Liliputing is reporting that Sipeed is now taking orders for its Lichee Cluster 4A board, which allows users to combine up to 7 Lichee 4A modules for cluster builds and parallel processing tasks.

The cluster board is not being sold as a standalone product at the moment, and is priced starting at $929 for a cluster board paired with 7 Lichee Module 4A boards with 8GB of RAM and 32GB of storage each. The board supports up to 112GB of memory and up to 896GB of eMMC storage. It features 7 USB 3.0 ports, 7 microSD ports, 1 USB 2.0 port, 1 HDMI port, 3 Ethernet ports, and 1 10/100GB Ethernet port. The system supports Debian Linux.

Source: Liliputing.

Uptime Kuma has released version 1.23.2 with several bug fixes. The fixes include:

• Fixed an issue where the Tailscale monitor was not displaying correctly for non-Docker users.
• Fixed an issue where a paused monitor would start again after being edited.
• Fixed an issue where status page items were duplicated when the save button was clicked multiple times.
• Fixed an issue where the Oauth2 authentication method was not working.
• Added back some missing HTTP options into the JSON query monitor.

Source: Uptime Kuma.

AMD has launched the AMD EPYC 8004 “Siena” processors for “intelligent edge” servers, according to Phoronix. These processors offer a lower price point while maximizing power efficiency and expanding EPYC’s deployment outside of data centers. The Siena processors have up to 64 cores / 128 threads per socket, support up to six channels of DDR5 memory, and are designed for edge computing and telco markets. They use the new “SP6” socket and have a range of TDPs from 70 Watts to 225 Watts. The EPYC 8004 series consists of P and PN parts, with PN parts being NEBS friendly. The pricing ranges from $409 to $5450 USD. The performance and power efficiency of the EPYC 8004 series are competitive against Xeon Scalable “Sapphire Rapids” processors. The processors offer the same ISA features as Genoa (-X) and Bergamo, including AVX-512, and support SMT. Overall, the EPYC 8004 series processors are complementary to Genoa (-X) and Bergamo, filling the gap between them and Ryzen for budget-minded and SOHO/SMB server deployments.

Source: Phoronix.

The CNCF Blog is writing about Flux CD, a GitOps continuous delivery tool developed by Weaveworks. It allows for streamlined and automated application deployments in Kubernetes environments. Flux CD recently announced the Generally Available (GA) release of Flux CD v2, marking its stability and reliability for production use. Many organizations, including GitLab, Orange, and Ring Central, use Flux CD.

Flux CD simplifies the deployment and lifecycle management of applications and infrastructure by allowing developers and operators to define the desired state of their applications and configurations as code stored in a Git repository. Flux CD continuously monitors the repository for changes and automatically applies updates to the Kubernetes cluster to ensure the actual state matches the desired state.

Flux CD offers features such as automated deployments, GitOps workflow, progressive delivery, security, and compatibility with popular Kubernetes tools. It integrates seamlessly with tools like Kustomize, Helm, GitHub, GitLab, and more. Flux CD also has a rich ecosystem, including components like the Source controller, Kustomize Controller, Helm Controller, Notification Controller, and Image Reflector and Automation Controller. Additionally, there are extensions and integrations available for tools like Visual Studio Code, Terraform, Flamingo, Weave GitOps, AKS & Azure Arc, and EKS Anywhere.

Source: CNCF.

Phoronix is reporting that Linux 6.6-rc2 has been released by Linus Torvalds, coinciding with the 32nd anniversary of the introduction of the Linux 0.01 kernel version. Torvalds notes that this release does not have any standout features, but includes various fixes and changes in drivers, along with some tracing fixes and other minor updates.

Source: Phoronix.

The New Stack has posted a guide on how to harden n Ubuntu server. Ubuntu is a popular choice for container deployments, but many admins and DevOps teams overlook the importance of securing the operating system itself. The article provides a guide to hardening Ubuntu to ensure a secure foundation for deployments. The steps include:

1. Schedule regular upgrades to ensure the server is patched against the latest threats.

2. Change sudo and SSH settings.

3. Install and configure fail2ban to automatically ban IP addresses that attempt to compromise the server via SSH.

4. Secure shared memory by mounting /run/shm with certain privileges.

5. Enable and configure the Uncomplicated Firewall (UFW) and allow SSH connections.

By following these steps, admins and DevOps teams can significantly enhance the security of their Ubuntu Server deployments. Head over to The New Stack and read the guide!

Source: The New Stack.