StackEngine describes the problems of running containerized applications in production and the solutions it is offering.

1. Managing Docker
Applications in Production
Boyd E. Hemphill - @behemphi
Mike Raab - @stackengine

2. History - Boyd
Oracle Developer,
MySQL DBA, PHP
Developer, System
Architect, DevOps
Director (snickering
encouraged),
Evangelist

3. History - Boyd
Oracle Developer,
MySQL DBA, PHP
Developer, System
Architect, DevOps
Director (snickering
encouraged)
Started Austin
DevOps In 2012

4. History - Boyd
Oracle Developer, MySQL
DBA, PHP Developer,
System Architect, DevOps
Director (snickering
encouraged)
Started Austin DevOps
In 2012
Co-Organizer of DevOps
Days Austin

5. History - Boyd
Oracle Developer, MySQL
DBA, PHP Developer, System
Architect, DevOps Director
(snickering encouraged)
Started Austin DevOps In
2012
Co-Organizer of DevOps
Days Austin
Became involved in
Docker Austin in August.

6. History - Boyd
Oracle Developer, MySQL DBA,
PHP Developer, System
Architect, DevOps Director
(snickering encouraged)
Started Austin DevOps In 2012
Co-Organizer of DevOps Days
Austin
Became involved in Docker
Austin in August.
Working on the first
Container Days Austin for
late Feb

7. History - Boyd
Oracle Developer, MySQL DBA, PHP
Developer, System Architect, DevOps
Director (snickering encouraged)
Started Austin DevOps In 2012
Co-Organizer of DevOps Days
Austin
Became involved in Docker Austin
in August.
Working with Docker for the first
Docker Days Austin
Keep an eye on @stackengine to
see if we can make it happen!

8. History -
StackEngine
Started in May 2014
to address
challenges facing
Docker adopters

9. History -
StackEngine
Started in May 2014
to address
challenges facing
Docker adopters
Funding
announcement
October

10. History -
StackEngine
Started in May 2014
to address challenges
facing Docker
adopters
Funding
announcement
October
Currently in private
beta

11. History -
StackEngine
Started in May 2014 to
address challenges
facing Docker
adopters
Funding
announcement October
Currently in private
beta
mike@stackengine.com

12. Common Ground

13. What is The
Goal of Your
Company?

14. What is The
Goal of Your
Company?
Make Money!

15. So … What is
DevOps?

16. Is DevOps a Process?

17. Is it an intersection of
overlapping concerns?

18. Is DevOps a Culture?

19. DevOps:
DevOps is the way
in which a
technology
organization
embeds itself in a
business to the
benefit of that
business.

20. Presentation
Prelude
Describe the problems StackEngine
sees in using containers in
production.

21. The Ideal Containerized
Application

22. Netflix (unicorn)
Service Oriented Architecture

23. Benefits
Feature velocity - Increase
developer productivity using
containers to model application
topology

24. Benefits
Feature velocity - Increase
developer productivity using
containers to model application
topology
Innovation velocity - Decreased
build and test times make more
time for trying that next great idea!

25. Benefits
Feature velocity - Increase developer
productivity using containers to
model application topology
Innovation velocity - Decreased build
and test times make more time for
trying that next great idea!
Density - Reduce Costs

26. Benefits
Feature velocity - Increase developer productivity
using containers to model application topology
Innovation velocity - Decreased build and test
times make more time for trying that next great
idea!
Density - Reduce Costs
Separation of Concerns - “Code to an interface”
moves to the infrastructure level

27. Benefits
Taken together a
company that
can get to the
end state has a
significant and
lasting
competitive
advantage

28. Today’s Docker
Reality

29. Concerns
This is still very early days for
Docker

30. Concerns
This is still very early days for
Docker
It is even earlier for Rocket

31. Concerns
This is still very early days for
Docker
It is even earlier for Rocket
Tools to support containerized
applications are immature or do not
exist

32. Concerns
This is still very early days for Docker
It is even earlier for Rocket
Tools to support containerized
applications are immature or do not
exist
Service oriented architecture is hard

33. Concerns
This is still very early days for Docker
It is even earlier for Rocket
Tools to support containerized applications
are immature or do not exist
Service oriented architecture is hard
Increasing developer throughput is only a
local optima, thus a false economy

34. Concerns
Docker adoption
is the first major
DevOps initiative
not driven by
Ops.

35. Concerns
Docker adoption is
the first major
DevOps initiative
not driven by Ops.
Laundry Ops: http://
stackengine.com/
laundryops-
practical-devops-
at-home/

36. SDLC
Developers are moving forward

37. SDLC
Developers are moving forward
QA sees production modeling, large test
grids, more effective integration testing

38. SDLC
Developers are moving forward
QA sees production modeling, large test
grids, more effective integration testing
Build engineers see parallelized build
grids for faster feedback and better
build quality

