Operations | Monitoring | ITSM | DevOps | Cloud

SmartNICs in telco: benefits and use cases

In our previous blog, we introduced smartNICs as technology enablers for next-generation converged data centres. We covered how smartNICs can increase efficiency and drive return on investment. In this blog post, we explain how this innovative technology can help the telecom industry. SmartNICs use cases for the telecom sector are still emerging. However, when they arrive, it will be big for the sector, especially at edge clouds where speed in user plane packet processing matters the most.

Restricted unprivileged user namespaces are coming to Ubuntu 23.10

Ubuntu Desktop firmly places security at the forefront, and adheres to the principles of security by default. This approach caters to both everyday users and organisations with specific compliance requirements. As such, Ubuntu ensures that its recommended security configurations are equally robust, easy to understand and readily accessible as part of the default user experience.

What is a smartNIC and how is the technology shaping modern data centres?

Data centres are going through a transformation. Gradually, we will see a new type of equipment attached to servers in almost every data centre: smartNICs are here. They will be the enablers of converged data centres where common infrastructure tasks are offloaded from a host server to attached network interface cards (NIC).

Securing open source software dependencies in the public cloud

I recently recorded a Lightboard presentation on securing open source software dependencies in the public cloud. This blog summarises, and expands upon, some of the key elements from that presentation: I think about this topic through two lenses: software supply chains and updating software dependencies while maintaining stability.

Charmed Kubeflow 1.8 Beta is here

Have you heard the news? Charmed Kubeflow 1.8 is available in Beta. Kubeflow is the foundation of Canonical MLOps. The latest release brings improved capabilities to personalise different components of the platform, including the images that can be used in Notebooks. We are looking for data scientists, machine learning engineers, creators and AI enthusiasts to take Charmed Kubeflow 1.8 Beta for a test drive and share their feedback with us.

Zenbleed vulnerability fix for Ubuntu

On 24 July 2023, security researchers from Google’s Information Security Engineering team disclosed a hardware vulnerability affecting AMD’s Zen 2 family of microprocessors. They dubbed this vulnerability “Zenbleed” (CVE-2023-20593), evoking memories of previous vulnerabilities like HeartBleed and hinting at its possible impact.

Digital innovation in finance - the open source imperative

Digital innovation is transforming finance. Advances in financial technology such as mobile money, peer-to-peer (P2P) or marketplace lending, robo advice, and insurance technology (InsurTech) are reshaping many areas – from payments to wealth management. Over the past decade, fintechs have already driven enhanced access to financial services for retail users. Technology advances in connectivity, data processing, and storage have contributed to the current wave of technology-based finance.

Still running Ubuntu 18.04? What you need to know

Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, installed by millions of users and continuing to have a massive footprint on AWS, hit its End of Life (EOL) in May 2023. When using an unsupported version of Ubuntu LTS, your system and your end users are vulnerable to security risks. Not every company has the time or resources to undertake a migration project to a later and supported Ubuntu LTS distribution which is why many are adopting Ubuntu Pro.

Canonical releases Charmed MLFlow

London, United Kingdom, 26 September 2023. Canonical announced today that Charmed MLFlow, Canonical’s distribution of the popular machine learning platform, is now generally available. Charmed MLFlow is part of Canonical’s growing MLOps portfolio. Ideal for model registry and experiment tracking, Charmed MLFlow is integrated with other AI and big data tools such as Apache Spark and Kubeflow. The solution runs on any infrastructure, from workstations to public and private clouds.