Oracle has released an enhanced Linux Kernel version for transaction processing, Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel Release 2 for Oracle Linux.
The new release has improved memory and resource management and is optimised to be deployed as a virtual guest with full support for the Xen hypervisor that can be used to run both in hardware virtualised and paravirtualised modes.
Based on the 3.0.16 mainline kernel, the new release includes the Btrfs file system, ‘next generation file system’ for Linux, supports data storage of 16 exabyte, is optimised for solid state disks, with built-in data integrity.
With btrfs included, Oracle Linux can support large files and file systems, snapshots and checksums for data and meta-data, provides integrated RAID and volume management and simplifies administration.
Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel Release 2 comes with Oracle Linux 5 and 6 with performance improvements including the scheduler, memory management, file system layer and networking stack.
Oracle said its Transparent Hugepages function automatically organises memory in larger units to reduce memory management overhead and improve stability for memory-intensive workloads.
Running Oracle Linux with the new version maintains existing userspace application compatibility and certification without any modification, the company said.
Oracle stated the new offering has been tested with the most demanding workloads, both on third-party servers and Oracle’s, including Engineered Systems such as Oracle Exadata Database Machine.
