Know About Linux containers

Containers allow a developer to package up an application with all of the parts it needs, such as libraries and other dependencies, and ship it all out as one package. And they are designed to make it easier to provide a consistent experience as developers and system administrators move code from development environments into production in a fast and replicable way.

In short, Linux containers, contain applications in a way that keep them isolated from the host system that they run on.

In a way, containers behave like a virtual machines. To the outside world, they can look like their own complete system. But unlike a virtual machine, rather than creating a whole virtual operating system, containers don’t need to replicate an entire operating system, only the individual components they need in order to operate. This gives a significant performance boost and reduces the size of the application. They also operate much faster, as unlike traditional virtualization the process is essentially running natively on its host, just with an additional layer of protection around it.

And importantly, many of the technologies powering container technology are open source. This means that they have a wide community of contributors, helping to foster rapid development of a wide ecosystem of related projects fitting the needs of all sorts of different organizations, big and small.

Container add security by isolating applications from other applications on a host operating system, but simply containerizing an application isn’t enough to keep it secure.

the Docker open source project, a command line tool that made creating and working with containers easy for developers and sysadmins alike, similar to the way Vagrant made it easier for developers to explore virtual machines easily.

Containers provide an isolated view of the system resources to the applications. In order to provide this contained view to the applications, Containers use some of the kernel features called namespaces, cgroups and chroot to carve off a contained area. An end result is a virtual machine without the hypervisor. Containers are a smart method of attaining isolation and resource control.

Interesting Alternatives to Some of the Classic Linux Commands

Legacy commands were created several decades ago and while they do their intended jobs, their functionalities could be improved and the structure could be simplified.

This is why there exist ‘alternative’ tools that enhance the legacy UNIX/Linux commands. In this article, I am going to list some new CLI tools that you could use in place of the good old classic Linux commands.

HTTPie: Alternative to wget and curl

When it comes to downloading files in terminal, wget and curl are the two of the most common tools. Interestingly, not all distributions have curl, wget installed by default.

HTTPie does the same job but in a more human-friendly way. You have colorized, the formatted output which makes it easier to understand and debug.

Bat: Alternative to cat

The cat command is perhaps one of the first commands you learn. It does the job for viewing the contents of small text files.

But bat command takes it to the next level by adding features like syntax highlighting and Git integration. The pagination option is also available.

ncdu: Alternative to du command

The du command in Linux is used for checking the size of a directory. It’s not very straightforward command and it certainly doesn’t give a very good default output.

Compared to that, ncdu is a lot better than providing the relevant information at the first glance.

There are other features here such as showing the disk usage in graphs, sort the display and even delete directories interactively.It is based on ncurses and hence the ‘nc’ is added to ‘du’. A similar CLI tool is gdu which is a du replacement written in Go which gives it a performance boost.

fd: Alternative to the find command

The find command is one of the most powerful and most used Linux commands. It’s impossible to imagine that a sysadmin could survive without using the find command.

But the find command has a strange structure and it could be slow if you do a large set of find operations. A better and faster alternative is fd command. Written in Rust, fd is simpler and faster than its legacy competitor.

exa: Alternative to ls command

The exa CLI tool adds a few features while listing directory contents. It has better defaults and uses colors to distinguish file types and metadata. exa can also display a file’s extended attributes, as well as standard filesystem information such as the inode, the number of blocks, and a file’s various dates and times.

You can use the tree view to see directory structure. It also has built-in Git support to see what files have changed, committed and staged etc.

Duf: Alternative to the df command

The df command in Linux is used for checking disk space. While it works most of the time, an easier and better alternative is duf, a tool written in Go.

It gives you an overview of all the devices mounted which is easy to understand. You also have the ability to specify a directory/file name and check free space for that mount point.

With duf, you can sort the output, list indoe information and even save the output in JSON format.

