What does it need pods for? Container technology is virtualization 2.0
Containers are indispensable in the development of cloud applications. As a developer of open source-based enterprise applications, VNC explains the benefits.
Companies on the topic
“I podde now,” says Procter & Gamble’s Ariel advertising for liquid detergent in gel cushions. However, the Bavarian State Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Forestry criticises that these caps are not individually dosable and therefore hardly environmentally friendly. Pods in connection with software containers allow exactly the opposite: flexibility through microservices.
(Image: Bavarian State Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Forestry)
With the logical separation of hardware and software, virtualization has made IT more flexible and efficient. However, for many applications operating in hybrid, cloud, and multi-cloud environments, traditional application virtualization with hypervisors is reaching its limits. The virtual machines used are too large, too slow and too demanding in their resource requirements.
With containerization, however, the predestined technology is already available. With their microservices and pods, containers are the answer to the growing digitalization of business processes. They are needed for highly scalable real-time applications such as messengers or video conferencing systems that are only operable with container technology. Here are more benefits:
“Container technology continues to develop with incredible dynamism,” says Andrea Wörrlein, Managing Director of VNC in Berlin and Managing Director of VNC AG in Zug. “Anyone who does not invest massively in competence and clever minds now runs the risk of losing touch with software development.“
(Picture: VNC)
- 1. Containers need neither hypervisor nor guest operating system: Unlike virtual machines, containers interact with a complete runtime environment that includes all the necessary tools, program libraries, and configuration files. They are completely virtualized compared to the operating system level. Also, the use of a hypervisor is no longer necessary. This saves resources (e.g. storage space), accelerates the entire process and increases the portability of applications.
- 2. Containers are small, agile and modular: Unlike virtual machines, containers are slim and rarely larger than 100 megabytes. As a result, they are quick to start, increase the utilization of servers and allow the use of functional modules, so-called microservices, within pods. This can be an application logic or a database service that can also be used in other containers and managed via Kubernetes. The automated load distribution also facilitates updates and upgrades without downtime.
- 3. Container make applications highly scalable: Container-based applications are flexibly scalable both upwards and downwards. In case of load peaks, for example with a surprisingly large number of participants in a messaging tool or a video conferencing system, further pods are simply started. Additional necessary resources can be used on-demand and then shut down again – regardless of a specific platform.
- 4. Containers are provider-agnostic: Containers can be used independently of the IT infrastructure on which the programs are hosted and of the service provider that provides them. This enables the use of hybrid and multi – cloud scenarios and avoids vendor lock-in, because it opens up the opportunity to change providers at any time, or to use multiple service providers hybrid.
- 5. Containers facilitate DevOps: The separation between development and operations can be overcome more easily with containers. Since they are virtualized against both the hardware and the operating system, they can not only be more easily ported to other machines, but also more easily transferred from test to production systems.
* Andrea Wörrlein is Managing Director of VNC in Berlin and Administrator of VNC AG in Zug.
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