Virtualization and Cloud executives share their predictions for 2015. Read them in this VMblog.com series exclusive.
Contributed article by Robert Treat, CEO of OmniTI
Docker Virtualization to Become Mainstream
With
the advent of tools like Docker, 2014 was the year Linux found
containers. While other operating systems, like Illumos and BSD, have
had solid container support for years, Docker flipped this on its head,
targeting the Linux platform and going after developers, which has
created a significant buzz in the community. While this has been good
for early adopters, more traditional shops and enterprise users have yet
to get much benefit out of this trend. 2015 will be the year that this
lightweight virtualization goes mainstream.
For
starters, expect to see product companies add additional support for
containers, and expect enterprises to try to incorporate containers into
their systems as well. Many upstart vendors have already begun
incorporating Docker compatibility into their products, and cloud
providers are getting on the bandwagon as well; even Microsoft has
announced plans to support Docker inside its Azure cloud service. When
Microsoft starts offing support for Linux based technology, you know
there are going to be a lot of other companies following the lead.
What
remains is for enterprise and other companies that are currently
running their own services to figure out how to incorporate these
changes. Some companies will turn to alternative operating systems, like
the aforementioned Illumos or BSD, which have had strong container
solutions for several years. One of the drivers for that will be
security; Linux based containers (specifically Docker) are not secure
enough for multi-tenancy deployments, and it will be some time before
that can be fixed and that those fixes will mature, so people who want
containers now but need security will have to look elsewhere.
Of
course switching costs are high, and as they say "Linux is the new
Windows", so expect most companies to wait for improved Linux container
support to come to them. Have no doubt though, by the end of 2015 CTOs
and CIOs will be pressed to answer what their strategy for taking
advantage of lightweight virtualization is going to be.
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About the Author
Robert Treat is CEO of OmniTI,
a provider of web infrastructures and applications for companies that
require scalable, high-performance, mission critical solutions. Robert
is an experienced open source developer and advocate, using his skills
to implement web sites and web-based applications for over decade. He is
an international speaker on databases, open source, and managing
operations at scale. He has worked on numerous open source projects over
the years, and has been recognized as a Major Contributor to Postgres
for his work.