Docker Releases Orchestration Tools to Support Open Source Containerization

Docker is promising freedom from vendor lock-in with the release this week of its first orchestration tools for download, which it says ensure maximum portability for apps running on the open source containerization platform.

The orchestration tools include Docker Machine, Docker Swarm and Docker Compose. Designed to help system administrators deploy and manage apps running inside Docker containers, the tools provide host provisioning (Machine), clustering support (Swarm) and support for distributed applications that span multiple containers (Compose).

The release of the orchestration software is yet another step for Docker toward widespread production deployment. Only 13 percent of organizations report currently using Docker, but that number is set to grow immensely, and better orchestration resources are part of the reason why.

Yet that’s not the biggest part of the story here, according to Docker. The real significance of these orchestration tools is that, by making it easier to port containers between Docker host environments and standardized app deployment and maintenance, they assure greater interoperability between Docker platforms from different vendors, the developers say.

“Distributed applications are dynamically evolving and in constant motion which is why Docker orchestration uniquely covers application portability at all phases of the application development lifecycle,” said Solomon Hykes, chief architect of the Docker Project. “I’m excited to share with the community the growing validation of our model by providing great partnerships that ensure complete freedom of choice in how and where these multi-container, multi-host applications are being built, shipped and run.”

This might not be as big a deal if Docker weren’t open source. But since vendor neutrality is part of the definition of open source for most people, providing assurance against vendor lock-in will be key to Docker’s success—as well as its ability to keep pitching itself as a truly open source platform.