Imagine a moving truck that is empty of boxes. Rather, the vehicle is crammed with unpacked stuff. It would take hours to find anything and unpack in this situation. If the truck is packed full of labeled boxes, unloading becomes significantly easier.
What Is Containerization In DevOps?
What is containerization in devops? Developers can package an application with all of its dependencies and release it as a single unit thanks to virtualization and containerization. Because they are separate from one another, containers can operate on the same host without interfering with one another. They are, therefore, perfect for microservices, which are compact, modular apps that may be launched separately.
Containers come in two primary varieties:
- Linux containers. These kinds of containers segregate programs from one another by utilizing Linux kernel characteristics.
- Windows containers. This type of container isolates programs from one another by utilizing the Windows Server Container functionality.
Because Linux containers are more manageable and lightweight, they are more often used in DevOps. Nevertheless, DevOps environments can also take advantage of Windows containers.
So, How Does Containerization Work In DevOps?
Developers write code, which is then sent to the operations team for deployment in the conventional application development process. Because the operations staff might not be able to keep up with the rate of development, this could result in a bottleneck.
Developers can package their apps into containers using containerization and then send them to the operations team for deployment. After that, the operations team can install and configure nothing on the server to deploy the containers. As a result, the deployment procedure is considerably quicker and more effective.
Why Are DevOps Containers So Important?
Improved Security
The advantages of containers for security have already been briefly discussed, but this is a more thorough explanation. Containers can be shut down to defend against malicious attacks and other security risks since they are isolated from the host system. Additionally, containers add an added degree of security by ensuring that only essential components are operating, which makes it harder for attackers to take advantage of them.
Continuous Deployments
Applications may be deployed more rapidly and effectively, thanks to containerization. Using containers, you can bundle the configuration, the application, and its dependencies into a single package that can be installed in any environment. As a result, it's simple to deploy apps frequently and rapidly without worrying about configuration or compatibility problems.
Increased Portability
Because they are unaffected by the underlying host system, containers are easily transportable between various contexts.
Read more: What is DevOps? The Ultimate Solution for Development Success - $1 Billion Impact!
What Are The Benefits Of Containerization In DevOps?
The use of containers in DevOps has numerous advantages. Below, we address five.
Faster Deployments
Since nothing needs to be installed or configured, containers can be deployed far more quickly than traditional apps. As a team, this can help you test and iterate more quickly.
More Efficient Use Of Resources
Because containers are separate from one another, they can operate on the same host without interfering with one another. They are, therefore, more effective than virtual machines, which need separate resources.
Better Application Compatibility
Compared to typical apps, containers are more portable since they can operate on any platform that supports container runtime.
Increased Security
Because containers keep processes apart, they remain unaffected even if one is compromised. You can use this to make sure your application is safe.
Scalability
Scaling up or down a container to accommodate fluctuating demands is simple. For complicated programs, that can mean lowering the number of containers or adding more. Developers can expand the functionality of an application without jeopardizing its original design because of scalability.
Advantages And Disadvantages Of Containerization
Consider whether to employ containerization if you're working on an application. We've compiled the advantages and disadvantages you should think about to assist you in making an informed choice.
Containerization Pros
Numerous benefits of containerization, such as speed and security, have already been discussed. Using containers helps speed up the testing and deployment of apps by your team. Additional benefits include:
- Portability. On any platform that supports container runtime, containers can operate since they are portable.
- Ease of management. Platforms for container orchestration let you automate a lot of the tasks related to containerized applications. This facilitates the monitoring, debugging, and release of new software versions.
Containerization Cons
Let's go over some of the drawbacks before you decide to switch over entirely to containers. This comprises:
- Security risks. Although this technique stops compromised containers from compromising others, more security is needed for containerization as a whole. Because containers only provide a limited view of the underlying system, they can also be challenging to troubleshoot.
- Orchestration. Veritas claims that while working with containers, you need various orchestration tools. Meanwhile, virtual machines require a single orchestrator.
- Increased complexity. Developers have more to monitor when there are more layers and containers. More complexity results from the fact that not all application components can be containerized.
DevOps Container Best Practices
Let's review some best practices for maximizing the use of containers and containerization before we wrap up this guide:
- Inspect Container Images Early in Development: Rather than waiting until deployment, you should inspect your container images early in development for potential risks and vulnerabilities.
- Use Persistent Data Storage: It is important to ensure that data is persistently kept if your application requires access to it. This way, if the container is moved or deleted, your data will not be lost.
- Take Advantage of Container Orchestration Tools: Managing numerous containers simultaneously is made simple by container orchestration solutions such as Kubernetes. It is considerably easier to deploy and administer these tools.
- Test Your Containers: You should test your containers after they are deployed to ensure proper operation. This guarantees the security and proper operation of your apps.
Examples Of Containerized Applications
We then talked about the benefits of containerization for teams. However, how do businesses use containers in practical settings? Here are three instances of containerization in action.
Netflix
One company that uses containerization is Netflix, which has thousands of titles to stream and a sizable database to maintain. The business even created its container management platform, Titus.
Many of Netflix's essential functions are carried out via containers. This covers large data, content-encoding, video streaming, and recommendation systems. According to the engineering firm Simform, they run up to 200,000 clusters and 500,000 containers every day.
Buffer
A platform for scheduling social media posts. Another business that uses containerization is Buffer. The ideal image ratio varies throughout social media networks. Buffer developed a cutting-edge container orchestration solution to assist in picture resizing to handle these variations.
Booking.Com
A Kubernetes case study quotes Booking.com developers as saying that developing a new service may take days or weeks prior to containers. Nevertheless, in the first eight months of using the platform, the company developed 500 new services after converting to containers and the Kubernetes container orchestration system.
Conclusion
Because containerization makes application deployment faster, it is an essential component of the DevOps trend. Production environments are also adopting containers more frequently due to their greater scalability and security. To stay up to date with this expanding trend, begin learning the fundamentals of containerization. Contact us as we are the best DevOps Services Company.