 

Google and Microsoft Cloud Solutions Compared

Microsoft 365

Many PC users will already be familiar with many applications from the Microsoft 365 suite. Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are some of the most well-known programs in the world and are part of the standard equipment in many offices. Microsoft 365 enables software solutions to be used in the cloud. This simplifies working on the go and transforms traditional office applications into modern collaboration tools.

Advantages Disadvantages
✓   Popular Office applications X   Complex licensing system
✓   Cloud and desktop solutions X  
✓   Extensive opportunities for collaboration X  
✓   Cloud storage included X  

Google Workspace

Google has been offering more than just its search engine for a while now. Office solutions were also part of its product portfolio relatively early on. Back then, Google was actually one of the first to offer spreadsheets, word processing, and the ability to create presentations via a web application in the browser. By integrating Gmail and Google Drive, the individual programs in the meantime, it has grown into a comprehensive suite that is completely in the cloud.

Advantages Disadvantages
✓   Device-independent operation X   No desktop version
✓   Professional email domain included in Gmail X  
✓   Extensive opportunities for collaboration X  
✓   Cloud storage included X  

Google and Microsoft cloud solutions compared

With the productivity software Google Workspace, Google is targeting the business segment – a declaration of war to market leader Microsoft and their competitor product Microsoft 365.

App feature Microsoft 365 Google Workspace
Word processing Microsoft Word Google Docs
Spreadsheet calculation Microsoft Excel Google Sheets
Presentations Microsoft PowerPoint Google Slides
Email Microsoft Outlook Gmail
Digital notepad Microsoft One Note Google Keep
Web hosting Microsoft Sharepoint Google Sites
Video conferencing Skype for Business Google Meet
Instant messaging service, group chats Microsoft Teams, Skype for Business Google Chat
Chat-based workspace Microsoft Teams Google Chat
Social Media for companies Yammer Google Currents
Office applications as web apps Yes Yes
Offline operation possible Yes Yes
Cloud storage & file sharing Microsoft 365 Google Workspace
Storage capacity per user license 1 TB Depending on the plan 30 GB, 1 TB, 5 TB or unlimited
Synchronization Yes Yes
Versioning Yes  
File sharing via link including expiration date Yes Yes
Search function Yes NLP supported
Collaboration Microsoft 365 Google Workspace
Business suitable appointment and contact management Yes Yes
Joint editing of texts, tables, and presentations Yes Yes
Video calling Yes Yes
Instant messaging Yes Yes
Group chats Yes Yes
Video conferencing Yes Yes
Internal company websites/Intranet Yes Yes
Social Media for companies Yes Yes
Email Microsoft 365 Google Workspace
Ad free Yes Yes
Includes your own email domain No Yes
Mobile app Yes Yes
Desktop mail client included Depends on plan No
Email aliases Yes Yes
Groups/Email distributors Yes Yes
Security & data security Microsoft 365 Google Workspace
Data encryption Yes Yes
ISO /IEC 27001 (Information security) Yes Yes
ISO /IEC 27017 (cloud security) Yes Yes
ISO 27018 (cloud privacy) Yes Yes
SOC 1 Yes No
SOC 2 Yes Yes
SOC 3 Yes Yes
FedRAMP Yes Yes
PCI DSS (security standard for credit card transactions) Yes Yes
HIPAA BAA Yes Not all applications
Support & availability Microsoft 365 Google Workspace
High availability 99.9 % 99.9 %
24/7 support Yes Yes
Telephone Yes Yes
Chat/Email Yes Yes

What’s Included in Each Google Workspace Plan

As G Suite has integrated more communication and collaboration tools, it has been rebranded to Google Workspace. All Google Workspace plans provide a custom email for your business and include collaboration tools like Gmail, Calendar, Meet, Chat, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Sites, and more.

Some of the Google Workspace plans available are listed below:

Business Starter

This plan includes custom and secure business email, security and management controls, as well as standard support. Each user is provided with 30GB of cloud storage and video meetings can include up to 100 participants.

Business Standard

The Business Standard plan includes all the features of the Business Starter plan, with users provided with a larger cloud storage capacity (2TB). Video meetings can include up to 150 participants, with recording capability.

