How Docker can make your Server more efficient #Docker Docker is a relatively new application for Linux that is getting a lot of attention for potentially being able to revolutionize how business applications are run. While it is true that Docker offers a service unique from traditional virtualization, it’s not quite easily explained in a way that gets that across – after all, to the uninitiated, Docker Containers don’t sound all that different from virtual machines (VMs) that one would use in a VMWare environment or on a public cloud like vnCloud. The big thing about Docker is the sheer agility it offers to companies utilizing the technology. Docker containers enable users to easily move applications and services between host servers, with minimal energy spent in the transfer of data. For example, you can move an application server from one machine by another by simply uploading the container to GitHub, and downloading the container to the machines that require the container. Just get the container on a machine that has Docker installed, and you are ready to go – it doesnt matter if it is a traditional server, virtual environment, or a cloud server. In addition, once an organization starts using Docker at a larger scale, it also prevents any conflicts from different wings of IT over configuration issues, since most applications would be populated from a central Docker file that everyone can agree on. Docker is also highly efficient when it comes to storage since because the containers only save the changes to the original container when making configurations on your server. This means that storage can be relatively light while you work on your server configuration powered by a Docker container. For example, let’s say that a Docker container for a web server is 250 MB of space. However, you need to make some changes since the container was initially intended for the Canadian Market, and you are getting ready to build a new VM intended for the US market. By changing some of the keywords and website language to match what US customers would expect, you are able to make the changes to the VM and make your configurations as needed. At the system level, the only thing saved are the minor changes to the container to prepare you for the new environment, which might only be an additional 10 MB of text and some images, meaning the total space spent on the new machine is 260 MB. You could continue making images inside the machine and instead of spending gigabytes of data; the additional images would only take up negligible amounts of space. This enables a company to easy scale out applications to meet demands as rush time comes into place. For example, let’s say your company runs an eCommerce website that gets minimal traffic throughout the year, but gets absolutely slammed during the holidays. For a company like this, they can run their minimal configuration throughout the year, and once the holiday rush gets started, they can easily requisition new VMs through a public cloud and then pull the container files from a repository like GitHub to get the new servers able to handle the load extremely quickly, while making adjustments as needed – perhaps for different markets, or similar websites designed to draw additional customers from other sources. Once business starts to die down following the holidays, the VMs can be shut down, saving the company on significant costs to host those machines during the year when they simply don’t need them, while providing a highly agile solution that can be deployed incredibly fast. Read more: mytechlogy/IT-blogs/5680/how-docker-can-make-your-server-more-efficient/
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 00:39:31 +0000
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