Arm technology is ubiquitous, found in billions of devices, and is rapidly evolving to support hyperscale data centers and cloud computing. With Arm-based Compute, existing workloads can run less expensively and next generation applications can be built with greater economics, and predictable and superior performance. For these and other compelling reasons, developers are considering building applications on Arm. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Ampere A1 Compute running Oracle Linux offers the best platform to develop, deploy, and run Arm-based applications. Oracle Linux combined with OCI’s high-performance cloud architecture and Ampere’s Altra processor delivers the best price-performance in the cloud. If you’re looking to unlock the potential of Arm, jump-start development, and accelerate your time to market, read on and explore the reasons why Oracle Linux and OCI might be the right platform for your next generation of modern applications.
Free to start, easily scale as you go
Cloud-based development, combined with automation, helps you deliver applications more quickly and reliably. Whether you’re test-driving, migrating, or developing new applications on the Arm platform, OCI services make it easy to start without the upfront capital infrastructure and investment, and you can easily and quickly scale as you go, as needed.
To start, simply sign up for a free OCI account. With it, you can utilize OCI services, including Oracle Cloud Free Tier resources. Oracle Cloud Free Tier provides several Always Free services, including access to Arm-based Ampere A1 Compute resources with no time limit, and a free trial with US$300 of free credit to use on all eligible OCI services for up to 30 days, whichever is consumed or expires first.
With the generous Arm capacity provided in the Oracle Cloud Free Tier, OCI Arm Accelerator offers free credits to make it fast and easy to get started for those who need a more scalable environment.
Deploy and develop with speed
To jump-start development, OCI allows you to quickly deploy a comprehensive Arm-based developer environment using the Oracle Linux Cloud Developer image for Arm. This image includes Oracle Linux, bundled with the latest development tools, languages, OCI software development kits (SDKs), and more. OCI customers receive the highest level of support for Oracle Linux, Java, and GraalVM Enterprise Edition included for free. To learn more about the Oracle Cloud Developer image, refer to the Getting Started guide and read this blog.
The Oracle Linux Cloud Developer image for Arm is based on Oracle Linux. Oracle Linux is extensively tested and used to run Oracle’s Engineered Systems and OCI and is deployed by tens of thousands of supported enterprise customers, Oracle Linux 8 and 7 platform images for 64-bit Arm (aarch64) are also easily accessible and can be deployed directly from the OCI Console. Oracle Linux is the same operating system, whether you deploy it in OCI, on-premises, or in other clouds, making applications you develop portable and compatible in hybrid environments.
Today, many development tools already support Arm and are readily available from the open source community. With the images bundled with the Oracle Linux Cloud Developer image, you can also extend your toolset with other favorite resources like those available from Works on Arm and examples found in the Arm tools and solutions GitHub repository.
Zero downtime security patching with Ksplice
Oracle Linux-based platform images feature the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel (UEK) release 6 with security and virtualization enhancements. These images include Oracle Ksplice technology that can apply zero-downtime security updates for the kernel and key user space libraries, such as glibc and openssl, without requiring a reboot or stopping applications, saving you time so that you can focus on development and accelerating your time to market. Ksplice security patches can be applied immediately, closing the window of vulnerability, or you can run them on a schedule that best suits your organization’s compliance policies. Ksplice is exclusively available with an Oracle Linux Premier Support subscription, which is included at no extra charge for instances running in OCI.
More details are available in the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Ksplice documentation.
Higher security and reliability with OS Management
OS Management service provides tools to automate common operating system management tasks, such as patch and package management, and security and compliance reporting for Oracle Linux Compute instances deployed in OCI. By keeping systems patched and secure, it helps to eliminate complexity and human error, which increases security and availability.
OS Management supports Oracle Linux instances on Ampere A1 compute and on AMD and Intel processor based shapes in OCI, in addition to Windows Server instances—all managed using a single Console interface. Using the OCI OS Management Console, you can view and install available security, Ksplice, bug and enhancement updates, add and remove packages, and manage individual and grouped instances for ease of management.
By using OS Management to schedule recurring updates on all your instances, you can free yourself from manual and error-prone administrative tasks, giving you more time to focus on productive development tasks.
Accelerate your learning path
New to Oracle Linux and Arm development in OCI? No worries. You can explore further and jump-start your Arm development expertise with the following resources:
Oracle Linux for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (Learning Library)
Oracle Linux for Arm (datasheet)
Oracle Linux (documentation)
OS Management service (documentation)
To help you get started, we have the following blogs:
Start developing Arm-based applications quickly using the Oracle Cloud Developer image
Oracle makes building applications on Ampere A1 Compute instances easy
Unlock the potential of Arm for your HPC workloads with Oracle Linux and Oracle Cloud’s Arm-based instances
The following tutorials are a great way to learn through instruction:
Deploy Java-based applications on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Ampere A1
Get started with GraalVM on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Ampere A1
Deploy Nextcloud on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Ampere A1
Get Started with Arm-Based Kubernetes Clusters in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure
Building multi-platform container images using Podman on Oracle Linux 8
Discover for yourself why Oracle Linux and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure are the best platform for Arm-based application development. Starting is as easy as signing up for a free Oracle Cloud Infrastructure account and Oracle Cloud Free Tier resources.