| Nov 14, 2018

3 MIN READ

Written by Ryan Kennedy,
Docker

Introducing Docker Enterprise 2.1 – Advancing Our Container Platform Leadership

OperationalInsights
Today, we’re excited to announce Docker Enterprise 2.1 – the leading enterprise container platform in the market and the only one designed for both Windows and Linux applications. When Docker Enterprise 2.1 is combined with our industry-proven tools and services in the new Windows Server application migration program, organizations get the best platform for securing and modernizing Windows Server applications, while building a foundation for continuous innovation across any application, anywhere.
In addition to expanded support for Windows Server, this latest release further extends our leadership position by introducing advancements across key enterprise requirements of choice, agility and security.

Choice: Expanding Support for Windows Server and New Kubernetes Features

Docker Enterprise 2.1 adds support for Windows Server 1709, 1803 and Windows Server 2019* in addition to Windows Server 2016. This means organizations can take advantage of the latest developments for Docker Enterprise for Windows Server Containers while supporting a broad set of Windows Server applications.

  • Smaller image sizes: The latest releases of Windows Server support much smaller image sizes which means improved performance downloading base images and building applications, contributing to faster application delivery and lower storage costs.
  • Improved compatibility requirements: With Windows Server 1709 and beyond, the host operating system and container images can deploy using different Windows Server versions, making it more flexible and easier to run containers on a shared operating system.
  • Networking enhancements: Windows Server 1709 also introduced expanded support for Swarm-based routing mesh capabilities, including service publishing using ingress mode and VIP-based service discovery when using overlay networks.

*Pending Microsoft’s release of Windows Server 2019
In addition to Windows Server updates, Docker Enterprise also gets updated with Kubernetes 1.11 and support for pod autoscaling among other new Kubernetes features.

Agility: Greater Insights & Serviceability

As many containerized applications are considered business critical, organizations want to be able to manage and secure these applications over their entire lifecycle. Docker Enterprise 2.1 includes several enhancements to help administrators better streamline Day 2 cluster and application operations:

    • New out-of-the-box dashboards: Enhanced health status dashboards provide greater insight into node and container metrics and allow for faster troubleshooting of issues as well as early identification of emerging issues.

Node-Health-Check_blog

  • Visibility to known vulnerabilities at runtime: Administrators can now identify running containers with known vulnerabilities to better triage and remediate issues.
  • Task activity streams: Administrators can view and track tasks and background activities in the registry including things like vulnerability scans in progress or database updates.
  • Manage images at scale: Online garbage collection and policy-based image pruning help to reduce container image sprawl and reduce storage costs in the registry.

Security: Enhanced Security & Compliance

For many organizations in highly regulated industries, Docker Enterprise 2.1 adds several new important enhancements:

  • SAML 2.0 authentication: Integrate with your preferred Identity Provider through SAML to enable Single Sign-On (SSO) or multi-factor authentication (MFA).
  • FIPS 140-2 validated Docker Engine: The cryptographic modules in Docker Engine – Enterprise have been validated against FIPS 140-2 standards which also impacts industries that follow FISMA, HIPAA and HITECH and others.
  • Detailed audit logs: Docker Enterprise 2.1 now includes detailed logs across both the cluster and registry to capture users, actions, and timestamps for a full audit trail. These are required for forensic analysis after a security incident and to meet certain compliance regulations.
  • Kubernetes network encryption: Protect all host-to-host communications with the optional IPSec encryption module that includes key management and key rotation.

How to Get Started

We’re excited to share Docker Enterprise 2.1 – the first and only enterprise container platform for both Windows and Linux applications – and it’s available today!
To learn more about this release:

[bctt tweet=”Big News! Docker Enterprise 2.1 – advancing our container platform leadership with new enhancements”]


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