UPDATED 01:01 EDT / NOVEMBER 09 2015

NEWS

Docker 1.9 intros a fix for container networking headaches

Docker Inc. rolled out Docker version 1.9 last week with a major fix that makes containers a lot more ‘network aware’ than they ever were.

One of the biggest problems for Docker users was they had few options when connecting one container to another. To do so, developers had to lay out explicit connections at deployment, but even that wasn’t a great solution for the connection would be lost if either one of the containers was later moved.

Docker 1.9 promises to fix that with its new Multi-Host Docker Networking feature. The feature was one of several solutions competing to be incorporated as the official fix for Docker’s clumsy networking limitations. Docker got a hold of the technology after acquiring SocketPlane Inc., which had built a networking solution that was later morphed into the OpenDaylight/Open vSwitch network fabric.

The feature was previously available as an experimental tool, but has now been made generally available with Docker 1.9., and it can be used with both the Compose and Swarm tools. It’s possible to use Multi-Host Docker Networking to create virtual networks that can be attached to containers, allowing them to talk to each other even when they’re located on different hosts.

Multi-Host Docker Networking is pluggable too, which means native support for technologies like IPVLAN and VXLAN. There are also plenty of third-party plugins available from Cisco Systems Ltd., Microsoft and VMware Inc., among others.

Networking isn’t the only long-standing complaint that’s been fixed. Docker 1.9 adds a new method of creating storage volumes, which allows these to be backed up by any third-party storage system thanks to a volume plugin system. The volume-driver system is supported by the Docker clustering system Swarm, which has also been made generally available.

Meanwhile Docker Compose, the tool that lets you define multi-container applications, has been updated to version 1.5. New features here include being able to run on Windows for cross-environment app development, and automatic validation of files generated by Compose. Compose also works with Multi-Host Docker Networking, which means multi-container Docker apps can be run on multiple hosts using Swarm.


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