Docker Enterprise Edition Updated To Enhance Containers-as-a-Service

Docker has released a new version of its Enterprise Edition (Docker EE), which was launched in March this year.

The new version of the open source container platform (17.06) supports IBM Z and Windows Server 2016, and is being touted as the first Containers-as-a-Service (CaaS) solution in the market.

Docker EE

Docker is an increasingly popular technology that began life as a container platform for Linux developers.

But now it allows all types of organisations to run applications, and it isn’t just a technology used by small companies. In fact, most adoptions are apparently by organisations that are monitoring 500 or more server hosts.

But implementing a system like Docker’s container platform can require certain skills, and so Docker is offering Docker EE that aims to remove some of the complexity for corporate implementations.

Essentially Docker EE is a package of tools available out of the box. It is designed to work across any supported Linux, Windows or cloud platforms, such as Microsoft Azure or AWS for example.

“Docker EE is the only solution for modernising Windows, Linux, and mainframe applications across on-premises and cloud, without requiring code changes,” blogged the firm.

“With organisations dedicating large portions of their IT budget towards maintaining existing apps and the digital era forcing everyone to focus on innovation, Docker EE provides a non-disruptive way to modernise existing applications to make them more portable, more scalable, and easier to update,” it wrote.

Docker EE can package all types of different applications in a standard format. This means the software development teams does not need to change their code, and organisations can simply containerise traditional apps and microservices and deploy them in the same cluster, either on-premises or in the cloud.

Architectural Changes

New features on the architectural side with Docker EE include support for full lifecycle management of Docker Windows containers, including image scanning, secrets management, and overlay networking.

Another feature is the integration of Windows and Linux applications through the use of overlay networking to support hybrid applications.

The new version also work across mixed clusters of Windows, Linux, and mainframe worker nodes, and includes added support of Linux on IBM z Systems.

Aside from these architectural changes, Docker EE also allows organisations to customise role-based access control and define both physical and logical boundaries for different teams sharing the same Docker EE environment.

Another new option is that organisations can create predefined policies that can remove bottlenecks in the process to maintain compliance and prevent human errors.

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