Learn Cloud Native, Docker, K8s & Istio with free courses and IBM Badges

Microservices are the building blocks for cloud native architecture. Learn how to create and use containers with Docker, manage and orchestrate Containers with Kubernetes and secure and connect microservices with Istio.

Prerequisites:

You should have a good understanding of Linux and some basic concepts such as Version Control (preferably using Git). If you need a refresher, check out these 2 free resources:

1. Optional: Learn Git Version Control on Katakoda if you've never used Version Control.
2. Optional: Take up Introduction to Linux by The Linux Foundation on edX.

Get started learning containers with Docker

Find out what containers are, how they differ from Virtual Machines and what are the benefits of using containers. Install Docker CE on your machine, search for and run container from the Docker Hub, build your first Docker container from a Dockerfile and publish it to a Docker Registry.

1. Learn Docker & Containers using Interactive Browser-Based Scenarios on Katakoda.
2. Test your knowledge and collect the Docker essentials: Extend your apps with containers badge on developerWorks.
3. Optional: Try my interactive Docker for Data Science course.

Learn container orchestration with Kubernetes

Kubernetes is a platform for managing containerized workloads and services. Learn about the key Kubernetes components and architecture:

1. Join Introduction to Kubernetes by The Linux Foundation on edX.
2. Collect the Container & Kubernetes Essentials with IBM Cloud badge.
3. Complete Kubernetes Introduction on Katakoda.

Cloud Native, Microservices, 12-factor and Istio

Learn about essential cloud-native technologies, the twelve-factor app methodology, microservices, and Istio : an intelligent service mesh for microservices. Istio helps you to connect, secure, control, and observe services.

1. Getting started with Microservices with Istio and IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service badge.
2. Complete Beyond the Basics: Istio and IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service badge and also collect the badge for completing the Containers, microservices, Kubernetes, and Istio on the CloudLearning Path.
3. Complete the Istio course on Katakoda - use the Istio service mesh to connect, manage, and secure microservices.
4. Optional: Pursue the IBM Cloud Garage Method Explorer and IBM Cloud Garage Method Advocate badges and learn about key practices such as IBM Design Thinking, Agile, DevOps used in developing and managing Cloud Native applications.

Advanced Courses & Next Steps:

1. Complete Debugging and Troubleshooting Containers on Katakoda.
2. Learn Docker in Production on Katakoda.
3. Learn Docker Security on Katakoda.
4. Learn Docker Orchestration / Swarm Mode on Katakoda.
5. Running Containers without Docker on Kotakoda.
6. Configuration Management for Containerized Delivery on edX.

For IBMers:

For IBM-ers who have access to YourLearning courses and Safari Books Online:

1. Complete the IBM Cloud Private Consultant Bootcamp, which includes 15+ hours of self-paced learning on Kubernetes, Helm, Docker, Microservices (IBM Garage Method), Cloud Foundry, and introduction to IBM Cloud Private.
2. Complete other courses and certifications from the ICp series: IBM Cloud Private - Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery Pipelines.

Books:

1. Read up on Docker on Safari Books online: Docker: Up & Running , Using Docker
2. Check out: Kubernetes: Up & Running and Kubernetes Cookbook.

Next Steps:

1. Find and join a Docker or Kubernetes community at meetup.com. Attend a few presentations, talk to people!
2. Capstone project: find an application you like, create a Docker container for it and publish it on Docker Hub.

For additional Learning Paths, check out my Learn Cloud and AI with IBM Badges article.

This article was originally published on https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/cloud-native-docker-k8s-istio-mihai-criveti/

Learn Cloud and AI with IBM Badges

 Life-long learning doesn't have to cost a fortune. I've put together a free 'summer study plan' that covers Cloud Native, Docker / Kubernetes, Data Science, Big Data, Blockchain and IoT - and best of all - it's free. Completing the courses will earn you badges on Acclaim that can be easily shared on social media.

