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Containers vs. Virtual Machines
The rie of container that run mall component known a micro-ervice ha generated a lot of uzz in the trenche of enterprie IT over the pat two
ear ecaue of the potential model for how organization architect infratructure and uild application. Container make it eaier to help accelerate
the move to the DevOp model. Although container have een around for a while in the Linux world, the're new to Window, et to deut with thi
fall' Window erver 2016 releae. Man organization are looking at emracing container, epeciall thoe with uine imperative that require a
more agile approach to reponding to the whim of cutomer, partner, upplier and even emploee. Nearl ever major IT plaer ha latched onto
the open ource container movement driven Docker Inc.
At the recent DockerCon 16 conference in ea�le, Wah., 4,000 clearl eager a�endee learned how containerized micro-ervice will et the tage for
how the generation of application are deigned, uilt, deploed, and managed, ideal for erving the need of organization and IV alike who want to
uild cloud-native app or ridge legac o�ware into thi new world.
Thee emerging micro-ervice application are o�en referred to a Mode 2 app, which conit of lightweight container running mall app or
networked micro-ervice. Thi new tle of application i expected to replace the heavweight monolithic app that toda run in virtual machine
(VM). Doe that mean container will replace VM? A�er a�ending the two-da DockerCon in late June, I can explore how container and
containerized application compare to VM running traditional application and how Window erver 2016 and a revamped Hper-V will raie thi
quetion.
Window Container Tpe
Firt, let' take a quick look at the forthcoming Window erver Container. aicall, a container i an iolated pace where an application can run
without a�ecting the ret of the tem or other container. Unlike VM, which are all eentiall the ame, there are two tpe of container in
Window erver 2016:
Window erver Container: Running directl on top of the Window erver O, Window erver Container provide application iolation through
proce and namepace atraction. All Window erver Container hare the ame kernel network connection and ae �le tem with the
container hot.
Hper-V Container: More ecure than Window erver Container, Hper-V Container each run in a highl optimized VM. With Hper-V
Container the kernel of the container hot in't hared with the Hper-V Container. Intead, the container ue the VM' ae O. Thi provide
a more ecure environment a the container are iolated from the underling hot, ut have more overhead.
The Window erver Container themelve are compatile with Hper-V Container and other Window erver Container. The new Nano deploment
option for Window erver i intended a a platform for running container.
Container and VM Architecture
Container have een called the next generation of virtualization ecaue the provide application atraction in much the ame wa that VM provide
hardware atraction. Intead of virtualizing the hardware like a VM, a container virtualize at the O level. Container run at a laer on top of the hot
O and the hare the O kernel. Container have much lower overhead than VM and a much maller footprint. You can ee the Window erver
Container and Hper-V Container architecture in Figure 1.
(~/media/ECG/redmondmag/Images/2016/09/0916red_F2Docker_Figure1_hires.ashx) [Click on image for larger view.]
Figure 1. The Windows Container Architecture
A illutrated, the VM run on top of a hpervior that' intalled directl on the are-metal tem hardware. ach VM ha it own emulated hardware,
O and application. VM can e paued, topped and tarted. The can e moved etween virtualization hot without an end-uer downtime
uing technologie uch a live migration or vMotion.
Container are quite di�erent. The container runtime i intalled on top of the hot O and ever containerized appli cation hare the ame ae
underling O. ach container i iolated from the other container. Unlike VM where each VM ha it own individual kernel and O, container hare
the ame kernel, network connection and ae �le tem a the underling O. You don't need a whole new and eparate O, memor and torage a
ou would for a VM. ecaue container don't have to emulate phical hardware and the entire O, the're far maller and more reource-e�cient than
VM.
The releae of Window erver 2016 will ring a new option of uilding app aed on micro-ervice that run in Docker and
other tandard container. Doe that portend the end of the VM?
Michael Ote 09/06/2016
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(https://redmondmag.com/articles/2017/07/28/windows-subsystem-for-linux-coming-this-fall.aspx)
Windows Subsystem for Linux Coming This Fall (https://redmondmag.com/articles/2017/07/28/windows-subsystem-for- linux-coming-this-fall.aspx)
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Microsoft Online Services and Compliance Risks: Some Tips, Tricks and Directions (https://redmondmag.com/articles/2017/07/28/microsoft- online-services-and-compliance-risks.aspx)
(https://redmondmag.com/articles/2017/07/28/improve-hyperv-checkpoints.aspx)
How Microsoft Can Improve Hyper-V Checkpoints (https://redmondmag.com/articles/2017/07/28/improve-hyperv-checkpoints.aspx)
PRINTAL FORMAT (HTTP://RDMONDMAG.COM/ARTICL/2016/09/01/CONTAINR-V-VIRTUAL-MACHIN.APX?P=1)
Recommended: IT ecurit a�le: I Microo� All You Need? (h�p://redmondmag.com/whitepaper/2017/03/redmond-redmond-in-depth-report-
2.apx?tc=page0)
Featured
Container and VM torage
now mot people are familiar with VM torage. With VM one or more virtual dik provide the torage for the VM. There are di�erent tpe of �xed
virtual dik. VM have dnamic, �xed and di�erential virtual dik. In each cae the're tored a a �le on the virtualization hot or on a hared torage
location. The VM ee virtual dik a di�erent O drive.
Container torage i quite di�erent. Container don't ue virtual hard drive. The're deigned to e tatele, eail created and dicarded. Container
ue a concept commonl called andoxing to iolate an dik write from the underling hot. Once a container ha een tarted, all write action
uch a �le tem modi�cation, regitr modi�cation or o�ware intallation are captured in thi andox laer (ee Figure 2).
(~/media/ECG/redmondmag/Images/2016/09/0916red_F2Docker_Figure2_hires.ashx) [Click on image for larger view.]
Figure 2. Container Storage Overview
In the center of Figure 2 ou can ee a running container uilt from two eparate container image. The container would ee thee a eparate
directorie. Thee image are unchanged when the container run. All of the container change are captured in the andox and default would e
dicarded when the container i topped.
That all ound great, ut what if ou want to perit the change made from a container? There are a couple of wa that torage change are
perited uing container. You can ave our container with it change a a new image or ou can mount an exiting director from the hot on the
container.
You can mount a volume uing the -v parameter of the Docker run command. Thi will enale all �le from the hot director to e availale in the
container. An �le created the container or change to �le in the mounted volume will e tored on the hot. You can mount the ame hot volume
to multiple container uing: docker run -it -v c:\ource:c:\containerdir windowervercore cmd.
A ingle �le can e mounted pecifing the �le name intead of the director name.
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