Kasten, a Kubernetes backup and disaster recovery specialist, has added ransomware protection to its latest release, Kasten K10 v4.0. This comes in the form of immutable object storage backups to ensure that backed-up content cannot be altered during the retention period. It also features policy-based automation to ensure backup and recovery actions are performed regularly, with an “easy button” to restore your applications in a timely manner.

Kasten says that the new release features integrations with various infrastructure platforms, including HPE Ezmeral Container Platform, Nutanix Karbon, Red Hat OpenShift, Microsoft Azure Stack, and can also backup to NFS targets. Kasten was acquired by backup and disaster recovery firm Veeam in October last year.

IBM offers container-native storage

IBM has unveiled new storage solutions designed to simplify data accessibility and availability across hybrid cloud scenarios.

IBM Spectrum Fusion, due to launch in the second half of 2021, is a container-native version of the firm’s Spectrum Scale software defined storage (SDS) system. However, the first incarnation will ship as part of a hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) system running Red Hat OpenShift. A software-only version is due for release in 2022.

Big Blue also announced new IBM Elastic Storage Systems (ESS), the ESS 3200 and ESS 5000. These feature containerised system software and support for Red Hat OpenShift and the Kubernetes Container Storage Interface (CSI), CSI snapshots and clones. The systems come with IBM Spectrum Scale and are fully integrated with IBM Cloud Satellite, an extension of the IBM Public Cloud that can run inside the customer’s data centre or at edge locations.

Bytecode Alliance offers WebAssembly vision

The Bytecode Alliance has officially incorporated as a nonprofit organisation dedicated to creating “new software foundations”, with founding members comprising Mozilla, Fastly, Intel, and Microsoft.

The aim of the Bytecode Alliance is to build on and promote WebAssembly as a platform for developing secure, cross-platform applications, and the founding members are inviting other organisations to join a cross-industry collaborative effort to deliver this.

WebAssembly is a binary instruction format for a stack-based virtual machine, which means that code written to the WebAssembly format should run on any system with a WebAssembly virtual machine, a similar concept to that which led to Java.

“We have a real opportunity to change how software is built, and in doing so, enable small teams to build big things that are both secure and fast. Mozilla believes that WebAssembly has the right technical ingredients to build a better, more secure Internet, and that the Bytecode Alliance has the vision and momentum to make it happen,” said Mozilla Distinguished Engineer Bobby Holley, in a statement.

Google adds multi-instance GPU support to Kubernetes service

Google has announced support for multi-instance GPUs in its Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) service on the Google Cloud Platform (GCP).

According to Google, Kubernetes allocates one full GPU per container, even if that container only needs a fraction of the GPU power for its workload. With the launch of multi-instance GPUs in GKE, users can now partition a single Nvidia A100 GPU into up to seven instances, and each instance can be allocated to one container.

GCP’s largest GPU-based Compute Engine instance supports up to 16 A100 GPUs, allowing users to have up to 112 schedulable GPU instances per node for demanding workloads such as machine learning, visualisation and high-performance computing. Multi-instance GPU support in GKE is currently a technology preview.

Facebook joins Rust Foundation

Facebook has joined the Rust Foundation at its highest member tier, stating it is committed to sustaining and growing the Rust open source ecosystem and community.

Announcing the move on its blog, the social media giant says it has been using Rust in all aspects of development since 2016, but is now stepping up its internal developer support for the language. There is now a dedicated Rust team inside Facebook that is responsible for the growth of Rust development inside the company, open source contributions to Rust and Rust-based projects, and engagement with the Rust community.

 “We are joining the Rust Foundation to help contribute to, improve and grow this language that has become so valuable to us and developers around the world. We look forward to participating with the other foundation members and the Rust community to make Rust a mainstream language of choice for systems programming and beyond,” said Joel Marcey, Open Source ecosystem lead at Facebook.

The company added that joining the Rust Foundation strengthens Facebook’s commitment to support the sustainable development of open source technologies and developer communities.