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INDUSTRY, TECHNOLOGY, PRODUCTS AND INNOVATION

Containerisation will redefine cloud

ccording to Benjamin Coetzer, can run uniformly on any infrastructure.
director at vendor-neutral Traditionally, code developed in a specific
Acloud infrastructure provider computing environment would have bugs
Routed, containerisation will redefine when transferred to a new location – such
the cloud. “Enterprises are embracing as from a Linux to a Windows operating
containers at a much faster pace than system. A container packages the software
expected. It is completely changing away from the host operating system,
the face of what hybrid cloud looks making it portable and able to run on any
like and how applications are being platform.
built; containerisation will become a vital Existing applications can also be
skill to possess in most, if not all, software repackaged into containers to use
development roles.” computing resources more efficiently.
“You can effectively run multiple, different
Virtualisation, containerisation and applications with multiple different OS
Kubernetes versions on the same virtual machine
Back in the day, explains Coetzer, or physical server without having to and services at scale. Kubernetes provides
businesses ran applications on physical worry about one application affecting the framework to run distributed systems
servers. “It wasn’t possible to define the other. Though similar to virtual resiliently, handling care of scaling and fail-
boundaries for the system resources machines, containers have relaxed over for the application, giving deployment
these applications would use, which led isolation properties to share the OS with patterns and much more,” says Coetzer.
to bottlenecks. The only option was to run other applications. They’re considered
each application on a different physical lightweight and share CPU, memory, Benefits for business
server, which quickly became very costly.” process space, and more. But they are also The benefits for developers are clear,
Enter virtualisation, which enabled portable across clouds and offer a host of and multiple. “Containerisation enables
users to run many virtual machines (VMs), benefits - agile application creation and developers to control their application
each with their allocated applications, deployment, continuous development, runtime environment in a much more
on a single physical server. It allows observability, environmental consistency granular way, ensuring that applications
organisations to carve physical resources and more,” says Coetzer. can be built and shipped in a consistent
into more appropriate-sized virtual Of course, all these containers need and programmatic manner. This greatly
machines, operating systems like Windows to be managed, and Kubernetes is the reduces the time to deploy software into
or Linux installed on it. answer. “This rapidly growing, portable, production environments and enables
Containerisation takes it a step extensible, open-source platform runs the use of CI/CD pipelines in the software
further, encapsulating software code that and manages containerised work loads development process,” says Coetzer.
“Furthermore, Kubernetes as an
orchestration engine lends itself greatly
to ideals instilled in microservices
architecture, and as a result developers
are thinking differently around how
applications are built to scale and tolerate
service failure in production. Separation
of responsibilities means rethinking where
stateful data resides and how stateless
applications interact with one another.”
When done right, containerisation
contributes towards the bottom line
through reduced infrastructure costs,
fewer workflow interruptions, and faster
development and delivery of products,
features and upgrades. In the end it ensures
better employee and customer satisfaction,
which is the ultimate goal of any
organisation looking to grow sustainably.

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