Containerization has become the latest buzzword in cloud computing, and many believe that it can help modernize legacy systems by creating new, scalable cloud-native applications. So why the need for containerization now?
Let's start with virtualization and the rising use of virtual machines (VMs) in the cloud to better understand its need and meaning. In general, almost all businesses employ a cloud environment, either public or private, and their compute layer is represented by instances running virtual machines (VMs) with scalability and load-balancing capabilities.
However, there have been certain difficulties with virtualization technologies that have rendered these settings ineffective. These consist of:
Environment inconsistency – apps and packages deployment to virtual environments
OS dependency – only compatible operating systems were supported by deployed apps.
Isolation level – inability to provide instant sandbox above the level of the operating system
Compute consumption granularity – the inability to deploy multiple replicated applications, despite the fact that load balancing on the app layer occurred only within a single machine and not on the OS layer
Patching images in production-grade environments – Canary and blue-green deployments lack cluster flexibility and are difficult to manage across multiple regions.
So how can you solve these virtualization issues? The answer is Containerization.
Why Containerization?
Containerization is a natural evolution of virtualization because it is more efficient. Whereas virtualization is essential for running multiple operating systems (OSs) on a single server, containerization is more flexible and granular.
It focuses on breaking down operating systems into chunks so that they can be used more efficiently. Furthermore, an application container allows you to package apps in a portable, software-defined environment.
What is Containerization?
It is a type of OS virtualization in which applications are run in isolated user spaces called Containers that share the same operating system. An application container is a fully packaged and portable computing environment:
1. It contains everything an app requires to run, such as binaries, libraries, dependencies, and configuration files, all of which are encapsulated and isolated in a container.
2. Containerizing an application isolates it from the host operating system, allowing it limited access to underlying resources - similar to a lightweight virtual machine.
3. You can run the containerized application on a variety of infrastructures, including bare metal, the cloud, and virtual machines, without refactoring it for each environment.
Containerization reduces startup overhead and eliminates the need to set up separate guest operating systems for each app because they all share the same OS kernel. Because of this high efficiency, software developers frequently use application containerization to package several individual microservices that comprise modern apps.
What Does Containerization Do?
Containerization enables software developers to create and deploy apps more quickly and securely. Traditional methods require you to develop code in a specific computing environment, which frequently results in errors and bugs when you move it to a new location. For example, when transferring code from a desktop computer to a virtual machine or from a Windows to Linux operating system.
Containerization solves this problem by allowing you to package the application code with all of its associated configuration files, dependencies, and libraries. You then abstract that single package of software (container) from the host OS, allowing it to stand alone and become portable - capable of running without issue on any platform or cloud.
While the concepts of process isolation and containerization have been around for decades, the introduction of an open-source Docker Engine in 2013 accelerated the adoption of application container technology. With a universal packaging approach and simple developer tools, the Docker Engine became an industry standard for the containerization process.
Containers are frequently referred to as lightweight because they share the machine's OS kernel and do not require the overhead of associating an OS within each application, as in the case of virtualization. As a result, containers have a smaller capacity by definition than virtual machines and require less startup time, allowing more containers to run on a single compute capacity as one VM. As a result, higher server efficiencies are achieved while server and licensing costs are reduced.
To put it simply, containerization enables developers to write applications once and run them everywhere. This degree of portability is critical for developing process and vendor compatibility. Other advantages include fault isolation, security, and ease of management.
Advantages of Containerization
Containerized applications can be easily delivered to users in a digital workspace. Containerization provides significant benefits to software developers and development teams, ranging from improved agility and portability to lower costs. The benefits are as follows:
Portability
An application container generates an executable software package that is isolated from the host operating system. As a result, it is not dependent on or tied to the host OS, allowing it to be portable and run consistently and uniformly across any platform or cloud. Developers' OS consolidation methods also avoid inconsistencies like integration that seek to obstruct app functionality.
Agility
With simple developer tools and a universal approach that worked for Windows and Linux operating systems, the Docker Engine for running containers established the industry standard for application containers. That container ecosystem has now been shifted to engines managed by the Open Container Initiative (OCI). As a result, developers can continue to use DevOps tools and processes to accelerate app development and enhancement.
