Docker as a Service

In the preceding discussions, we delved into Docker, containers, and their usage. In this post, we'll explore Containers as a Service (CaaS) in a broader context and how Docker realizes the concept of CaaS.

Why Docker as a Service?

Consider a typical developer workflow utilizing Docker, which involves various IT activities, as illustrated in the reference workflow from Docker documentation.

• Infrastructure Management: Docker containers and related tools need infrastructure to host them.
• Compute, Storage, and Networking: Provisioning resources like compute, storage, and networking for containers.
• Application Lifecycle Support: Supporting the lifecycle of applications, including deployment and scaling.
• Monitoring and Scaling: Monitoring resource utilization and dynamically scaling containers.
• Orchestration: Handling orchestration of containers at an enterprise scale.

Addressing these challenges becomes crucial at an enterprise scale. Traditionally, administrators used Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) platforms like AWS EC2, managing these aspects manually or through custom tools. However, Docker now provides a solution with Container-as-a-Service (CaaS).

Container as a Service (CaaS)

CaaS is a cloud service model enabling users to order and utilize containerization infrastructure from a cloud provider, following a pay-as-you-go model. Docker CaaS and Amazon EC2 Container Service (ECS) are examples of this model.

Key features of CaaS include:

• API or Web Interface: Managing containers through an API or web interface.
• Resource Monitoring: Monitoring compute, storage, and network resources used by containers.
• Cluster Management: Providing cluster management and orchestration capabilities.
• Security and Governance: Offering security and governance controls.
• Cloud Agnosticism: Optionally being cloud-agnostic for flexibility across different providers.

Docker CaaS

Docker's CaaS offering, Docker Datacenter, packages Docker's tools to provide a consistent container infrastructure for developers and IT, particularly in enterprise settings.