Microsoft Releases a Linux-Based OS

Microsoft has announced a new project that is going to be powered by the venerable Linux kernel. At the RSA Conference 2018, the company shed some light on Microsoft Azure Sphere, a new platform to help create secured, Internet-connected microcontroller (MCU) devices.

Microsoft Azure Sphere is an end-to-end solution, all the way from Azure Cloud to actual chips found on the targeted IoT device. Microsoft Azure Sphere is comprised of three components: Azure Sphere certified microcontrollers (MCUs), Azure Sphere OS, and Azure Sphere Security Service.

Azure Sphere OS is a custom OS aimed at security and agility. "Unlike the RTOSs common to MCUs today, our defense-in-depth IoT OS offers multiple layers of security. It combines security innovations pioneered in Windows, a security monitor, and a custom Linux kernel to create a highly-secured software environment and a trustworthy platform for new IoT experiences," wrote Galen Hunt, partner managing director, Microsoft Azure Sphere.

Developers can use Microsoft Visual Studio Tools to write applications for Azure Sphere. These tools include application templates, development tools and the Azure Sphere software development kit (SDK).

Visual Studio is not exclusive anymore to Windows. Microsoft open sourced a version of Visual Studio called Visual Studio Code, which is available for Linux.

The news was not surprising; the Microsoft Azure team has long favored better Linux integration. Not only does Linux run on more than 50 percent of Azure machines, the company has been using Linux to build components such as Azure Cloud Switch (ACS) and SONiC.

Source: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/introducing-microsoft-azure-sphere-secure-and-power-the-intelligent-edge/

Red Hat, Microsoft Join Forces for Hybrid Cloud

At the Red Hat Summit 2018, Red Hat and Microsoft expanded their relationship with a new agreement to bring managed OpenShift services to Microsoft Azure. OpenShift is Red Hat's own distribution of Kubernetes.

From a technology perspective, the two companies will be working together on OpenShift on Azure to reduce the complexity of container management for customers. From a customer perspective, Red Hat and Microsoft will jointly manage the solution for customers, with support from both companies.

Customers get access to the Azure public cloud with the flexibility and control of OpenShift on-premises on Azure Stack. Users will be able to run their workloads on Windows containers alongside RHEL containers, using a uniform orchestration platform. Not only that, users will be able to use SQL Server as a Red Hat--certified container for deployment on Red Hat OpenShift on Azure and Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform across the hybrid cloud.

Under the partnership, users will be able to use Microsoft tools with Red Hat, and Visual Studio Enterprise and Visual Studio Professional subscribers will get RHEL credits. For the first time, developers can work with .NET, Java, or the most popular open source frameworks on this single supported platform.

Red Hat OpenShift on Azure is anticipated to be available in preview in the coming months. Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform, RHEL on Azure, and Azure Stack are currently available.