servers to be consolidated heavily. With Solaris 10, you'll able to use zones and resource management to fully utilize the abilities of the 2U T2000.

As for Solaris 10 Update 1, I highly recommend upgrading or reflashing your systems with it. After beta testing it, I have to say that there are many bug fixes (Zones, package/patch management, etc.) that it's worth the trouble to wipe the slate clean. There are still issues with the Update Manager and Zones, so be careful. For the x86 crowd, there are a lot of big improvements, GRUB, driver support, X11, etc. It's even easier to install on a PC now. Speaking of which, I'll soon be recieving the laptop from my last job, so I'll be able to keep up with the x86 version of Solaris 10.

Now for the really big news, Sun is including the Java Enterprise System, Sun Studio, N1 System Manager, N1 Service Provisioning Server, N1 Grid Engine, Sun Ray Server Software, etc. with Solaris 10 as part of the SES for free. You only have to pay for support now;) I think this is a good model for Sun because the biggest hurdle for companies, sysadmins, and developers alike is the ability test out software on their own terms.