Cloud directions: Containerization is coming

Containerization and microservice architectures figure prominently in the future of the cloud

One often heard buzz word in cloud talk is containerization. Don’t roll your eyes—containers and containerization, and the closely related idea of microservices, are some of the best things to happen in and to the cloud.

Containerization technology aims to deliver the portability of data and applications, a goal which open systems initiatives in IT have pursued for decades. Similar to virtualization, containerization isolates applications from their infrastructural systems, but with greater simplicity and more universal standardization than virtualization has been able to accomplish. As a result, applications would be able to run on any facilitating technology layer of systems software and hardware.

In a simple analogy, the sea would be the underlying infrastructure and ships are cloud platforms. The ships carry standard containers that can be moved and loaded anywhere, in any fashion. The goods in the containers are the applications. In the containerized cloud, containers can be provisioned and managed according to best practices without considering their application content. Applications become more easily discoverable and shareable.

Microservices are coming your way

Containerization makes developers’ lives easier because they do not need to build and recompile their applications for different environments. Containers support microservices performing closely defined, small tasks. System development in a microservice architecture can be modular and continuous, delivering one process or task at a time in short steps. And, because containerization entails independence from underlying technology infrastructures, developers can create their microservices by using the programming tools and databases they prefer. Changes in containerized applications can be much smaller in scale, which makes them easier to test and less risky. What’s more, containers are easy to launch and deploy, allowing rapid scalability. By the same token, decommissioning them is also fast and simple.

The agility and flexibility of the service-based container model prompts Gartner to assert that “containers are emerging as a critical technology” and “microservice architecture is an emerging pattern.” Gartner analysts named service architecture as one of the top-ten technology trends in 2016.

One of today’s leading container solutions is Docker, which we use in solution development at STAEDEAN. Large cloud service providers such as Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services are partnering with Docker.

Blog posts in the cloud series:

• State, directions, and legends of the cloud
• Cloud goes beyond cost control
• Cloud security and your continuing data center operation
• Understanding cloud benefits and how virtualization comes into play
• Cloud directions: Hybrid is here to stay
• Cloud directions: Containerization is coming
• Cloud directions: Cloud-native solutions are on the increase

If you would like to talk, or have questions and feedback, please get in touch. Get in touch with me or contact STAEDEAN.

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