PeterNic
06-16-2008, 07:14 PM
We are pleased to announce that we have released AppLogic(tm) 2.3.8 for beta.
Overview of the 2.3 release
The AppLogic 2.3 beta program provides early access to key new features in AppLogic including:
support for 64-bit appliances, OpenSolaris, Solaris 10 and the ZFS file system
improved web user interface and workflow, including an active dashboard, design rule checks and design annotations
the first appliance in our disaster recovery suite, a replicated MySQL database server
many new additions to the appliance catalog, including the clustered database server, new dynamic appliances and more VPSes
the release is backward compatible with all 2.1installations, appliances and applications.
Discussion of AppLogic 2.3 features
The main new capability in AppLogic 2.3 is almost invisible -- a subtle architecture change in AppLogic that allows us to easily add support for new guest operating systems in appliances. With this change, 3tera makes the first step in the AppLogic grid OS toward the recently announced Cloudware architecture for open cloud computing. The new release immediately adds support for OpenSolaris and Solaris 10, with more OSes coming down the pipeline.
The following is a list of the more notable changes in this release for those familiar with AppLogic 2.1.
Core System
support for 64-bit appliances: you can now mix and match 32-bit and 64-bit appliances in applications (note: the 2.3 release supersedes AppLogic 2.2.2 beta)
support for Sun Microsystems OpenSolaris and Solaris 10
improved hardware device support for newer server chipsets
automatically checks whether enough resources are available to recover from server failure (displays HA status on the dashboard). Note that this doesn't mean HA will always succeed, it just means that there are enough resources for it
faster application start times
improved virtualization
Storage Volumes
new volume browser and root-level shell access to volumes (replaces volume mount and remote scp/sftp access)
volume file system check/repair from the grid shell
support for Sun's UFS and ZFS file systems
support for ext3 file system with snapshot capability (used in MYSQLR and also available for custom appliances and VPSes)
User Interface
new Application List dashboard screen
- see application's state and resource usage in the list
- start and stop applications directly from the dashboard (without using the grid shell)
- access the application's designated shell directly from the dashboard (e.g., log into VPS or control panel)
editor improvements for self-documented application designs
- place design annotations on the canvas (text and color annotations)
- add free-form design notes to appliance instances and applications
- configure and use documentation links for appliance classes and applications
access to the appliance and application ADL descriptors
automatic check for design rules (mandatory properties and connections), flags appliances that are incomplete
more formal grid IP address range assignment (precursor to IP address range enforcement in a subsequent release)
link for customer feedback on the support page
Application Model
new Appliance Kit allows for easier creation of appliances, provides finer control inside appliances and improved start time
automatic mount of volumes into the appliance file system hierarchy and optional automatic assignment of volume device names
appliances can now define consoles and management interfaces, accessible from the editor (e.g., for VPSes and appliances with their own web GUI, like Oracle)
applications can now designate a "management" appliance that provides console and management UI for the application as a whole
application and appliance ADL descriptors are available for interactive and programmatic inspection and modifications
Catalogs
support for locked appliances allows partners and other 3rd parties to publish appliances that cannot be copied, branched or migrated
new dynamic appliances catalog, including:
- an SLA controller appliances for self-scaling apps based on load
- a backup appliance that backs up an application to external storage
- a migration appliance that provides a single-button migration of applications between multiple datacenters
new application stack appliances
- a MySQL cluster server with replication, supporting master-master, multi-master, master-slave and remote replication/DR
- a 64-bit MySQL database server appliance
- a 64-bit apache-based web server appliance
- a simple load generator appliance for web applications
new base appliances and VPS
- OpenSolaris VPS and base appliance (Solaris 10 is not distributed due to licensing restrictions but can be installed by grid maintainers)
- CentOS 5 64-bit VPS, as well as a small and a large 64-bit CentOS base appliance
- CentOS 5.1 32-bit VPS
improved INSSL gateway appliance for easier integration in Ruby-on-rails applications (changed SSL html header)
all appliances and applications now have a convenient link for quick access to their documentation directly from the editor and dashboard
For a detailed list of the changes and improvements, including bugfixes and updated hardware compatibility list, please see the release notes at: http://doc.3tera.com/AppLogic23/ReleaseNotes-2-3-8.html
Many of the improvements were suggested by our customers -- please accept our gratitude for your feedback (and patience)!
