Docker Lays Claim to Container Management Mantle

Storage vs. Backup: What Your Business Needs to Know

With the launch today of a Docker Datacenter (DDC) suite of management tools that makes use of a previously announced Docker Universal Control Plane framework to orchestrate containers, the fight for control over the future of enterprise applications is now officially on.

Instead of relying on the Kubernetes framework developed by Google, Scott Johnston, senior vice president for product management and design at Docker, says Docker is making the case for managing containers using a set of technologies it has developed specifically for that purpose.

In addition to the Docker Universal Control Plane, DDC is essentially a suite of tools that includes the Docker Trusted Registry and embedded support for Docker Engine. Rather than having to acquire all these capabilities separately, Johnston says, Docker has essentially eliminated all the integration effort required to manage containers as an IT service.

Designed to be compatible with the Docker application programming interface, DDC is also designed to be compatible with most of the logging and monitoring tools that many IT organizations already have in place. The result is an end-to-end approach to managing containers that adds minimal overhead to an existing IT environment, Johnston says.

Of course, it remains to be seen what frameworks will ultimately dominate the management of containers. But the good news is that IT organizations will have no shortage of options.