In several previous posts, I’ve shown how to launch docker containers in the cloud using Tutum Cloud, for example to run OpenRefine, RStudio, or Shiny apps in the cloud. Docker bought Tutum out several months ago, and now it seems that they’re running the tutum environment as Docker Cloud (docs, announcement).
Tutum – as was – looks like it’s probably on the way out…
The onboarding screen confirms that the familiar Tutum features are available in much the same form as before:
The announcement post suggests that you can get a free node and one free repository, but whilst my Docker hub images seemed to have appeared, I couldn’t see how to get a free node. (Maybe I was too quick linking my Digital Ocean account?)
As with Tutum, (because it is, was, tutum!), Docker Cloud provides you with the opportunity to spin up one or more servers on a linked cloud host and run containers on those servers, either individually or linked together as part of a “stack” (essentially, a Docker Compose container composition). You also get an image repository within Docker Cloud – mine looks as if it’s linked to my DockerHub repository:
A nice feature of this is that you can 1-click start a container from your image repository if you have a server node running.
The Docker Cloud service currently provides a rebranding of the Tutum offering, so it’ll be interesting to see if product features continue to be developed. One thing I keep thinking might be interesting is a personal MyBinder style service that simplifies the deploy to Tutum (as was) service and allows users to use linked hosts and persistent logins to 1-click launch container services with persistent state (for example, Launch Docker Container Compositions via Tutum and Stackfiles.io – But What About Container Stashing?). I guess this would mean linking in some cheap storage somehow, rather than having to keep server nodes up to persist container state? By the by, C. Titus Brown has some interesting reflections on MyBinder here: Is mybinder 95% of the way to next-gen computational science publishing, or only 90%?
If nothing else, signing up to Docker Cloud does give you a $20 Digital Ocean credit voucher that can also be applied to pre-exisiting Digital Ocean accounts:-) (If you haven’t already signed up for Digital Ocean but want to give it a spin, this affiliate link should also get you $10 free credit.)
PS as is the way of these things, I currently run docker containers in the cloud on my own tab (or credit vouchers) rather than institutional servers, because – you know – corporate IT. So I was interested to see that Docker have also recently launched a Docker DataCenter service (docs), and the associated promise of “containers-as-a-service” (CaaS), that makes it easy to offer cloud-based container deployment infrastructure. Just sayin’…;-)
PPS So when are we going to get Docker Cloud integration in Kitematic, or a Kitematic client for Docker Cloud?
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