Slicehost

We're very happy to announce the ability to run your own kernel on your Slices. Until now, there was a choice of kernels from which to boot but it was controlled via the SliceManager. Running your own kernel allows you fine-grained control over the features you specifically need as well as greater compatibility with your chosen distribution.

For those that want the simplicity of not worrying about which kernel to choose or how to configure it we will, of course, keep offering our own kernels via the SliceManager.

Please be aware that this feature is currently in beta and is available for slices located in our STL-B, DFW, and ORD data centers at this time. It has been fully tested to work on the following distributions.

• Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick)
• Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid) LTS
• Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic)
• Debian 5.0 (Lenny)
• Centos 5.5
• Fedora 13
• Arch 2010.05
• Red Hat EL 5.4
• Gentoo 10.1

Please Note

You will need to make some minor changes to your Slice configuration to enable your chosen kernel to boot properly. For those familiar with running their own kernels, the changes are minimal but I would stress they are essential. Files such as menu.lst will need to be changed.

We have, of course, a great set of articles ready taking you through any and all changes you need to make. The articles are specific to each distribution, so please ensure that you are using the correct one when configuring your Slice (it's easy to make a mistake which may mean your Slice won't boot).

Using pv-grub to run custom kernels overview

While pv-grub is in beta we ask that you contact support, via the Slicemanager, so we can enable your Slice to run your kernel - you will need to configure your Slice before we switch it for you. We will be happy to assist you through the process.

As soon as it comes out of beta, you will be able to select the pv-grub option from the kernel menu inside of the Slicemanager.

If you have any questions or concerns our support team is always available in SliceChat or via email at support@slicehost.com.

UPDATE 10/28: Added Gentoo 10.1 to the list of supported distributions.

Today, Slicehost is excited to announce that we now support the following full 32-bit images:

• Fedora 12 32-bit
• Gentoo 10.1 32-bit
• CentOS 5.4 32-bit
• Debian 5.0 Lenny 32-bit
• Ubuntu 8.04.2 (Hardy) LTS 32-bit
• Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty) 32-bit
• Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic) 32-bit

The new images are readily available in our STL-B, DFW and ORD data centers.

In order to take advantage of these offerings, you can either rebuild your current slice or opt to use the 'Add A Slice' feature under the 'My Slices' tab in the SliceManager.

We understand there may be some questions regarding these images, so please allow me to answer a few of them:

Q. What's the difference between these new 32-bit images and the the ones we previously provided?

A. Prior to the release of these full 32-bit images, each BETA 32-bit instance ran a 64-bit kernel. This caused the odd amount of confusion with some package managers and other software.

These new instances will allow you to run a full 32-bit Linux image - that is to say, a 32-bit kernel and a 32-bit userland.

Q. What happens if I am already running a slice that uses the previously provided 32-bit instances?

A. Your instances will not be affected by this change. You can continue running your mixed instance for as long as you need to. However, it's recommended you update to the 32-bit kernel that is available via the SliceManager. This will provide you will the full 32-bit experience.

Q. What if I currently have a slices located in STL-A, but would like to take advantage of this offer as well?

A. If you would like to build a 32-bit instance but currently have slices located in STL-A, we would be happy to build a slice for you in one of our other DCs. Simply contact our support team by submitting a request through the SliceManager and we'll get you a new Slice in just a few minutes.

If you experience any issues or have any further questions regarding these images, please visit us in SliceChat, open a ticket or drop us a line at support@slicehost.com.

Adding to last week's announcement, we are happy to introduce a 32-bit image for CentOS 5.4 that is now available in the SliceManager.

This image was created in the same manner as the previous 32-bit images and for this reason, will carry the beta label as well.

I want to thank Major from the RackspaceCloud Operations team in addition to Seth Vidal from the Fedora Project, for working together to make this image available.

If you have any questions or concerns, please visit with us in SliceChat at any time.

Following requests for 32-bit images I am pleased to be able to offer 32-bit images for Ubuntu Hardy, Jaunty and Karmic as well as Debian 5.0 (Lenny).

We had a discussion on our forums surrounding the images and we have labelled them as 'beta'.

The reason for the beta label is we have created a 64-bit Slice and kernel with a 32-bit userland. This means that if you installed apache with an 'aptitude install apache2', the 32-bit version will be pulled from the relevant repository and installed on your Slice. In addition, it also means you are able to natively run 64-bit executables.

Unfortunately, 64-bit versions of RPM-based distributions such as CentOS and Fedora do not have 32-bit ELF support in /sbin/init, so we are unable to offer similar images of these distributions at this time.

To add a 32-bit Slice, head to the Slicemanager and click 'Add a Slice' and select your preferred distro from the image dropdown.

As always, we are available 24/7 in our chatroom should you have any questions.

Cheers, Paul

Edit: I clarified the sentence regarding 32-bit ELF support as it was possibly causing some confusion

A few weeks ago, we received an email from Stephen Spector of Citrix. He’s the Community Manager for Xen.org and wanted a site for the Xen blog. He knew we were proponents of Xen and after a brief chat the blog was up and running. We’re honored to have the site at Slicehost and grateful for the work that goes into the Xen.org project. If you’re looking for updates and news on the virtualization software that powers your slice, blog.xen.org is the place to go.

Data Center Knowledge links to a couple of interesting articles on rising NOC costs. Increased power requirements for equipment and cooling are driving space costs through the roof. It’ll be interesting to see how quickly bigger companies explore virtual computing alternatives. If you’re interested in discussing Slice clusters for your company, please let us know.

Scott from hosting-fu compares a VPS to a dedicated server. Several excellent points, our 1024slice was pitted against an entry level dedicated box. A must read for anyone weighing the pros and cons of a VPS or dedicated machine.

We’ve had a few customers inquire about bulk Slice purchases for various reasons including: classroom use, virtual infrastructure, load balancing and more. These are all great ideas. For businesses, considering a cluster of Slices for server consolidation makes even more sense. Check out this stat:

We estimate conservatively that for every workload moved from a physical to virtual environment, customers can save about $290 in electricity costs, and about $360 a year in cooling costs. The more important thing is that these savings accrue year after year.

Wow! Let us know if you’re interested in a bulk purchase and we can put something together for you. With skyrocketing cooling and data center costs, there’s never been a better time to consider virtual server consolidation.