CoreOS Tectonic takes another step forward with Kubernetes 1.0 release

CoreOS announced today that they had released Tectonic Preview in conjunction with the release of Kubernetes 1.0.  Tectonic Preview is the next step in moving Tectonic to general release. Previously it was in private beta and was highlighted here on Container Journal.

Tectonic combines the CoreOS open-source stack with Kubernetes so that the enterprise can run containers like Docker and RKT. According to CoreOS, Tectonic Preview allows companies to:

●      Capitalize on the benefits of containers – Tectonic Preview provides an opinionated stack for containers, which includes Kubernetes, CoreOS and Docker. Coupled with Quay.io, a powerful and secure container registry, these technologies will transform the way you deliver applications.

●      Have experts in containers by your side – Work hand-in-hand with the CoreOS team, experts in Kubernetes and technologies that support containers. CoreOS will have your back when it comes to infrastructure.

●      Focus on core competencies – Allow your development team to focus on the code, and your operations team to focus on the infrastructure environment. Development teams can easily deploy code from dev, to test, to production, all on the same stack.

CoreOS Tectonic Preview is priced at $1,500 per month for the life of preview which is expected to be between 4 to 6 months. It is available on AWS or for your own private cloud. As in the private beta it will be updated regularly, about every two weeks.

Preview includes the full Tectonic technology stack: the Tectonic Console (pictured above), highly available Kubernetes cluster and API, all running on top of CoreOS Linux. Support for the entire stack is backed by the CoreOS team who are experts in container technologies: CoreOS Linux, Kubernetes, etcd, Docker and rkt. In addition to the software, Preview customers will also receive 24×7 support from the CoreOS team.

Tectonic is great for managing Docker, but of course CoreOS’s on RKT is available too. While it wasn’t mentioned prominently, RKT is still a big part of CoreOS plans. I asked CoreOS CEO, Alex Polvi.  Alex said, “rkt is a component of the Tectonic stack. Tectonic utilizes rkt in two different ways. First, rkt is used to run the software that powers Tectonic. rkt’s improved security signatures allow customers to verify the software wasn’t tampered with, was produced by CoreOS, and wasn’t corrupt. Second, customers can launch containers with the Tectonic software, including Docker. Supporting rkt in addition to Docker is underway.” There you have it. rkt will be supported in addition to Docker as a container you can use as well.

In addition to the Preview release, CoreOS announced that they are a founding member of the new Cloud Native Computing Foundation, a collaborative effort from the Linux Foundation. The CNCF has at its mission:

Today, cloud computing is a resource-intensive undertaking. It requires teams of experts who can integrate disparate technologies and then maintain all of them, effectively limiting its potential for many businesses. Cloud native application development–which features systems that are container packaged, dynamically managed and micro-services oriented–eases this process for developers and organizations alike by driving alignment among technologies and platforms.

The Cloud Native Computing Foundation will create and drive the adoption of a new set of common container technologies informed by technical merit and end user value, and inspired by Internet-scale computing.

The community will advance the state-of-the-art for building cloud native applications and services. Historically only a small number of companies who have been willing to make significant investments in development and operations have been able to benefit from this model of computing. It has been out of reach for the average developer. We aspire to make the same approach that solved challenging scalability and efficiency problems for internet companies available to all developers.

CoreOS joins a who’s who of companies as founding members here including:

This is an impressive list of participants. Only time will tell how effective they are though.  In the meantime with the release of Kubernetes and Tectonic Preview the container world marches on!