39. xkcd … er … SDLC
Operations panics - no tools or instrumentation

40. SysAdmin
Don’t want this guy panicking

41. Information
Architecture
Problem Description

42. Information
Architecture
Problem Description
StackEngine’s work on that problem
today

43. Information
Architecture
Problem Description
StackEngine’s work on that problem
today
StackEngine’s planned work on that
problem for the future

44. Problem #1
The Final Mile

45. The Final Mile
Developer uses containers

46. The Final Mile
Developer uses containers
System is built and images are produced

47. The Final Mile
Developer uses containers
System is built and images are produced
Images stored in a private registry

48. The Final Mile
Developer uses containers
System is built and images are produced
Images stored in a private registry
Now we need to deploy to a QA
environment

49. The Final Mile
So we build a
manual solution
depending on
human behavior

50. The Final Mile
So we build a
manual solution
depending on
human behavior
Someone builds a
tool

51. Crossing the Final
Mile - Today
A Simple Solution to Deployment

52. Deploy My Stuff - Today
Create a component to represent your registry

53. Deploy My Stuff - Today
Create a component to represent the image you would like to run

54. Deploy My Stuff - Today
Distribute that image and run it on the hosts in your Mesh.

55. Deploy My Stuff - Today
Magic happens.

56. Deploy My Stuff - Today
Life is good

57. Crossing the Final
Mile - Future
Heterogeneous, Policy Driven
Deployment

58. Deploy My Stuff -
Future
Support other
container types

59. Deploy My Stuff -
Future
Support other
container types
Policy Based
Deployment

60. Deploy My Stuff - Future
We should put another bunny cloud over there …

62. Problem #2
Container Sprawl

63. Container Sprawl
First there was VMware and suddenly a
large corps departments could easily spin
up environments

64. Container Sprawl
First there was VMware and suddenly a
large corps departments could easily spin
up environments
Then there was the cloud and developers
could completely circumvent ops

65. Container Sprawl
First there was VMware and suddenly a
large corps departments could easily spin
up environments
Then there was the cloud and developers
could complete circumvent Ops
Now there is Docker and Developers are
creating numerous abstractions that are
not managed like traditional VMs

66. Container Sprawl
First there was VMware and suddenly a large corps
departments could easily spin up environments
Then there was the cloud and developers could
complete circumvent Ops
Now there is Docker and Developers are creating
numerous abstractions that are not managed like
traditional VMs
Rocket potentially segments the Market and means
different performance, security, runtime and
management characteristics

67. Container Sprawl
Containers,
Dockerfiles, and
Images on VMs

68. Container Sprawl
Containers,
Dockerfiles, and
Images on VMs
VMs on physical
hardware located in
availability zones

69. Container Sprawl
Containers,
Dockerfiles, and
Images on VMs
VMs on physical
hardware hardware
located in availability
zones
AZs in data centers in
geographic regions.

70. My Head Hurts
Container Sprawl

71. Artifact Inventory
- Today
A drillable and searchable view of
infrastructure

72. Where’s My Stuff - Today
Hosts

73. Where’s My Stuff - Today
Images

74. Where’s My Stuff - Today
Containers

75. Where’s My Stuff - Today
Filters and Build Actions

76. Where’s My Stuff - Today
Search

77. Artifact Inventory
- Future
Geographically aware physical
topology

78. Where’s My Stuff -
Future
Geographically
drillable physical
topologies

79. Where’s My Stuff -
Future
Geographically
drillable physical
topologies
Policy based
inventory levels
(pull not push)

80. Where’s My Stuff - Future
Hey, why are there two purple stripes?

82. Problem #3
Telemetry

83. Telemetry
What does monitoring a containerized
app look like?

84. Telemetry
What does monitoring a containerized
app look like?
http://goo.gl/VkAQo4

85. Telemetry
What does monitoring a containerized
app look like?
http://goo.gl/VkAQo4
What does log aggregation look like?

86. Telemetry
What does monitoring a containerized
app look like?
http://goo.gl/VkAQo4
What does log aggregation look like?
http://goo.gl/uNPe9P

87. Decision
Dimensions - Today
Host level metrics to help you manage
running containers.

88. What’s my stuff doing - Today
I have this much stuff.

89. What’s my stuff doing - Today
My hosts are not yet stuffed.

90. What’s my stuff doing - Today
The stuffing in a host is as expected.

91. What’s my stuff doing - Today
A bit of the stuffing is doing what it should.

92. What’s my stuff doing - Today
What is the stuff in this image?

93. What’s my stuff doing - Today
How do I visualize the stuff in an image?

94. Decision Dimensions
- Future
There is never too much information
about run time.

95. What’s My Stuff
Doing - Future
Improve Host
Metrics

96. What’s My Stuff
Doing - Future
Improve Host
Metrics
Improve Image
Metrics

97. What’s My Stuff
Doing - Future
Improve Host
Metrics
Improve Image
Metrics
Add Container
Metrics

98. What’s My Stuff Doing - Future
Ahh … look … the bunny on the left is happy!

100. Problem #4
Centralized Control Plane

101. Centralized
Control Plane
The ability to act upon a system
from a single point of entry

102. Centralized
Control Plane
The ability to act upon a system
from a single point of entry
Actions should happen next to the
information causing the action

