DevOps.com

  • Latest
    • Articles
    • Features
    • Most Read
    • News
    • News Releases
  • Topics
    • AI
    • Continuous Delivery
    • Continuous Testing
    • Cloud
    • Culture
    • DataOps
    • DevSecOps
    • Enterprise DevOps
    • Leadership Suite
    • DevOps Practice
    • ROELBOB
    • DevOps Toolbox
    • IT as Code
  • Videos/Podcasts
    • Techstrong.tv Podcast
    • Techstrong.tv - Twitch
    • DevOps Unbound
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming
    • Calendar View
    • On-Demand Webinars
  • Library
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Calendar View
    • On-Demand Events
  • Sponsored Content
  • Related Sites
    • Techstrong Group
    • Cloud Native Now
    • Security Boulevard
    • Techstrong Research
    • DevOps Chat
    • DevOps Dozen
    • DevOps TV
    • Techstrong TV
    • Techstrong.tv Podcast
    • Techstrong.tv - Twitch
  • Media Kit
  • About
  • Sponsor
  • AI
  • Cloud
  • CI/CD
  • Continuous Testing
  • DataOps
  • DevSecOps
  • DevOps Onramp
  • Platform Engineering
  • Sustainability
  • Low-Code/No-Code
  • IT as Code
  • More
    • Application Performance Management/Monitoring
    • Culture
    • Enterprise DevOps
    • ROELBOB
Hot Topics
  • Generative AI: The 90% Rule
  • Oracle Previews Latest Java 21 Innovations
  • Buildkite Acquires Packagecloud to Streamline DevOps Workflows
  • What DevOps Teams Should Know About Phishing and the Supply Chain
  • JFrog swampUP: Addressing the Advent of AI

Features Linus Torvalds Sees Lots of Hardware Headaches Ahead

Linus Torvalds Sees Lots of Hardware Headaches Ahead

Avatar photoBy: Mike Vizard on June 25, 2019 9 Comments

Linux founder Linus Torvalds, today at the KubeCon + CloudNative + Open Source Summit China conference, warned attendees that managing software is about to become a lot more challenging, largely because of two hardware issues that are beyond the control of DevOps teams.

Recent Posts By Mike Vizard
  • Oracle Previews Latest Java 21 Innovations
  • Buildkite Acquires Packagecloud to Streamline DevOps Workflows
  • Daytona Unfurls Developer Environment for On-Premises IT
Avatar photo More from Mike Vizard
Related Posts
  • Linus Torvalds Sees Lots of Hardware Headaches Ahead
  • Best of 2021 – Torvalds’ Bug Warning is a Lesson for Linux Users 
  • Linux 6.0 is Faster, Cooler | Debian Goes Proprietary | Google Africa Region
    Related Categories
  • Blogs
  • DevOps Practice
  • Features
  • Most Read
  • News
    Related Topics
  • hardware
  • KubeCom + CloudNativeCon + Open Source Summit China
  • Linus Torvalds
  • linux
  • processors
  • speculative execution
Show more
Show less

The first, he said, is the steady stream of patches being generated as new cybersecurity issues related to the speculative execution model that Intel and other processor vendors rely on to accelerate performance. That model is the root cause of malware such as Spectre and Meltdown that have roiled the IT industry. Additional bugs in speculative execution with colorful names such as Fallout and ZombieLoad are showing up more frequently. Each of those bugs requires another patch to the Linux kernel that, depending on when they arrive, can require painful updates to the kernel, Torvalds told conference attendees.

Short of disabling hyperthreading altogether to eliminate reliance on speculative execution, each patch requires organizations to update both the Linux kernel and the BIOS to ensure security. Turning off hyperthreading eliminates the patch management issue, but also reduces application performance by about 15 percent.

AWS Builder Community Hub

The second major issue hardware issue looms a little further over the horizon, Torvalds said. Moore’s Law has guaranteed a doubling of hardware performance every 18 months for decades. But as processor vendors approach the limits of Moore’s Law, many developers will need to reoptimize their code to continue achieving increased performance. In many cases, that requirement will be a shock to many development teams that have counted on those performance improvements to make up for inefficient coding processes, he said.