FAQ
What OS does AppLogic support? AppLogic 2.3 supports all Linux distributions based on the 2.6 kernel (a sampling is available at http://support.3tera.net/showthread.php?t=124), as well as OpenSolaris (Indiana and Nevada) and Solaris 10. 3Tera provides some of these distributions in ready-made appliances; our customers can create their own appliances based on their favorite distribution.
When is the production-level release of AppLogic 2.3 coming? The exact date of the production release will be based on the results of the beta, but we expect the production version of AppLogic within the next 2-3 months. The actual date will depend on how many customers join the beta program and how extensively it is used -- so please join!
When is Windows support coming? Windows now runs on AppLogic in our lab, and we are working on productizing it. As we get more detailed testing completed we'll be able to announce an expected release date.
When is <my favorite feature> coming? We're currently working on the feature set for the next couple of releases. As more information is available, we will post it here on the forums.
How do I get AppLogic? You can get AppLogic in a variety of ways, including a hosted virtual private datacenter and/or a direct license to run in your own datacenter. See http://www.3tera.com/Get-A-Grid/. You can also get various services based on AppLogic grids, made available by our partners: see http://www.3tera.com/Partners/
Available now
AppLogic 2.3 beta virtual private datacenters are available now from our hosting partners and directly from 3Tera; the release image is available for download to our direct licensees (hosting partners and enterprise customers).
Note: AppLogic 2.3 is a beta release. We do not recommend using it for production applications. If you are already running a production application on AppLogic 2.1 and want to try out the 2.3 beta, we recommend using a separate small grid (e.g., a developer grid with a single server and no HA).
Documentation: http://doc.3tera.com/AppLogic23/
Release notes: http://doc.3tera.com/AppLogic23/ReleaseNotes-2-3-8.html
(Partners and enterprise licensees, please use the partner wiki for service providers information).
Have fun!
On behalf of the 3Tera team,
-- Peter
Overview of the 2.3 release
The AppLogic 2.3 beta program provides early access to key new features in AppLogic including:
support for 64-bit appliances, OpenSolaris, Solaris 10 and the ZFS file system
improved web user interface and workflow, including an active dashboard, design rule checks and design annotations
the first appliance in our disaster recovery suite, a replicated MySQL database server
many new additions to the appliance catalog, including the clustered database server, new dynamic appliances and more VPSes
the release is backward compatible with all 2.1installations, appliances and applications.
Discussion of AppLogic 2.3 features
The main new capability in AppLogic 2.3 is almost invisible -- a subtle architecture change in AppLogic that allows us to easily add support for new guest operating systems in appliances. With this change, 3tera makes the first step in the AppLogic grid OS toward the recently announced Cloudware architecture for open cloud computing. The new release immediately adds support for OpenSolaris and Solaris 10, with more OSes coming down the pipeline.
The following is a list of the more notable changes in this release for those familiar with AppLogic 2.1.
