Resources White papers

Although only two years have passed since its last long-term support (LTS) release, the latest version of Ubuntu Server introduces significant changes, designed to help you deliver new services faster and with more flexibility than ever. To help you quickly understand the updates included this time, we have categorised the improvements as follows: cloud and virtualisation; hardware and architecture support; file systems and storage; new ISV support.

Amid all the hype surrounding the cloud, there has been a growing need for open and proven components that enable any business to benefit from elastic computing. With public cloud services now widely available and OpenStack established as the de facto infrastructure platform, these components are now ready to deploy. This white paper explains how OpenStack and other open cloud tools can be accessed via Ubuntu Server 12.04 LTS - and the technical reasons why we think this represents the best route to the cloud.

Keystone is an identity service written in Python that provides a pluggable back end, designed to support various protocols for authentication and authorisation (Basic Auth, OAuth, and OpenID, to give a few examples). Simply put, it allows clients to obtain security tokens to access different cloud services. Keystone was spawned from the OpenStack project and is designed to work with the OpenStack API.

In many fields of IT, there are always stand-out technologies. This is definitely the case in the Big Data space, where Hadoop is leading the way. However, without the right technology to underpin it, distributed Hadoop storage and processing environments can become complex to deploy and manage, and expensive to license. Ubuntu is the ideal foundation for Hadoop clusters because it is based on open industry standards, optimised for the cloud, and able to scale with no increments in licensing costs. In this white paper, we explain exactly why Ubuntu is becoming the dominant platform for Hadoop.

Leading Linux-based operating system Ubuntu Server is engineered to support the needs of business in 21st century. In this why paper we look at 11 top reasons why we think Ubuntu is the ideal choice of operating system to support today's infrastructures and applications. We also showcase the experiences of some real Ubuntu users and show how they're using our technology to their advantage.

Today, Big Data isn't just for big companies, and it isn't just happening on the web. In fact more and more organisations in multiple sectors are recognising its enormous value in terms of gaining new competitive insight. In this white paper, we take a brief look at how organisations in a range of sectors are building Big Data into their planning and customer fulfilment strategies. We'll also explore few reasons why Ubuntu has become a dominant operating system in the Big Data space.

This new e-book: Crunch time on the Enterprise Desktop is a great, short introduction to why there's never been a better time to include Ubuntu in your desktop strategy. Ubuntu is an elegant, feature-rich OS already running on millions of workplace desktops around the world, with more organisations switching every day. Once considered to technical for general office uses, Ubuntu has come a long way and provides an intuitive desktop OS that anyone can use and adapt to their own preferences.

The next e-book in the series lets you into the secrets of a successful Ubuntu migration. To help you plan your migration, we've compiled 5 golden rules for success. These are things we've learned from the hundreds of Ubuntu desktop migrations we've conducted for clients around the world – from the French National Police Force to the Supreme Court of India. It's a look at the key bases you need to cover (and a reminder that it's not the hardest thing you'll ever do).

In this white paper, we take a detailed look at today’s cloud opportunities and risks, and explain why building cloud infrastructure on open technologies like Ubuntu is the best decision by far. We also showcase Canonical and Ubuntu’s holistic cloud proposition which helps organisations stay in control of their cloud strategy for the long term, and enables them to access all the IT resources they need on demand.

In this white paper, we de-bunk the myths that proprietary companies have built up to discredit open-source technology, explaining how it can help schools, colleges and universities reduce costs, improve IT performance, and prepare students more effectively for the world of work.