Speed
Containers are referred to as "lightweight" by developers because they share the host machine's OS kernel and do not incur additional overhead. Their lightweight feature increases server efficiencies while decreasing server and licensing costs. It also reduces startup time because there is no operating system to load.
You can use a Docker container to create a master version of an application (image) and quickly deploy it on demand. When you want to create multiple new containerized instances of apps on-demand, a container environment ensures high flexibility.
Scalability
Application container technology offers high scalability. By reconfiguring the existing architecture to enable resources using a service-oriented app design, an application container can handle increasing workloads. Alternatively, a developer can add more containers to a distributed machine cluster.
A container environment enables the instant addition of new functions, updates, and features without affecting the original applications. As a result, containers enable app scalability while consuming minimal resources.
Security
Using containers to isolate applications prevents malicious code from affecting other containerized apps or the host system. You can also define security permissions to automatically prevent unwanted components from entering other containers or to limit communications.
App isolation enables developers to share additional features without risk. For example, if you are working with a development team outside your network, you can share the necessary resources while keeping critical information within your network private.
Fault Isolation
Containerization isolates an application and allows it to operate independently of others. As a result, the failure of one container has no effect on the operation of the others. Development teams can quickly identify and correct technical issues within a faulty container while keeping the others running. Furthermore, the container engine can identify and isolate faults within containers by leveraging operating system security isolation techniques such as SELinux access control.
Efficiency
Developers can share app layers across containers because software running in containerized environments shares the host machine's OS kernel. Furthermore, containers have a lower capacity by definition than virtual machines. They have short startup times, allowing developers to run multiple containers on the same compute capacity as a single virtual machine. As a result, server efficiencies increase while associated server and licensing costs decrease.
Developer-Friendly
Containers are developer-friendly because they allow you to use a single environment for development and production, which is a common roadblock in web application development. Your development team may create an app on a Windows laptop that does not run on a Mac workstation.
Continuity
Different containers run independently, so if one fails, the others will continue to run. Development teams gain the ability to fix errors in one container without affecting others. As a result, containerization ensures operational continuity.
Ease of Management
You can automate the installation, management, and scaling of containerized workloads and services by using a container orchestration platform. Container orchestration can help with management tasks such as rolling out new app versions, scaling containerized apps, and providing monitoring, logging, and debugging.
Disadvantages of Containerization
Containers are not perfect; they have drawbacks and limitations. To begin, a surprisingly large amount of setup work is required to develop, launch, and effectively manage a container strategy. There is insufficient app support and dependency, and despite emerging technologies, there is currently no complete solution. Furthermore, there are insufficient qualified, skilled, and experienced experts in the field.
Security
Containers pose a potentially greater security risk than traditional VMs. Because they have multiple layers, they require multi-level security. As a result, you must secure the containerized application as well as the registry, Docker daemon, and host OS.
Orchestration
For virtual machines that come with a virtualized solution, you can use a single orchestrator (such as a VMware orchestrator for VMware). When it comes to containers, however, you must choose between various orchestration tools such as Kubernetes, Mesos, or Swarm.
Monitoring
Monitoring containers for performance and security issues is also critical. To address this issue, you can use a variety of essential monitoring tools, external monitoring services, and analytics. Because the cloud environment is complex, you must closely monitor security issues.
Data storage for VMs is simple, but it becomes more complicated for containers. You must move persistent container data from the application container to the host system or somewhere with a persistent file system. The design of containers is to blame for data loss. If you do not save the data inside before the container shuts down, it will be lost forever.
Nonetheless, the benefits of containerization far outweigh the drawbacks. As a result, determining whether you need containers is entirely dependent on your specific cloud requirements.
Containerization is one of the most recent software development trends, and its adoption will increase dramatically in both magnitude and speed. Its supporters believe that it allows developers to create and deploy software and applications more quickly and securely than traditional methods. Though costly, industry participants expect containerization costs to fall as its environments develop and mature.
You now have a better understanding of containerization, its advantages and disadvantages in enterprise environments.
Thank you for reading!
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