Google Inc. is continuing to push the envelope for containers with a new native registry service on its public cloud that enables developers to store the software needed for their Docker deployments in a centralized repository to provide for easy access to components. The launch comes hot on the heels of the search giant making several other major additions to its platform.

The last month has seen Google roll out two separate monitoring solutions, one for tracking the performance of cloud applications across different versions and the other aimed at providing a complete view of the underlying scaffolding. The launches, along with the introduction of a new option to specifically deploy virtual machines on servers with direct-attached flash to increase response times, are mostly meant to catch up with Amazon’s dominant public cloud.

But when it comes to containers, the search giant is leading the pack. That’s due in no small part to the fact that it relied internally on containers long before the technology became an industry phenomenon, a head start that has enabled it to push ahead of the competition on several key fronts. Google boasts of being the first major provider to have launched a dedicated service for running Docker and the only with a cross-platform cluster manager for the project.

Since the search giant released the source code for Kubernetes in July of last year, it has become the provision engine of choice in the Docker community not only on its platform but that of rivals Microsoft and Amazon as well as, even though the latter offers a native alternative to customers. The new registry is not quite as groundbreaking, but it adds another selling point for Google to tout over its rivals.

The free service is designed to store master versions of software such as operating system images that developers can manage from a single location and quickly push out to their environments in as many copies as they need. It’s a more convenient alternative to Docker Hub Registry, the official component catalog for the engine.

It’s possible to set up a private repository using the upstream project for the marketplace, but that requires added work that Google’s new service offers to avoid. Moreover, it sports built-in access controls, a vital feature for development teams.

Considering the tit-for-tat nature of competition in the public cloud, the launch is practically guaranteed to draw a reaction from Amazon and eventually Microsoft, which have probably already set to work on their own registries. That’s good news for customers, but less so for premium third party repository services such as the CoreOS-owned Quay.io, which become less appealing when users can store images directly into their public cloud environments without so much as having to deploy anything themselves.