My favourite IBM sites for free courses and badges include:

• developerWorks Courses for courses and badges on Blockchain, IBM Cloud / Bluemix, Node-Red, Chatbots, Raspberry Pi, API Connect, Streaming, Docker and Kubernetes. I've completed the entire set - and I can say by far ' Cloud App Developer V2' is my favourite. 21 hours of self-paced hands-on training. The labs are excellent - and highlight the twelve-factor app methodology.
• Data Science and Cognitive Computing Courses on CognitiveClass.AI for learning paths on Containers, Kubernetes and IStio, Big Data, Python, R, Deep Learning, Analytics, Hadoop and Spark. I found "Applied Data Science with Python" to be a fun and exciting course. All the courses have hands-on labs, with tools deployed and available on the cloud through IBM Cloud, Data Science Experience or CogntiveClass Labs!
• CognitiveClass Labs - comes in support of the courses available on CogntiveClass.AI - providing access to data science tools such as OpenRefine, Jupyter Notebook/Lab, RStudio, Zeppelin Notebook, SeaHorse and more.
• IBM Watson Academy for courses and badges such as "Watson and Cloud Platform", "Watson Assistant", "Watson Discovery Service" or "Watson Knowledge Studio".
• IBM Garage Courses for "Garage Method Explorer" and "Garage Method Advocate"- an excellent series on DevOps, Agile, CI/CD, practices and tools.
• Watson IOT Academy - courses and badges on Watson IOT offerings.
• IBM Analytics Product Skills Validation - various analytics badges and courses - that usually build on top of existing learning paths.

Additional free resources:

• Katakoda provides interactive scenario driven labs and excellent courses on topics such as Docker, Kubernetes, Prometheus, Git, Jenkins, Istio, Machine Learning, Tensorflow and more. I highly recommend taking some of the courses here!
• https://www.edx.org - you can 'audit' courses for free, but verified certificates usually cost money. Worth taking a look for courses such as Introduction to Kubernetes from the Linux Foundation or Essential Math for Machine Learning: Python Edition
• http://www.fast.ai - free courses on Deep Learning, Computational Linear Algebra.

If you want to try something hands-on, respond to IBM's Call for Code - and build an application to tackle natural disasters (hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, extreme weather, etc).

This article was originally published on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/learn-cloud-ai-ibm-badges-mihai-criveti/

 

Microsoft released .NET Core as open source. Find out what's inside!

Microsoft announced that .NET Core will be open source, including the runtime and the framework libraries.
There are several open source Microsoft .NET projects on GitHub and CodePlex:

• .NET Core 5 (corefx) - foundational libraries that make up the .NET Core development stack;
• .NET Core 5 buildtools - Build tools that are necessary for building the .NET Core project;
• .NET Compiler Platform (Roslyn) - open-source C# and Visual Basic compilers with rich code analysis APIs;
• EntityFramework - Microsoft's recommended data access technology for new applications in .NET;
• ASP.NET vNext Home - The Home repository is the starting point for people to learn about ASP.NET vNext;

So what's in this stuff, anyway? Let's dissect it using sloccount and cloc (count lines of code) and find out!

Grab the code for Roslyn:

$ GIT_CURL_VERBOSE=1 git clone -v https://git01.codeplex.com/roslyn

Cloning into 'roslyn'...
error: RPC failed; result=56, HTTP code = 200
GnuTLS recv error (-9): A TLS packet with unexpected length was received.

Whatever - no time to rebuild git against OpenSSL. Let's use a workaround:

$ mkdir roslyn; cd roslyn; git init
$ git remote add origin https://git01.codeplex.com/roslyn
$ git checkout -B master origin/master

Great. Now let's grab the .NET Core dev stack, libraries and build tools (github clones fine):

$ git clone https://github.com/dotnet/corefx.git
$ git clone https://github.com/dotnet/buildtools.git

Analyze the .NET Core 5 (corefx) and buildtools

$ cloc --xsl=1 --xml corefx/ buildtools/

Language	Files	Blank	Comment	Code
C#	565	17312	24750	104192
XML	2	0	7	4456
MSBuild scripts	15	54	90	1820
SKILL	2	11	0	52
Visual Basic	1	17	1	43
ASP.Net	6	0	0	32
C/C++ Header	1	5	1	7
DOS Batch	1	0	0	5
Total	593	17399	24849	110607

