DockerCon 17 EU – Through the eyes of a VMware guy

One of the great things about Tech Field Day is that it exposes smart people to companies and ideas that they might otherwise never get a deep dive into. This was the case with Ian Sanderson, a self-professed “VMware guy”, attending Tech Field Day Extra at DockerCon EU 2017. Ian quickly found out why containers get a lot of buzz, he sees them now as less virtualization-lite and more as a specialized application delivery system. It got him thinking how he could apply containers to solve problems, even as he was still getting familiar with the technology.

Docker – State of the Nation (aka Observations of a Brit)

Alex Galbraith reflects on the influence of Docker, a post originally began after their Tech Field Day presentation from November. He’s recently seen the change in perception from an OS-centric view of the world to a more services oriented approach from a number of people. it seems that year of Docker hype are becoming a reality. Alex cites the increasing desire for organizations to automate code deployment pipelines and overall platform security as some of the more prevalent reasons for the switch.

Modernizing Traditional Applications with Docker

While DockerCon last year definitely had some focus on the enterprise, Josh Coen was surprised to see the emphasis on it this time around. Microsoft was all over the place at the event, and with good reason. Docker’s focus at the event was their Modernizing Traditional Applications, certainly something applicable to the fine folks in Redmond. Josh reviews the benefits of legacy app containerization, Docker’s high level stages for the process, and offers his thoughts on what he saw. Josh got a full presentation on the details at Tech Field Day Extra, as well as a look into what Portworx is doing with software-defined storage for containers.

Docker, Modernizing Traditional Applications

At DockerCon, one of Docker’s major pushing was modernizing traditional applications, MTA. They’re specifically targeting containerizing legacy Windows applications, a lift and shift approach by placing an entire Windows image inside a container. Edward Haletky isn’t entirely won over by the draft specifications as outlined by Docker for this process. He does like that Docker introduced certified containers, which goes a long way to alleviate security concerns, and credential specification within PowerShell. The big challenge he sees is identifying applications going forward.

How Docker’s secure software supply chain is key for moving away from the VMware datacenter

Joep Piscaer attended a Tech Field Day Extra presentation from Docker at DockerCon, and got details on how the company is making it easier for enterprises to containerize legacy apps. Joep specifically focuses on software supply chain cycle facing enterprises. He reviews how Docker is removing friction in the supply chain decision making process, and thinks they are doing a better job than VMware.

What’s New in Networking: Docker at TFD12

Pete Welcher got a look at Docker’s plans to improve their networking from their presentation at Networking Field Day last November. Pete is still trying to wrap his head around what containers mean for networking. But in this post, he raises some prescient concerns. With the proliferation of containers and micro-services, he sees a world with the network getting even chattier, as container-based app components “pass the buck” to other components to actually get work done. It’s an interesting concern, and it’ll be interesting to see how this is addressed and hopefully resolved.