The problem with the Docker hype

Remember when the Cloud hype kicked off and we all looked mesmerised at the Cloud Unicorn companies (like Netflix) that got great benefit from Cloud usage? We all wanted that so badly. We wanted to get out of the pain of high maintenance cost and the lack of agility. Amazon, Google, Microsoft Azure all seemed to provide that. Just by the click of a button.

In 2012 I did a short whitepaper on what it takes to move an application the cloud, based on my painful experience with some Enterprise IT moves to the cloud.  I stated, “The idea that one can just move applications without change is flawed.” There was not enough benefit in moving the monolithic, 10 year old, application on the cloud. That type of move may deliver small cost savings, but that is actually a hosting exercise. It could even be dangerous to move in that way because the application may not be suitable for the cloud providers’ reference architecture. That could for example lead to availability and performance issues. The unicorn benefits could only be gained if you changed your way of working and thinking.

The same goes for the Docker hype now;

I agree with all the potential that Docker unlocks; portability & abstraction. It is a game changer and some even say ‘Docker changes everything’

Hearing people talk at large conferences (like AWS ReInvent) about Docker seems like the first phase of the Cloud hype all over again. They state ‘Just docker-ize your app’ and all will be great. Sureal conversations with people that try to put anything and everything in a container. ‘Yes, just put that big monolithic app in a container’

People seem to forget that Docker is an enabler for architecture elements like portability and micro-services (that leads to scalability).

I highly recommend reading James Lewis & Martin Fowler ‘s article on microservices first: http://martinfowler.com/articles/microservices.html

Then See this:

• Baruco 2012: Micro-Service Architecture, by Fred George
• Run Any App on Mesos on Any Infrastructure Using Docker
• Matt Stine – Cloud Foundry and Microservices: A Mutualistic Symbiotic Relationship (CF Summit 2014)

Because The problem with the Docker hype currently? It makes it about the tool. And only the tool will not fix your problem.

Other things to consider around Docker:  Docker Misconceptions