The Secret to Streamlining your Development Workflow

In the past, application development used to be a difficult process. The biggest challenge to developers wasn’t developing a final product, but struggling to manage bugs and glitches which come up on customer systems as the product is deployed. While development systems often are built to uniform standards, client systems have an infinite amount of configurations. Fortunately this problem is being overcome thanks to technologies such as Docker.

Unlike traditional virtual machines which run completely independent of the client operating system – causing the systems to use extensive levels of resources – Docker is a solution which uses Linux Containers. For those unfamiliar with this technology, Linux Containers allow applications to pool the same resources as the host operating system, helping to reduce resource requirements. The next major component of Docker is the aufs fie system which handles the networking aspects of software packages. Simply put, this provides a lightweight virtualization solution which runs Unix processes in isolation. Currently Docker is primarily suited for Linux based systems. Windows support is possible however the process is very cumbersome.

While Docker has many use cases - for data center professionals the benefits are astronomical. In an interview with Docker CEO Ben Golub on Data Center Knowledge one of the most notable benefits is cost savings provided to data center professionals. Compared to traditional VMs, Docker containers deliver 20x to 80x greater density, allowing for resources to be used more efficiently on systems. Additionally hardware is not a restriction when it comes to implementing this technology. Some programmers have even rolled out solutions on ARM based equipment, however those systems have not been officially tested.

In addition to reducing overhead within the datacenter, large corporations can also benefit from container technology blurring the lines of SaaS products and self-hosted applications. Although SaaS applications can significantly cut costs for many businesses, at the enterprise level, licensing costs can add up. If you’re already investing in significant amounts of infrastructure, it might be cost effective to add a few more servers to self-host common tools.

By using packaging technologies, virtually anyone can take a piece of software and roll it out on their own infrastructure with ease. While this can easily be done with custom code, you also can package open source software to fit your needs.

To implement Docker within your company, your staff should have an intermediate knowledge of building software packages such as Linux RPMs, MSIs, or basic applications bundles such as zip and tar files. For a more in-depth discussion of Docker and how to implement it on your system, OpenSource.com has a page on the topic. Additionally you should have a solid hosting company to take advantage of this technology. Site24x7 has a free checklist you are using the host best suited for your needs.