SCIENCE

Oracle has announced the availability of Oracle’s Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel, a fast, modern, reliable Linux kernel that is optimized for Oracle software and hardware.

The Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel is part of Oracle Linux, which was previously named Oracle Enterprise Linux.

Based on the combined efforts of Oracle’s Linux, Database, Middleware, and Hardware engineering teams, the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel is:

Fast: More than 75 percent performance gain demonstrated in OLTP performance tests over a Red Hat Compatible Kernel; 200 percent speedup of Infiniband messaging; 137 percent faster solid state disk access.

Modern: Provides optimizations for large NUMA servers; improved power management and energy efficiency; fine grained CPU and memory resource control.

Reliable: Supports the Data Integrity Extensions and T10 Protection Information Model, to stop corrupt data from being written to storage; hardware fault management enables improved application uptime; low overhead performance counters for tracing.

Optimized for Oracle: Built and tested to run Oracle hardware, databases, and middleware with the best Linux performance and reliability available.

The latest edition of the Oracle Exadata Database Machine and the new Oracle Exalogic Elastic Cloud rely on the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel for extreme Linux performance.

The Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel is derived from the stable 2.6.32 mainline Linux kernel. The Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel will continue to track mainline; users will benefit from both Oracle innovation and community enhancements faster.

The Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel is now the only Linux kernel Oracle recommends for use with Oracle software.

Oracle Linux continues to include Oracle’s existing Red Hat Compatible Kernel. Customers can choose to run the Red Hat Compatible Kernel if they prefer strict Red Hat compatibility over a system optimized to run Oracle and other enterprise software.

Existing Oracle Linux 5 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 customers can easily upgrade to the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel. No reinstall of the operating system is required.

Third-party applications that run on RHEL 5 should run unchanged on Oracle Linux with the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel, while delivering significant performance and reliability improvements for end users.

Under the Oracle Unbreakable Linux Support Program, customers can receive full support for Oracle Linux running with either the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel or the Red Hat Compatible Kernel.

Read what Partners are saying about the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel.

Supporting Quote

“Today’s hardware innovations are fast and frequent – making it very important that the Linux distributions evolve quickly to leverage the latest hardware,” said Wim Coekaerts, senior vice president of Linux and Virtualization Engineering, Oracle. “With the combination of Oracle Linux and the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel, customers gain fast access to optimizations, new enhancements, and bug fixes. This new offering is a result of Oracle Linux kernel development efforts, on top of the current mainline kernel, and further distinguishes Oracle Linux as the best choice for enterprise customers.”