Oracle Autonomous Linux can update itself without human intervention, claims Oracle

Oracle claims that Oracle Autonomous Linux can tune and patch itself without human intervention

Oracle has unveiled Oracle Autonomous Linux, an autonomous operating system that, it claims, requires no human supervision to run.

According to Oracle, this is world's first autonomous operating system capable of tuning and patching itself while running.

The new operating system was unveiled on Monday by Larry Ellison, Oracle co-founder and chief technology officer, at Oracle's OpenWorld conference in San Francisco.

Ellison said the new operating system will help customers in achieving extreme performance, high reliability and security.

"One simple rule to prevent data theft: Put your data in an autonomous system," Ellison said in his keynote speech.

"If you eliminate human error in autonomous systems, you eliminate data theft."

"When you use the Oracle Autonomous Database, it configures itself. It's not possible for customers to make configuration errors, because there are no pilots to make errors. The system configures itself," Ellisson said, taking a dig at AWS.

Since Autonomous Linux doesn't need human interaction or supervision, it will help in improving security, productivity, and downtime, Ellison claimed.

Autonomous Linux can patch itself while the system is running, thus eliminating the need to shut down the system in order to patch it. That helps in cutting the downtime and eliminating some of the friction between developers and IT, according to the company.

According to Oracle, its existing Cloud Infrastructure customers can have the operating system at no extra cost.

Oracle also launched Oracle OS Management Service on Monday. The service allows users to select which servers are manually controlled and which are automated, and can also be used to eliminate manual tasks like patch management, configuration management, and security and compliance reporting.

When used with OS Management Service, Oracle Autonomous Linux provides automated patching, tuning and updating, including 100 per cent automatic security updates to user space library and Linux kernel on daily basis, the company said.

Oracle hopes that by launching a line-up of "self-driving" programmes, it would be able to strengthen its position in the cloud market, which is projected to reach almost $39 billion in 2019.

The tools may also attract long-time Oracle customers to upgrade their technology to take advantage of machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities.

Oracle is organising its "OpenWorld" conference without its CEO Mark Hurd who recently took leave of absence due to health issues.

Hurd has been the CEO of Oracle since 2010. However, he is not the only CEO of the company. Hurd shares the top post with Safra Catz, the co-CEO of Oracle.