New Pivotal Container Service promises to simplify container creation and management
Pivotal Software, Inc., VMware Inc. and Google announced at the VMWorld 2017 conference this week they are collaborating on a project that should make it easier for companies to create, deploy and manage containers at scale. The new Pivotal Container Service was developed by Pivotal, VMware and Google. It is an extension of the open-source project Kubo announced in March 2017. Kubo is shorthand for Kubernetes on BOSH, which originally began as a venture between Google and Pivotal. BOSH is Pivotal Cloud Foundry’s open source tool for managing the lifecycle of distributed systems.
The new service packages software applications into isolated environments known as containers, which run across both public and private clouds using Kubernetes, a container orchestration tool originally designed by Google engineers. Containers are one of the most widely used technologies among tech businesses today. According to New Relic, the average number of containers running at a time per company has grown 192%. Both Pivotal and VMware launched Pivotal Container Service in association with Google Cloud.
Kubernetes is arguably the most popular open source, orchestration tool on the market today. It allows containers to be managed across multiple-cloud architectures, launching container clusters using enhanced cloud native features. Nevertheless, many major corporations are still seeking a commercially supported service. That is why Pivotal Container Service was developed.
Pivotal’s service is essentially a commercialized version of Kubo technology, which enables Kubernetes to run on VMware vSphere and Google Cloud Platform. The new service is anticipated to be available in the fourth quarter of 2017, sold by both Pivotal and VMware as a freestanding product.
“There is very high interest by enterprises today in Kubernetes for container orchestration,” said Gary Chen, research manager, software-defined compute, IDC. “Pivotal Container Service’s focus on operationalizing Kubernetes with built-in cluster deployment and lifecycle management, security and network connectivity for containers via NSX and constant compatibility with the latest release of Kubernetes and Google Container Engine, offers IT shops plenty to consider. IDC research shows that most enterprises are seeking a commercially supported Kubernetes solution and PKS has VMware, Pivotal and Google lined up to support it.”
VMware will collaborate with Pivotal and Google to improve Kubo technologies. Google said it will continue to support constant compatibility between Pivotal solutions and the Google Container Engine. “We see an open hybrid cloud ecosystem forming based on many technologists and providers coming together on Kubernetes, and Pivotal Container Service is a great way to run containers and Kubernetes on premises,” said Sam Ramji, vice president of product management for developer platforms at Google Cloud.
Pivotal also noted revenues from Pivotal Cloud Foundry more than doubled last year, swelling from $117.4 million in 2015 to $270 million in 2016. Word has been circulating Pivotal may make an initial public offering of some of its shares by the middle of next year.
