Nexenta OS
Encyclopedia
Nexenta OS, officially known as the Nexenta Core Platform, is a computer operating system
based on OpenSolaris
and Ubuntu
that runs on IA-32
- and x86-64
-based systems. It emerged in fall 2005, after Sun Microsystems
started the OpenSolaris
project in June of that year. Version 1.0 was released in February 2008. Nexenta Core Platform is the first operating system to combine the OpenSolaris kernel with GNU
userland tools. It aims to bring technologies such as ZFS
and Zones
to the GNU
/Debian
community. An additional purpose of the OS is to provide a kernel allowing proprietary closed source hardware drivers to be produced for inclusion in an open source
operating system. Nexenta Systems, Inc. initiated the project and sponsors its continued development.
repositories: "testing" and "unstable", totalling over 9000 packages. A third "stable" was added for the first official release. Nexenta OS is available as InstallCD and VMware
images. A Live CD
is also available, but only for releases up to alpha 5.
Nexenta repositories follow the general Debian structure (main contrib non-free). Stable releases use a subset of this structure. Packages originate from Debian GNU/Linux.
, and Sun
only recently began releasing the code of their Solaris operating system as free
and open source software, it supports less diverse hardware than other Debian
variants.
The Nexenta OS team has decided to focus on a minimal GNU/OpenSolaris effort called the Nexenta Core Platform (NCP) which forms the basis of the NexentaStor
NAS storage solution.
Version 1.0 of Nexenta Core Platform was released on February 10, 2008.
, iSCSI
, and Fibre Channel
applications, and is built around the ZFS
file system. It features iSCSI
support, unlimited incremental backups or 'snapshots', snapshot mirroring (replication), block level mirroring (CDP
), integrated search within ZFS snapshots and a custom API. Through its focus on ZFS, it carries with it potential benefits for virtualized server farms in terms of performance and thin provisioning
. The operating system is currently distributed as ISO
and VMware
disk image
s with pricing determined on a per-terabyte and per-server licensing basis.
A "community edition" is available free of charge for users with less than 18 terabyte of used disk space. It is the same as the enterprise version, except for the lack of paid plugins and commercial support. It can install many of the free and open source plugins that are developed and hosted on the community edition website.
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
based on OpenSolaris
OpenSolaris
OpenSolaris was an open source computer operating system based on Solaris created by Sun Microsystems. It was also the name of the project initiated by Sun to build a developer and user community around the software...
and Ubuntu
Ubuntu (operating system)
Ubuntu is a computer operating system based on the Debian Linux distribution and distributed as free and open source software. It is named after the Southern African philosophy of Ubuntu...
that runs on IA-32
IA-32
IA-32 , also known as x86-32, i386 or x86, is the CISC instruction-set architecture of Intel's most commercially successful microprocessors, and was first implemented in the Intel 80386 as a 32-bit extension of x86 architecture...
- and x86-64
X86-64
x86-64 is an extension of the x86 instruction set. It supports vastly larger virtual and physical address spaces than are possible on x86, thereby allowing programmers to conveniently work with much larger data sets. x86-64 also provides 64-bit general purpose registers and numerous other...
-based systems. It emerged in fall 2005, after Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
started the OpenSolaris
OpenSolaris
OpenSolaris was an open source computer operating system based on Solaris created by Sun Microsystems. It was also the name of the project initiated by Sun to build a developer and user community around the software...
project in June of that year. Version 1.0 was released in February 2008. Nexenta Core Platform is the first operating system to combine the OpenSolaris kernel with GNU
GNU
GNU is a Unix-like computer operating system developed by the GNU project, ultimately aiming to be a "complete Unix-compatible software system"...
userland tools. It aims to bring technologies such as ZFS
ZFS
In computing, ZFS is a combined file system and logical volume manager designed by Sun Microsystems. The features of ZFS include data integrity verification against data corruption modes , support for high storage capacities, integration of the concepts of filesystem and volume management,...
and Zones
Solaris Containers
Solaris Containers is an implementation of operating system-level virtualization technology for x86 and SPARC systems, first released publicly in February 2004 in build 51 beta of Solaris 10, and subsequently in the first full release of Solaris 10, 2005.It is present in newer OpenSolaris based...
to the GNU
GNU
GNU is a Unix-like computer operating system developed by the GNU project, ultimately aiming to be a "complete Unix-compatible software system"...