Business Plus

For enhanced security and management controls, as well as eDiscovery and retention, this plan provides greater control and peace of mind. Video meetings of up to 250 participants, including recording and attendance tracking capability. Each user is provided with 5TB of cloud storage.

Each plan will give you access to your own email account and all the Google Workspace productivity and collaboration tools. The main differences lie in storage allowance, security features, and the level of administrative control you have over the products.

Google Workspace Business Starter Google Workspace Business Standard Google Workspace Business Plus Google Workspace Enterprise
Price $6/user/month $12/user/month $18/user/month Contact sales
Professional email (using your own domain) Yes Yes Yes Yes
Google Workspace Products (Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Calendar, Hangouts, Meet, Forms, Sites) Yes Yes Yes Yes
File storage 30 GB/user 2 TB/user 5 TB/user Unlimited
24/7 support Yes Yes Yes Yes
App Maker No Yes Yes Yes
Max. number of video participants 100 150 250 250
Ability to record and save video & voice conferences No Yes Yes Yes
Live-streaming on Meet Video No No No Yes
Cloud Search (advanced enterprise-wide search through Gmail, Drive, Docs, etc.) No Yes Yes Yes
Advanced enterprise controls (data loss prevention, security center, security key management, etc.) No No No Yes
Alerts for changes to Drive documents No Yes Yes Yes
Google Vault security (archiving for mail and chat messages, export features, etc.) No No Yes Yes
Ability to set rules for device management No No No Yes

Which Google Workspace Plan Should You Choose?

Google Workspace Business Starter

This plan would be a good option if:

  • You’re a freelancer, solopreneur or small business owner who manages a small team (i.e. less than 5 employees)
  • You want an email address on your own domain
  • You want to run your office tools out of Google (e.g. as opposed to Microsoft Office)
  • You don’t work with large file formats and don’t need a huge amount of space to store files and emails
  • You don’t need archiving for your emails and chat messages, or advanced admin and security controls

However, if you have a bigger team and/or don’t think the 30 GB of personal storage will cut it, then it’s worth considering one of the higher plans.

Google Workspace Business Standard

The $6/user/month price difference between Google Workspace Business Starter and Business Standard means that the Standard plan may not be a realistic option for some businesses. However, we’d recommend this plan if:

  • You manage a medium-to-large sized team
  • You want access to all the features of Google Workspace Business Starter, but also want email and message archiving (Google Vault)
  • You don’t want to worry about running out of storage space for your files
  • Easily syncing and sharing files across teams/the company is important to you
  • You plan to use Google Hangouts for video conferencing and would have less than 150 participants on any call
  • You don’t need advanced admin and security controls (e.g. data loss prevention, security key management)

Of course, if you need even greater control and more advanced security features, then Business Plus would be the way to go.

Google Workspace Business Plus

At $18/month/user, this plan is directed at larger businesses. We’d recommend it if:

  • You are in need of more advanced security features
  • 2 TB per user isn’t enough for you. The Business Plus plan allows for 5 TB per user
  • You regularly host very large video conferences with up to 250 participants

Google Workspace Enterprise

This is ideal for businesses and enterprises that need the features offered by Google Workspace Business Plus, but also:

  • Have larger teams, and therefore require greater admin and security controls over their Google Workspace apps
  • Need advanced security features such as device management rules, security key management and data loss prevention
  • Aside from having access to email archiving via Google Vault, need to be able to integrate with third-party archiving tools like Barracuda or Mailstore

The good thing is that you can purchase different plans for different users within your business. For example, if you only want Enterprise for some of your users, you don’t have to commit your entire team to it. This could help you reduce your monthly cost significantly.

There are also special plans available for schools (Google Workspace for Education and Google Workspace Enterprise for Education), and non-profits (Google Workspace for Non-profits, which is free of charge).

Plans can be billed monthly or annually. Discounts may also apply to annual plans, but generally only if you sign up through a Google representative.