{"id":11626,"date":"2022-01-27T15:44:26","date_gmt":"2022-01-27T23:44:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/threecloud.wpengine.com\/?p=11626"},"modified":"2023-09-19T15:22:55","modified_gmt":"2023-09-19T22:22:55","slug":"microsoft-embraces-linux-azure-beyond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/3cloudsolutions.com\/resources\/microsoft-embraces-linux-azure-beyond\/","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft Embraces Linux on Azure and Beyond"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DataManagement_linux_azure\"<\/p>\n

In a 2001 interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, Steve Ballmer notoriously described Linux as\u00a0 \u201ca cancer\u201d\u00a0 to \u201ceverything it touches,\u201d\u00a0 startling anyone with a propensity towards open source (Greene). Nearly twenty years later, however, Satya Nadella has taken over, and to quote technology writer Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, \u201cthis is [no longer] Steve Ballmer\u2019s Microsoft\u201d (Vaughan-Nichols). Mr. Nadella\u2019s new rallying cry of \u201cmobile first, cloud first\u201d is embodied in his quest to \u201c[drag] Microsoft into the age of open source\u201d (Howley).<\/p>\n

Microsoft Azure<\/a> executives and senior leadership are the first to emphasize the company\u2019s embracement of Linux. Microsoft\u2019s Director of Azure Compute, Corey Sanders, announced at the Cloud Foundry Summit in 2017 that \u201cone in three Azure virtual machines run on Linux,\u201d and even more impressive, \u201cover 60 percent of Azure Marketplace [virtual machine] images are Linux-based\u201d (Vaughan-Nichols). The growth of Linux on Azure is also formidable. Microsoft Azure CTO Mark Russinovich claims that in the past year, Azure \u201chas gone from one in four of its Azure virtual machines running Linux\u201d to \u201cnearly one in three\u201d (Foley). Microsoft isn\u2019t merely allowing Linux on Azure, in some cases it is requiring the use of Linux. In 2016, Microsoft made Azure Container Services generally available, with the catch that it was \u201cfor Linux containers only,\u201d with other operating system support coming later (Foley).<\/p>\n

Not only is Azure offering Linux to customers, Microsoft has begun using open source software internally as well. In a 2015 blog post, Microsoft networking architect Kamala Subramaniam explained an issue faced by Microsoft with network switches. The problem was \u201cintegrating the software that ships with those switches\u201d with the plethora of software that Microsoft uses to run various services (Klint). Microsoft decided to build its own switch software, \u201cand turned to Linux to do just that\u201d (Klint). The move to utilize open source wasn\u2019t unprecedented; Microsoft utilized a \u201cUnix descendant FreeBSD\u201d to run Hotmail for \u201cmany years after the acquisition\u201d of the web-based email service (Klint). Microsoft is now allowing itself to \u201ctake advantage of improvements to the code made by other companies with similar problems\u201d\u00a0 (Klint).<\/p>\n

The Linux offerings from Azure are plentiful, and Microsoft is\u00a0 \u201cworking with various Linux communities to add even more flavors\u201d (Szarkos). Azure features Linux\u00a0 \u201cdistributions such as Red Hat Enterprise, CentOS, Debian, Ubuntu, CoreOS, RancherOS and more\u201d\u00a0 in the Azure Marketplace (RicksterCDN). Even more exciting is the lack of limitation. If the Marketplace does not offer your preferred flavor, Azure allows customers to \u201cbring [their] own Linux distribution\u201d (Vaughan-Nichols). It should be noted that \u201cto bring an unsupported Linux distro to Azure\u2026is no job for an amateur,\u201d but a seasoned user familiar with \u201cmanaging virtual machines on the cloud won\u2019t find it challenging\u201d (Vaughan-Nichols). Azure follows open source pricing, and\u00a0 \u201cno matter what Linux you run,\u201d except for Rad Hat Enterprise Linux, \u201cMicrosoft doesn\u2019t charge upfront costs or termination fees for Linux VMs\u201d (Vaughan-Nichols). When running a Linux virtual machine on Azure, the customer \u201conly pay[s] for the resources [they] use\u201d (Vaughan-Nichols).<\/p>\n

Microsoft\u2019s combination of low-cost, open source software with their industry leading virtual machine service level agreement of 99.9% uptime for VMs deployed with premium storage for all disks creates many incredible possibilities (RicksterCDN). Indeed, corporations around the globe are seeing the possibilities. According to Microsoft\u2019s figures, \u201c85% of Fortune 500 companies use\u201d Azure and Azure is adding 120,000 new subscriptions per month (Howley). The time to migrate to the cloud is now.<\/p>\n

For more information on incorporating cloud computing into your organization, contact a cloud expert<\/a> today.<\/p>\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n

Finley, Klint. \u201cWhoa. Microsoft Is Using Linux to Run Its Cloud.\u201d Wired, Conde Nast, 18 Sept. 2015, www.wired.com\/2015\/09\/microsoft-using-linux-run-cloud\/.<\/p>\n

Foley, Mary Jo. \u201cMicrosoft: Nearly One in Three Azure Virtual Machines Now Are Running Linux.\u201d ZDNet, ZDNet, 21 June 2016, www.zdnet.com\/article\/microsoft-nearly-one-in-three-azure-virtual-machines-now-are-running-linux\/.<\/p>\n

Greene, Thomas C. \u201cBallmer: \u2018Linux Is a Cancer.\u2019\u201d The Register, 2 June 2001, www.theregister.co.uk\/2001\/06\/02\/ballmer_linux_is_a_cancer\/.<\/p>\n

Howley, Daniel. \u201cHere’s Why Microsoft Is the ‘New’ Cool Kid on the Block.\u201d Yahoo! Finance, Yahoo!, 24 Sept. 2016, finance.yahoo.com\/news\/heres-why-microsoft-is-the-new-cool-kid-on-the-block-173600125.html.<\/p>\n

RicksterCDN. \u201cOverview of Linux VMs in Azure.\u201d Microsoft Docs, 14 Sept. 2016, docs.microsoft.com\/en-us\/azure\/virtual-machines\/linux\/overview.<\/p>\n

Szarkos. \u201cEndorsed Distributions of Linux.\u201d Microsoft Docs, 2 Feb. 2017, docs.microsoft.com\/en-us\/azure\/virtual-machines\/linux\/endorsed-distros.<\/p>\n

Vaughan-Nichols, Steven J. \u201cLinux on Azure: What Are Your Choices?\u201d ZDNet, ZDNet, 29 June 2017, www.zdnet.com\/article\/linux-on-azure-what-are-your-choices\/.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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