/Debian
Debian
Debian is a computer operating system composed of software packages released as free and open source software primarily under the GNU General Public License along with other free software licenses. Debian GNU/Linux, which includes the GNU OS tools and Linux kernel, is a popular and influential...
community. An additional purpose of the OS is to provide a kernel allowing proprietary closed source hardware drivers to be produced for inclusion in an open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
operating system. Nexenta Systems, Inc. initiated the project and sponsors its continued development.
Repositories
There were initially two official APTAdvanced Packaging Tool
The Advanced Packaging Tool, or APT, is a free user interface that works with core libraries to handle the installation and removal of software on the Debian GNU/Linux distribution and its variants...
repositories: "testing" and "unstable", totalling over 9000 packages. A third "stable" was added for the first official release. Nexenta OS is available as InstallCD and VMware
VMware
VMware, Inc. is a company providing virtualization software founded in 1998 and based in Palo Alto, California, USA. The company was acquired by EMC Corporation in 2004, and operates as a separate software subsidiary ....
images. A Live CD
Live CD
A live CD, live DVD, or live disc is a CD or DVD containing a bootable computer operating system. Live CDs are unique in that they have the ability to run a complete, modern operating system on a computer lacking mutable secondary storage, such as a hard disk drive...
is also available, but only for releases up to alpha 5.
Nexenta repositories follow the general Debian structure (main contrib non-free). Stable releases use a subset of this structure. Packages originate from Debian GNU/Linux.
Development
Since Nexenta OS does not use the Linux kernelLinux kernel
The Linux kernel is an operating system kernel used by the Linux family of Unix-like operating systems. It is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software....
, and Sun
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
only recently began releasing the code of their Solaris operating system as free
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
and open source software, it supports less diverse hardware than other Debian
Debian
Debian is a computer operating system composed of software packages released as free and open source software primarily under the GNU General Public License along with other free software licenses. Debian GNU/Linux, which includes the GNU OS tools and Linux kernel, is a popular and influential...
variants.
The Nexenta OS team has decided to focus on a minimal GNU/OpenSolaris effort called the Nexenta Core Platform (NCP) which forms the basis of the NexentaStor
NexentaStor
NexentaStor is a proprietary derivative operating system built by the developers of the open-source Nexenta OpenSolaris-distribution that has been optimized for use virtualized server environments NAS and iSCSI and Fibre Channel applications built around the ZFS file system...
NAS storage solution.
Version 1.0 of Nexenta Core Platform was released on February 10, 2008.
Releases
- Nexenta Core Platform 1.0 was released on February 10, 2008. It was based on Ubuntu 6.06 "Dapper Drake" and OpenSolaris b82. The release included:
- ZFSZFSIn computing, ZFS is a combined file system and logical volume manager designed by Sun Microsystems. The features of ZFS include data integrity verification against data corruption modes , support for high storage capacities, integration of the concepts of filesystem and volume management,...
root/boot - zonesSolaris ContainersSolaris Containers is an implementation of operating system-level virtualization technology for x86 and SPARC systems, first released publicly in February 2004 in build 51 beta of Solaris 10, and subsequently in the first full release of Solaris 10, 2005.It is present in newer OpenSolaris based...
integrated with dpkgDpkgdpkg is the software at the base of the Debian package management system. dpkg is used to install, remove, and provide information about .deb packages....
/apt-get - brandz with preconfigured support for DebianDebianDebian is a computer operating system composed of software packages released as free and open source software primarily under the GNU General Public License along with other free software licenses. Debian GNU/Linux, which includes the GNU OS tools and Linux kernel, is a popular and influential...
and UbuntuUbuntu (operating system)Ubuntu is a computer operating system based on the Debian Linux distribution and distributed as free and open source software. It is named after the Southern African philosophy of Ubuntu... - stable toolchain
- server/storage software support
- XenXenXen is a virtual-machine monitor providing services that allow multiple computer operating systems to execute on the same computer hardware concurrently....
