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​Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Docker partner for the containerized data-center

HPE is putting all its container eggs into the Docker basket.
Written by Steven Vaughan-Nichols, Senior Contributing Editor

Docker, with its containerized technology, is leaping into the enterprise with its Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) partnership.

HPE and Docker Partner Up

HPE is betting it all on Docker as the future for containers on its data-center offerings.

HPE

This strategic alliance, the first at this scale for Docker, includes sales, engineering, support, and knowledge sharing for HPE data-center customers. At the heart of this alliance is HPE's Docker-ready server program. HPE servers will be bundled with the Linux-based Docker Engine and support. This will enable customers to create containerized applications, which will be portable across all of HPE's servers.

"In order to survive and thrive in the idea economy, companies must transform the IT experience so that lines of business and developers can innovate faster, smarter and fearlessly," said Antonio Neri, HPE's executive vice president and general manager of the Enterprise Group. "Together with Docker, we are making it easier for IT to deploy and manage containers, while giving organizations solutions that optimize their investments and power a new generation of applications that are the business."

HPE isn't just blowing sales smoke.

As Gartner analysts said in its recent "Containers Will Change Your Data Center Infrastructure and Operations Strategy" report, "By 2018, more than 50 percent of new workloads will be deployed into containers in at least one stage of the application life cycle." HPE and Docker are getting ready for this future by delivering HPE's Composable Infrastructure with Docker's Container-as-a-Service (CaaS) as a ready to run package for your enterprise's developers and operations teams.

Ben Golub, Docker's CEO, added, "Our commercial end-to-end platform, Docker Datacenter, provides HPE customers with a comprehensive solution that covers all of their requirements over time. Enterprises leveraging this joint solution can achieve immediate efficiencies while focusing on existing applications, which can include a 20X optimization on their infrastructure, while shipping their applications 13X faster."

What this means is that HPE and Docker will deliver, through all of HPE channels, the following container and hardware packages.

Docker-ready HPE Servers - HPE will offer pre-configured server platforms ready for Docker Engine and Docker containers. These pre-tested server models will include HPE ProLiant, HPE Apollo, and HPE Cloudline.

Docker-ready Converged and Composable HPE Systems - HPE Synergy, HPE BladeSystem, and HPE Converged System come ready for Docker deployments across compute and are integrated for storage and interconnect for simplified deployment and scalability. In addition, customers can deploy Docker in hyper-converged environments to enable DevOps in virtualization clusters.

Joint go-to-market for Docker Datacenter - Organizations looking to build, ship and run Docker at scale in multiple different environments will be able to do so using Docker Datacenter. HPE and Docker will work together on joint sales and support programs across HPE customers and channel partners, as well as ensuring that Docker Datacenter works seamlessly for containerized applications deployed across public cloud, composable infrastructure, hyper-converged infrastructure, converged storage and Docker ready HPE servers.

Enterprise-grade Docker support and consulting services - HPE now offers technology assessments, design and implementation services for Docker containers and microservices. In addition, HPE will provide a single source of enterprise-grade support for Docker in alignment with HPE's technology solutions with a single point of contact for access to a global network of support specialists who will be available 24×7.

There's even more, looking ahead, HPE and Docker are collaborating to introduce new HPE container-enabled technologies that are integrated and tested with Docker. These include:

HPE Reference Configuration for Docker Datacenter on HPE Hyper Converged 380 - This will enable customers the time and cost needed to deploy Docker Datacenter in a production environment by leveraging the Hyper Converged 380's virtual machine vending capabilities. It also describes how to leverage HPE SiteScope and HPE AppDefender to monitor and protect Dockerized applications in production.

HPE Reference Architecture for Docker Datacenter for the Converged Architecture 700 - This will provide one consistent management view for adopting private cloud and container environments. Customers can start with a small proof of concept and easily grow to an enterprise scale production private cloud environment using HPE technologies.

Docker-integrated Native Volume Plugin for HPE 3PAR StoreServ all-flash arrays - HP's new Flash-optimized HPE 3PAR StoreServ arrays will provide persistent storage for container environments via a new Docker-integrated Native Volume Plugin. This native plug-in adds to customer choice and flexibility by enabling the use of HPE 3PAR StoreServ arrays as the underlying storage for bare-metal container environments where containerized applications require persistent storage, such as SQL databases.

Docker-integrated Networking - The addition of Docker container support to the HPE Distributed Cloud Networking (DCN) solution enables dynamic programmability of heterogeneous and HPE FlexFabric network infrastructures. HPE promises this will reduce application deployment times from months to minutes.

Docker-integrated HPE SiteScope - HPE SiteScope is an agent-less software for monitoring the availability and performance of distributed applications and IT infrastructure. HPE SiteScope enables monitoring of the health and performance of Docker nodes or clusters in a Dockerized environment -- from the cluster manager level, to the Docker daemon layer, to the container level, including the applications running inside the containers.

Docker-integrated HPE OneView - Through the integration of the unified API in HPE OneView, customers can quickly deploy and manage the infrastructure that Docker Engine, and Docker containers run on.

HPE Linux Docker support - The HPE Linux distribution is now a supported operating system by Docker. Docker's support of HPE Linux gives customers more options to use the Linux "flavor" of their choice with Docker.

Finally, HPE is making investments to Docker-enable its cloud and software portfolio through the use of application programming interfaces (APIs), the Docker plug-in framework and Docker Datacenter development licenses. This means the following HPE programs will now work with Docker.

HPE AppDefender - Delivers run-time protection for application security in a Docker environment to prevent security by protecting production applications from the inside, across all levels of a software stack.

HPE Operations Bridge monitoring - Delivers comprehensive monitoring of Docker containers as well as the payloads running in the containers.

CMS and Universal Directory configuration management - CMS can discover and display information related to Docker topology, including Docker Application, Docker Container, Docker Image, Docker Image Template, Docker Registry, Docker Volume and more.

HPE Helion Cloud Suite - Provides a full range of hybrid cloud capabilities in a single software offering. HPE Helion Cloud Suite includes full-stack automation to enable rapid delivery of IT services and applications, as well as a complete development environment with HPE Helion Stackato, supporting DevOps processes for traditional and cloud-native applications.

Put it all together and it's crystal clear. HPE is putting all its container eggs into the Docker basket. It is the company's hope that by delivering a complete hardware, software, support, and management stack, data-center and cloud customers who want Docker will go to HPE for their container needs.

General availability of the Docker ready HPE Servers including HPE ProLiant, HPE Apollo and HPE Cloudline, and Docker-integrated Converged and Composable HPE Systems are targeted for the fourth quarter of 2016. Docker-integrated solutions spanning HPE's storage, networking and software assets are available today.

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