Analyze Roslyn

$ cloc --xsl=1 --xml roslyn/Src

Language	Files	Blank	Comment	Code
C#	4138	186147	131956	1173792
Visual Basic	1767	178277	140738	981301
XML	4	1870	1920	12451
MSBuild scripts	74	0	216	10066
C/C++ Header	15	1607	428	7361
SKILL	33	888	0	4954
C++	12	322	186	1698
XSD	3	74	217	401
ASP.Net	44	4	0	351
XAML	3	3	1	128
DOS Batch	6	22	11	79
PowerShell	3	7	0	13
Total	6102	369221	275673	2192595

$ sloccount roslyn/Src

Total Physical Source Lines of Code (SLOC)                = 1,205,824
Development Effort Estimate, Person-Year (Person-Month) = 343.86 (4,126.29)
 (Basic COCOMO model, Person-Months = 2.4 * (KSLOC**1.05))
Schedule Estimate, Years (Months)                         = 4.93 (59.14)
 (Basic COCOMO model, Months = 2.5 * (person-months**0.38))
Estimated Average Number of Developers (Effort/Schedule)  = 69.78
Total Estimated Cost to Develop                           = $ 46,450,431
 (average salary = $56,286/year, overhead = 2.40).

So - what have we learned?

• sloccount COCOMO estimates are just that - estimates;
• We have over one million lines of C# to play around with;
• Porting this thing will likely depend on Mono and will require quite a lot of work;
• It still doesn't make up an ecosystem - there's work to be done here to turn this into a cross-platform .NET environment;
• Microsoft is most likely pushing for the clouds - this open source seems consistent with their recent partnership with Docker.

Set up a highly available firewall and load balancer in the IBM cloud

http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/cloud/library/cl-setupfirewalloncloud/index.html
Summary:  Set up a highly available (Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol) firewall and load balancer (Linux Virtual Server IP Virtual Server) using Keepalived for Linux and the IBM SmartCloud Enterprise virtual IP and anti-collocation features.

QEMU and kpartx to perform bare metal recovery or forensics on cloud instances

Using qemu or kpartx to perform "bare metal" instance recovery or forensics on KVM cloud instances:


Use QEMU on IBM SmartCloud Enterprise to recover images after system disasters

HP to Contribute webOS to Open Source

Looks like after killing their TouchPad tablet, HP open sources WebOS:

• http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2011/111209xa.html?mtxs=rss-corp-news
• http://developer.palm.com/blog/2011/12/open-source/
• I wonder.. https://github.com/hpwebos

Might mean the TouchPad will make a comback. We'll see.

Review: 1Q84

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I can't quite put my finger on it, but this books keeps reminding me of things I've forgotten or ignored.

I must say I've enjoyed Book 3 the most.

Well, that's it. For now at least - I'm out of Murakami :-(.



View all my reviews

Review: Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've been using the methods and techniques described in GTD along side mind mapping in practice for over 8 years (mostly due to tools like OneNote, Emacs ORG mode, XMind/Fremind, etc). Reading this book has definitely helped optimize my workflow and planning into something quite a bit more efficient.

Right now I'm still looking to overhaul my tooling, OneNote isn't available on UNIX-like system (though it mostly works with wine), and Emacs ORG mode isn't practical for pasting images, screenshots, video, audio, files, etc. and such for reference.

It's tried a bunch of Java tools (Thinking Rock and GTD Free) but they're not very good for reference, note taking and reminders / calendar stuff. So far it's proving hard to beat the OneNote + Outlook + Project combo.

One tool I've been using for a while now (probably an year or so) along side OneNote is Tracks . It's a RoR webapp that covers most things in the GTD workflow. Although import/export isn't yet available as of version 2.0, it gets the job done. It's also available from Bitnami as a pre-installed stack.

If you're into GTD or just like to organize yourself with TODOS, tasks, projects and such, Tracks is worth a try.

View all my reviews