Docker releases update enabling containerisation in legacy apps
Fri 18 Aug 2017
Docker has released a new update for its Enterprise Edition (EE) offering which allows containerisation across different operating platforms.
The update, labelled Docker Enterprise Edition 17.06, means legacy applications running on Windows, Linux, and Linux-based mainframes can be containerised. Docker argues that this release solidifies its lead in the Container-as-a-Service (Caas) market.
It notes that most enterprises will have a broad set of applications, including traditional applications and microservices, built on both Windows and Linux, and many of these will need modernising.
According to Docker, this new release will unite all of these into a single platform. It adds that EE will be ‘complete with customisable and flexible access control, support for a broad range of applications and infrastructure, and a highly automated software supply chain.’
What this means for customers, it says, is the ability to layer Docker EE onto existing processes and workflows, improving resilience and reducing maintenance time, without having to change organisational structures or code.
Organisations will be able to modernise their applications without disruption and applications will be made more portable, scalable, and easier to update. Traditional apps and microservices can be containerised and deployed in the same cluster, either on-premises or in the cloud.
As well as this, Docker claims as one of its key features the ‘consistent experience’ that users will have across Linux, Windows, and Linux-on-mainframe applications.
There’s an advantage for those bringing across old applications to be containerised. Director of products at Docker, Jenny Fong, said the team has seen some legacy apps up to 25 years old. For an app of that age, containerisation provides a strong security solution.
The update comes shortly after Docker received $75 million (approx. £58 million) in additional funding as the company pushes to gain business customers and monetise its open source tools.