103. Centralized
Control Plane
The ability to act upon a system
from a single point of entry
Actions should happen next to the
information causing the action
Actions should happen within the
context of inventory

104. Centralized
Control Plane
The ability to act upon a system from a
single point of entry
Actions should happen next to the
information causing the action
Actions should happen within the
context of inventory
UI, API, CLI

105. Actions - Today
Preventative, automatic, deterministic

106. Make Stuff do Stuff - Today
Manage Images

107. Make Stuff do Stuff - Today
Manage Containers

108. Actions - Future
Initialization, Taxonomy, Corrective

109. Make Stuff do Stuff
- Future
Policy based
actions by the
Controller

110. Make Stuff do Stuff
- Future
Policy based
actions by the
Controller
Powerful Control
Plane Taxonomy
(Tagging)

111. Make Stuff do Stuff
- Future
Policy based
actions by the
Controller
Powerful Control
Plane Taxonomy
(Tagging)
Ants not Cattle

112. Make Stuff do Stuff - Future
Blow really hard and make the bunnies kiss.

114. Problem #5
Heterogeneous Service
Providers

115. Heterogeneous
Service Providers
Containers live on services (IaaS,
PaaS)

116. Heterogeneous
Service Providers
Containers live on services (IaaS,
PaaS)
Images come from different places
(Docker Hub, Quay.io)

117. Heterogeneous
Service Providers
Containers live on services (IaaS,
PaaS)
Images come from different places
(Docker Hub, Quay.io)
Within an IaaS service provider are
other services (Databases, load
balancers)

118. Heterogeneous
Service Providers
Containers live on services (IaaS, PaaS)
Images come from different places
(Docker Hub, Quay.io)
Within an IaaS service provider are other
services (Databases, load balancers)
Persistent Data stores present their own
unique problem as a service

119. Components -
Today
Abstractions for Control Plane
Operation

120. Building Apps with My Stuff
Components are infrastructure service abstractions

121. Building Apps with My Stuff
Components can be arranged in logical ways to represent
physical infrastructure.

122. Building Apps with My Stuff
Start the db

123. Building Apps with My Stuff
Start the web server

124. Building Apps with My Stuff
Run the application server

125. Building Apps with My Stuff
Run the Cache

126. Components -
Future
More and varied components

127. Building Apps with
My Stuff - Future
More component
types is like having
more varied Lego
bricks

128. Building Apps with
My Stuff - Future
More component
types is like having
more varied Lego
bricks
Pluggable
component
architecture

129. Building Apps with My Stuff
What else could we make with bunnies and rainbows?

131. Roadmap

132. Problem #6
Service Discovery

133. Service Discovery
Allows multiple deployments of the same
service on the same host.

134. Service Discovery
Allows multiple deployments of the same
service on the same host.
Containers register themselves upon
startup and are found by tags rather than
URI’s, fixed ports, etc.

135. Service Discovery
Allows multiple deployments of the same
service on the same host.
Containers register themselves upon
startup and are found by tags rather than
URI’s, fixed ports, etc.
We favor something like consul with a
search interface like the chef server.

136. Service Discovery
Allows multiple deployments of the same service
on the same host.
Containers register themselves upon startup and
are found by tags rather than URI’s, fixed ports,
etc.
We favor something like consul with a search
interface like the chef server.
A step towards cattle containers instead of pet
containers

137. Service Discovery
Allows multiple deployments of the same service on
the same host.
Containers register themselves upon startup and are
found by tags rather than URI’s, fixed ports, etc.
We favor something like consul with a search
interface like the chef server.
A step towards cattle containers instead of pet
containers
Ultimate goal is “ants not cattle”

138. Roadmap
User Management

139. Roadmap
User Management
Addition of new
Components

140. Roadmap
User Management
Addition of new
Components
Better telemetry

141. Roadmap
User Management
Addition of new
Components
Better telemetry
Scheduling

142. Roadmap
User Management
Addition of new
Components
Better telemetry
Scheduling
A/B Deployment
support

143. StackEngine is the Stuff
It’s easier to dream with StackEngine.

144. Live Product Demo
Al Gore and his gremlins willing

145. Boyd E. Hemphill - @behemphi
Mike Raab - @stackengine
Thank You for Your Time and
Comments.