Container-as-a-service(CaaS) is a cloud service model. In this, providers provide container-based virtualization services. It allows users to develop, organize, execute, scale, and manage containers and applications. CaaS lies between Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service(PaaS). The central components of CaaS are containers that provide virtualized application environments. The management of the containers and the uploading of data takes place with the CaaS via the interface. For instance, a web interface or a special API (Application Programming Interface). The cost model for the services is usually a usage-dependent rental model. Large public cloud providers such as Microsoft, Google, or Amazon offer their customers CaaS services.
What are containers and containers technology?
Containers are an executable unit of standard packaged software. The simplest way to understand containers is to distinguished it from a virtual machine (VM).
VMs virtualize the underlying hardware. That enables multiple operating systems to run alongside each other, sharing the same physical computing resources. Containers virtualize the OS. So, the container contains only libraries and configurations for operating applications. They execute and test programs in the application container. Migration to another system is quick and easy with the container’s simple transfer—several containers with different applications and each with different requirements. So, you can operate it on one computer within the same operating system. The absence of guest OS makes the container lightweight.
How CaaS works?
You can operate CaaS on a high-availability computer infrastructure of a provider in one or more data centers. CaaS allows users to upload, create, manage, and run a container-based application on a cloud platform. It also allows us to manage and monitor container services. The cloud-based interaction takes place through the graphical user interface (GUI) or in the form of an application programming interface (API). The management of complex container architecture takes place through the orchestration tool.
Benefits of CaaS
- Portability: when applications are created in the container that the app has everything it needs to run. you can deploy it in multiple environments, including public and private clouds. This portability also grants flexibility, can easily switch workloads between the environment and providers.
- Scalability: container can scale horizontally, allowing users to multiply identical containers within the same cluster. Running only the container that you need when you need them, can reduce costs.
- Security: containers are isolated from one another. If one application is compromised, it won’t affect the other.
- Speed: Since they don’t need a separate OS. So, its a matter of seconds to create, start and stop the container.
- Efficiency: container requires less resource than a VM; it requires only a few dozen megabytes to run. You can run several containers on a single server, and they need less bare-metal hardware, which means lower costs.
