Announcing Bacalhau 1.4.0: Enhanced Manageability for Enterprises
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We’re excited to announce the release of Bacalhau 1.4.0, a significant update that introduces powerful new features and enhancements. Building on the momentum from our previous releases this year (1.2.0, 1.3.0, 1.3.1, and 1.3.2), Bacalhau 1.4 strengthens our platform’s performance, scalability, and user experience, solidifying its position as a leading platform for building and running distributed compute networks.
In this release, we focused on three major efforts, with particular emphasis on those deploying Bacalhau at scale:
Performance and Scalability Enhancements
Extended Job Queuing: Bacalhau 1.4.0 introduces a more robust queuing system, improving job scheduling and execution efficiency, especially in high-demand or globally distributed networks. By intelligently managing job queues, Bacalhau ensures smoother operations and increased throughput, leading to higher success rates for your distributed compute tasks.
Migration to NATS, Deprecation of libp2p and Embedded IPFS Node: We’ve fully transitioned to NATS.io as Bacalhau’s communication backbone, moving away from libp2p and the embedded IPFS node. This change streamlines communication and reduces overhead, marking a significant step towards a more efficient and scalable network. IPFS integration remains available with external nodes for those who need it.
Improved User Experience
Updated CLI and HTTP API: Bacalhau 1.4.0 introduces a revamped command-line interface (CLI) and HTTP API. These updates align the CLI commands with the new API structure and enhance overall usability. While most changes are seamless for existing users, some command adjustments have been made (e.g., bacalhau create becomes bacalhau job run). Our updated documentation will guide you through the transition smoothly.
Job Spec Updates: We've introduced an updated Job Specification format while deprecating some features of the previous format. This change requires users to update their job specs but brings improved clarity and consistency.
Enhanced Error Reporting: Bacalhau 1.4.0 improves error reporting, making it easier to diagnose and troubleshoot issues. This enhancement contributes to a more stable and reliable experience, helping users quickly resolve any problems that arise. For detailed guidance, please consult our documentation on the new Job Spec requirements.
Introduction of Node Manager: In Bacalhau 1.4.0, we’re introducing the Node Manager. This feature simplifies node operations, providing a clear view of all compute nodes and their status. You can approve, deny, or delete nodes as needed, making management straightforward. Heartbeats from nodes keep the Node Manager updated on their connectivity, enhancing overall stability and performance.
Smooth Transition for Existing Users
Error Handling and Guidance: We understand that transitioning to a new version can be challenging. To ease this process, we’ve implemented helpful error messages and guidance for those adjusting to the changes in CLI behavior and job specifications. We’ve also created a table to show how some of the Bacalhau API endpoints have been remapped. If you’re not ready to upgrade, you can continue using version 1.3.1 while maintaining your private Bacalhau cluster.
Join Us on the Journey
We’re excited for you to explore the new features and enhancements in Bacalhau 1.4.0. Over the next five days, we’ll dive deeper into each topic in our “5 Days of Bacalhau” blog series. Whether you’re a seasoned Bacalhau user or just getting started, this update will empower you to build and run distributed compute networks more effectively than ever before.
Here’s what’s coming up:
2024-07-01: Announcing Bacalhau 1.4 (this post)
2024-07-02: Reducing costs and Deploying Bacalhau at scale with Spot Instances
2024-07-03: Dive Deep into Bacalhau’s Job Queueing
2024-07-04: Bacalhau, Documentation, and You!
2024-07-05: Bacalhau 1.4.0 API and SDK Showcase
Join us as we continue to push the boundaries of distributed computing with Bacalhau!
How to Get Involved
We welcome your involvement in Bacalhau. There are many ways to contribute, and we’d love to hear from you. Please reach out to us at any of the following locations.
Commercial Support
While Bacalhau is open-source software, the Bacalhau binaries go through the security, verification, and signing build process lovingly crafted by Expanso. You can read more about the difference between open-source Bacalhau and commercially supported Bacalhau in our FAQ. If you would like to use our pre-built binaries and receive commercial support, please contact us!
Onwards together!
The Bacalhau Team.
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