Core System
support for 64-bit appliances: you can now mix and match 32-bit and 64-bit appliances in applications (note: the 2.3 release supersedes AppLogic 2.2.2 beta)
support for Sun Microsystems OpenSolaris and Solaris 10
improved hardware device support for newer server chipsets
automatically checks whether enough resources are available to recover from server failure (displays HA status on the dashboard). Note that this doesn't mean HA will always succeed, it just means that there are enough resources for it
faster application start times
improved virtualization
Storage Volumes
new volume browser and root-level shell access to volumes (replaces volume mount and remote scp/sftp access)
volume file system check/repair from the grid shell
support for Sun's UFS and ZFS file systems
support for ext3 file system with snapshot capability (used in MYSQLR and also available for custom appliances and VPSes)
User Interface
new Application List dashboard screen
- see application's state and resource usage in the list
- start and stop applications directly from the dashboard (without using the grid shell)
- access the application's designated shell directly from the dashboard (e.g., log into VPS or control panel)
editor improvements for self-documented application designs
- place design annotations on the canvas (text and color annotations)
- add free-form design notes to appliance instances and applications
- configure and use documentation links for appliance classes and applications
access to the appliance and application ADL descriptors
automatic check for design rules (mandatory properties and connections), flags appliances that are incomplete
more formal grid IP address range assignment (precursor to IP address range enforcement in a subsequent release)
link for customer feedback on the support page
Application Model
new Appliance Kit allows for easier creation of appliances, provides finer control inside appliances and improved start time
automatic mount of volumes into the appliance file system hierarchy and optional automatic assignment of volume device names
appliances can now define consoles and management interfaces, accessible from the editor (e.g., for VPSes and appliances with their own web GUI, like Oracle)
applications can now designate a "management" appliance that provides console and management UI for the application as a whole
application and appliance ADL descriptors are available for interactive and programmatic inspection and modifications
Catalogs
support for locked appliances allows partners and other 3rd parties to publish appliances that cannot be copied, branched or migrated
new dynamic appliances catalog, including:
- an SLA controller appliances for self-scaling apps based on load
- a backup appliance that backs up an application to external storage
- a migration appliance that provides a single-button migration of applications between multiple datacenters
new application stack appliances
- a MySQL cluster server with replication, supporting master-master, multi-master, master-slave and remote replication/DR
- a 64-bit MySQL database server appliance
- a 64-bit apache-based web server appliance
- a simple load generator appliance for web applications
new base appliances and VPS
- OpenSolaris VPS and base appliance (Solaris 10 is not distributed due to licensing restrictions but can be installed by grid maintainers)
- CentOS 5 64-bit VPS, as well as a small and a large 64-bit CentOS base appliance
- CentOS 5.1 32-bit VPS
improved INSSL gateway appliance for easier integration in Ruby-on-rails applications (changed SSL html header)
all appliances and applications now have a convenient link for quick access to their documentation directly from the editor and dashboard
For a detailed list of the changes and improvements, including bugfixes and updated hardware compatibility list, please see the release notes at: http://doc.3tera.com/AppLogic23/ReleaseNotes-2-3-8.html
Many of the improvements were suggested by our customers -- please accept our gratitude for your feedback (and patience)!
FAQ
What OS does AppLogic support? AppLogic 2.3 supports all Linux distributions based on the 2.6 kernel (a sampling is available at http://support.3tera.net/showthread.php?t=124), as well as OpenSolaris (Indiana and Nevada) and Solaris 10. 3Tera provides some of these distributions in ready-made appliances; our customers can create their own appliances based on their favorite distribution.
When is the production-level release of AppLogic 2.3 coming? The exact date of the production release will be based on the results of the beta, but we expect the production version of AppLogic within the next 2-3 months. The actual date will depend on how many customers join the beta program and how extensively it is used -- so please join!
When is Windows support coming? Windows now runs on AppLogic in our lab, and we are working on productizing it. As we get more detailed testing completed we'll be able to announce an expected release date.
When is <my favorite feature> coming? We're currently working on the feature set for the next couple of releases. As more information is available, we will post it here on the forums.
How do I get AppLogic? You can get AppLogic in a variety of ways, including a hosted virtual private datacenter and/or a direct license to run in your own datacenter. See http://www.3tera.com/Get-A-Grid/. You can also get various services based on AppLogic grids, made available by our partners: see http://www.3tera.com/Partners/
Available now
AppLogic 2.3 beta virtual private datacenters are available now from our hosting partners and directly from 3Tera; the release image is available for download to our direct licensees (hosting partners and enterprise customers).
Note: AppLogic 2.3 is a beta release. We do not recommend using it for production applications. If you are already running a production application on AppLogic 2.1 and want to try out the 2.3 beta, we recommend using a separate small grid (e.g., a developer grid with a single server and no HA).
Documentation: http://doc.3tera.com/AppLogic23/
Release notes: http://doc.3tera.com/AppLogic23/ReleaseNotes-2-3-8.html
(Partners and enterprise licensees, please use the partner wiki for service providers information).
Have fun!
On behalf of the 3Tera team,
-- Peter