In the meantime, Torvalds noted updates to the Linux kernel are still coming at a rate of every three months, and the Linux team is basically working on a six-month planning cycle—there is no master five-year plan the Linux team is working from. Roughly 1,500 developers work on contributions to the Linux kernel, with 100 maintainers overseeing the implementation of those contributions.

Naturally, cybersecurity patches at the kernel level have significant implications for all of DevOps. Changes to the kernel need to be absorbed by all the various distributions of Linux, which in turn impacts all the stacks of software that depend on Linux. Jim Zemlin, executive director for The Linux Foundation, said that in the wake of the rise of these hardware issues and previous cybersecurity issues involving open source software such as the Heartbleed vulnerability, cybersecurity is the top priority for The Linux Foundation. As part of that effort, The Linux Foundation is researching various DevSecOps approaches to better securing the global open source supply chain, he said.

In the meantime, organizations large and small alike will need to up their DevSecOps game significantly if they want to continue to push application performance limits.

— Mike Vizard

Filed Under: Blogs, DevOps Practice, Features, Most Read, News Tagged With: hardware, KubeCom + CloudNativeCon + Open Source Summit China, Linus Torvalds, linux, processors, speculative execution

« Sumo Logic Launches Powerful Global Threat Benchmarking Service for Amazon Web Services
Clubhouse Aims to Simplify Software Project Management »

Techstrong TV – Live

Click full-screen to enable volume control
Watch latest episodes and shows

Upcoming Webinars

What AI Doesn't Know About Kubernetes in Production
Thursday, September 21, 2023 - 12:00 pm EDT
The Benefits of Accelerating Your Application Modernization Journey With AWS
Thursday, September 21, 2023 - 1:00 pm EDT
Cloud Security Turbocharged: A Wild Ride of Innovation, Threats and Staying Ahead
Friday, September 22, 2023 - 11:00 am EDT

GET THE TOP STORIES OF THE WEEK

Sponsored Content

JFrog’s swampUP 2023: Ready for Next 

September 1, 2023 | Natan Solomon

DevOps World: Time to Bring the Community Together Again

August 8, 2023 | Saskia Sawyerr

PlatformCon 2023: This Year’s Hottest Platform Engineering Event

May 30, 2023 | Karolina Junčytė

The Google Cloud DevOps Awards: Apply Now!

January 10, 2023 | Brenna Washington

Codenotary Extends Dynamic SBOM Reach to Serverless Computing Platforms

December 9, 2022 | Mike Vizard

Latest from DevOps.com

Generative AI: The 90% Rule
September 20, 2023 | Don Macvittie
Oracle Previews Latest Java 21 Innovations
September 19, 2023 | Mike Vizard
Buildkite Acquires Packagecloud to Streamline DevOps Workflows
September 19, 2023 | Mike Vizard
What DevOps Teams Should Know About Phishing and the Supply Chain
September 19, 2023 | Gilad David Maayan
JFrog swampUP: Addressing the Advent of AI
September 18, 2023 | William Willis

TSTV Podcast

On-Demand Webinars

DevOps.com Webinar ReplaysDevOps.com Webinar Replays

Most Read on DevOps.com

CloudBees Unfurls Dual CI/CD Strategy at DevOps World Event
September 14, 2023 | Mike Vizard
CloudBees CEO: State of Software Development is a Disaster
September 14, 2023 | Mike Vizard
Google De-Recruits 100s of Recruiters ¦ ARM Valued at $45½B in IPO
September 14, 2023 | Richi Jennings
Why Enterprises Should Embrace Data-Driven Software Management
September 15, 2023 | Alex Circei
Summit Highlights Open Source Software Security Progress
September 14, 2023 | Mike Vizard
  • Home
  • About DevOps.com
  • Meet our Authors
  • Write for DevOps.com
  • Media Kit
  • Sponsor Info
  • Copyright
  • TOS
  • Privacy Policy

Powered by Techstrong Group, Inc.

© 2023 ·Techstrong Group, Inc.All rights reserved.