DomU/Dom0
- ZFS
- Nexenta Core Platform 2.0 was released on May 25, 2009. It included packages based on Ubuntu 8.04 "Hardy Heron" LTS.
- Nexenta Core Platform 3.0.1 was released on September 17, 2010. The release included many updated packages, support for ZFS deduplication, and Crossbow support, among other fixes.
NexentaStor
NexentaStor is a proprietary operating system built by Nexenta Systems on top of the Nexenta Core Platform. It is optimized for use in virtualized server environments including NASNetwork-attached storage
Network-attached storage is file-level computer data storage connected to a computer network providing data access to heterogeneous clients. NAS not only operates as a file server, but is specialized for this task either by its hardware, software, or configuration of those elements...
, iSCSI
ISCSI
In computing, iSCSI , is an abbreviation of Internet Small Computer System Interface, an Internet Protocol -based storage networking standard for linking data storage facilities. By carrying SCSI commands over IP networks, iSCSI is used to facilitate data transfers over intranets and to manage...
, and Fibre Channel
Fibre Channel
Fibre Channel, or FC, is a gigabit-speed network technology primarily used for storage networking. Fibre Channel is standardized in the T11 Technical Committee of the InterNational Committee for Information Technology Standards , an American National Standards Institute –accredited standards...
applications, and is built around the ZFS
ZFS
In computing, ZFS is a combined file system and logical volume manager designed by Sun Microsystems. The features of ZFS include data integrity verification against data corruption modes , support for high storage capacities, integration of the concepts of filesystem and volume management,...
file system. It features iSCSI
ISCSI
In computing, iSCSI , is an abbreviation of Internet Small Computer System Interface, an Internet Protocol -based storage networking standard for linking data storage facilities. By carrying SCSI commands over IP networks, iSCSI is used to facilitate data transfers over intranets and to manage...
support, unlimited incremental backups or 'snapshots', snapshot mirroring (replication), block level mirroring (CDP
Continuous data protection
Continuous data protection , also called continuous backup or real-time backup, refers to backup of computer data by automatically saving a copy of every change made to that data, essentially capturing every version of the data that the user saves...
), integrated search within ZFS snapshots and a custom API. Through its focus on ZFS, it carries with it potential benefits for virtualized server farms in terms of performance and thin provisioning
Thin Provisioning
Thin provisioning is the act of using virtualization technology to give the appearance of more physical resource than is actually available. If you always have enough resource to simultaneously support all of the virtualized resources then you are not thin provisioned...
. The operating system is currently distributed as ISO
ISO 9660
ISO 9660, also referred to as CDFS by some hardware and software providers, is a file system standard published by the International Organization for Standardization for optical disc media....
and VMware
VMware
VMware, Inc. is a company providing virtualization software founded in 1998 and based in Palo Alto, California, USA. The company was acquired by EMC Corporation in 2004, and operates as a separate software subsidiary ....
disk image
Disk image
A disk image is a single file or storage device containing the complete contents and structure representing a data storage medium or device, such as a hard drive, tape drive, floppy disk, CD/DVD/BD, or USB flash drive, although an image of an optical disc may be referred to as an optical disc image...
s with pricing determined on a per-terabyte and per-server licensing basis.
A "community edition" is available free of charge for users with less than 18 terabyte of used disk space. It is the same as the enterprise version, except for the lack of paid plugins and commercial support. It can install many of the free and open source plugins that are developed and hosted on the community edition website.
External links
- Official Corporate Site
- Community Edition and Open Source plugins
- Nexenta OS website
- Nexenta Planet and blogs
- Nexenta Developers chat room
- Announcement on the Ubuntu development list
- Nexenta Issues Tracking
- OpenSolaris for Human Beings (pdf) 02 Mar 2007
- Challenges and Future Plans for Nexenta (pdf) 06 Oct 2007
- Joe Little's blog on the use of Nexenta at Stanford
- (OSnews) Nexenta: Ubuntu Server with ZFS Goodness
- (OSnews) Devzone virtualization on Nexenta explained
- StormOS Nexenta Core distribution
- napp-it Web-UI + Online Installer to setup a free NAS appliance on NexentaCore with AFP, mySQL and other services and tools