This document discusses how to build a distributed Docker registry at scale. It describes the basic Docker registry setup and how to scale globally by using multiple registry instances across different locations, load balancing requests between them, and replicating registry data between instances using SnapMirror for high availability and disaster recovery. The full Nginx configuration for load balancing registry requests is also provided.

1. Speed Up Deployment: Building A Distributed Docker
Registry At Scale
Jared Hocutt
Software Engineer @ NetApp

2. What is the Docker Registry?
“The Registry is a stateless, highly scalable server side application that stores and
lets you distribute Docker images.”

3. Basic Setup

4. Basic Setup

5. What happens when you need to scale?
5

6. Scaling Globally

7. Scaling Globally

8. Scaling Globally

9. SnapMirror
Scaling Globally

10. Scaling Globally
location / {
proxy_pass http://remote-registry:5000;
# All methods excluding GET because GET automatically assumes HEAD,
# which still needs to go to the master registry
limit_except HEAD POST PUT DELETE COPY MOVE OPTIONS PATCH {
proxy_pass http://master-registry:5000;
}
}
Full nginx configuration can be found at https://docs.docker.com/registry/nginx/

11. More Information
Details on this and other NetApp open source technology, visit:
http://netapp.github.io/

12. Jared Hocutt
@jaredhocutt
jaredh@netapp.com