NextComputing is a proud sponsor of the Nix Vegas Conference and will be presenting the Nexus with Ampere Fly-Away Kit with the NixOS community demo of application deployments. This is the first Nix community event at DEF CON, presented by the Southern California Nix User Group and Distractions, Inc.

About Nix

Nix is a tool that takes a unique approach to package management and system configuration. Learn how to make reproducible, declarative and reliable systems. With Nix, you don’t even have to imagine that you can build the digital commons from scratch. One change to the bootstrap, and you’ll rebuild the world. But, it’s your world, and you can see every leaf and branch of the Great Tree in front of you.

In a world full of unwanted app updates and SaaS providers who want your personal information, being able to self host one of the largest collections of software on the planet in a stable way across updates with NixOS has the potential to change the game for anyone who’s tired of the slow decline of cloud services. With a single line of code, you can enable replacements for services as varied as Google Photos or Slack, and deploy them repeatably across as many machines as you want.

Even if you don’t run NixOS, building software with Nix allows you to deploy it across different Linux distributions and architectures. No longer do you have to build entire distributions into Docker images or flatpaks that bitrot – Nix can do that too, and it can do it over and over again. Set up a development shell to provide friends or coworkers access to dev environments, and build your software the same way every time, with upwards of 120,000 packages you can leverage.

The Nix and NextComputing Solution

The NextComputing Nexus Ampere FAK (Fly-Away Kit) is a powerful, portable, and rugged computing solution designed for demanding tasks in the field, often involving AI inference, cyber defense, data analytics, and edge computing. It leverages Ampere Altra ARM-based processors, known for their high core count, power efficiency, and predictable performance.
Combining this specialized hardware with NixOS, a Linux distribution built on the Nix package manager, can bring significant benefits, especially for the typical use cases of a FAK kit. Here’s a breakdown:

Benefits of NixOS on the NextComputing Nexus Ampere FAK Kit:

Reproducibility and Reliability (Critical for Field Deployments):

• Declarative Configuration: NixOS configurations are written in a declarative language. This means you define the desired state of your entire system (OS, packages, services, configurations) in a human-readable file. This is immensely beneficial for a FAK kit, as it ensures that every kit can be deployed with an identical, tested, and known-good configuration.
• “Works on my machine” eliminated: This declarative nature, combined with Nix’s content-addressable store, means that if a configuration works on one Nexus Ampere FAK kit, it will work identically on another. This is crucial for consistent performance and troubleshooting in critical field operations.
• Atomic Upgrades and Rollbacks: NixOS updates are atomic. If an update fails or introduces an issue, you can instantly and reliably roll back to the previous working configuration. This is invaluable in remote or high-stakes environments where system stability is paramount and downtime is unacceptable.
• Version Control for Systems: Your entire system configuration can be stored in a version control system (like Git). This allows for tracking changes, collaborating on configurations, and reverting to any past state with ease.

Isolated and Consistent Environments (Ideal for Diverse Workloads):

• No Dependency Hell: Nix’s unique approach to package management means that different versions of the same library or application can coexist without conflict. This is particularly useful on a multi-purpose FAK kit that might run various tools for cyber analysis, AI models, and network monitoring, each with its own specific dependencies.
• Project-Specific Environments: You can define specific development or execution environments for different projects or tasks. This ensures that the tools and libraries for one operation don’t interfere with another, promoting clean and reliable execution. This is a powerful feature for teams working on diverse, specialized tasks within a single FAK.

Enhanced Security:

• Immutable System: While not strictly “immutable” in the traditional sense, NixOS’s approach makes the base system highly resistant to accidental or malicious modification. Changes are applied declaratively, making unauthorized alterations difficult to persist.
• Predictable Builds: The reproducible nature of Nix ensures that all components are built from a known source with specific dependencies, reducing the risk of hidden vulnerabilities or unexpected behavior.

Optimized for ARM Architecture (Ampere Altra CPUs):

• NixOS has strong support for various architectures, including ARM. This is a significant advantage as the NextComputing Nexus FAK kit is built around Ampere Altra ARM processors. This ensures that NixOS can leverage the full performance and efficiency benefits of the underlying hardware.

Ease of Deployment and Management:

• Automated Provisioning: Once your NixOS configuration is defined, you can easily provision new FAK kits or re-provision existing ones with minimal manual intervention. This streamlines deployment for large-scale operations or when new kits need to be rapidly brought online.
• Configuration as Code: Treating your infrastructure as code simplifies management, auditing, and collaboration, which is increasingly important for complex systems like advanced FAK kits.

Resource Efficiency (Leveraging Ampere’s Strengths):

• While NixOS itself isn’t inherently lighter on resources than other Linux distributions, its precise dependency management can lead to smaller deployed environments, as only necessary components are included. When combined with the power-efficient Ampere CPUs, this contributes to a highly optimized and efficient system for field operations where power consumption might be a concern.

In summary, for a highly specialized and mission-critical piece of hardware like the NextComputing Nexus Ampere FAK kit, NixOS offers a compelling set of advantages, primarily centered around its unparalleled reproducibility, reliability, and robust configuration management. These features directly address the challenges of deploying and maintaining complex computing solutions in dynamic and demanding field environments.