Docker Inc. Creates Index to Track Docker Hub Usage
Docker Inc. this week launched a Docker Hub Index that provides access to analytics based on anonymized data from 5 million Docker Hub and 2 million Docker Desktop users.
John Kreisa, senior vice president of marketing for Docker Inc., says the company decided to create the index to illustrate how vibrant the Docker developer community remains in the wake of its restructuring to focus on workflow tools that accelerate the development of containerized applications.
The Docker Index shows there have been 8 billion pulls from the Docker Hub in the last month alone, and a total of 30 billion overall. Docker Inc. reports there are now 6 million repositories on Docker Hub that are being accessed by 5 million users.
The top 10 most widely pulled images on Docker Hub are Busybox, NGINX, Redis Mongo, Postgres, Alpine, Traefik, Ubuntu, Node and MySQL. The top 10 search terms were MySQL, NGINX, Ubuntu, Python, Node, PHP, Centos, Jenkins, Java and Redis.
Kreisa says it is clear developers are employing Docker Hub to easily find validated container images to accelerate application development. It’s also clear that Docker Hub is functioning as a distribution mechanism from providers a wide range of software.
Since selling its enterprise business to Mirantis, Docker Inc. has become squarely focused on building workflow tools for Docker developers. The Docker Index discloses that out of 2.4 million users of Docker Desktop tools a total of 61% are using those tools on an Apple Macintosh platform, while 39% are using Windows systems. The goal is to not only provide workflow tools to simplify the development of containerized teams, but also work with third-party vendors to, for example, make it easier to scan container images for vulnerabilities when they are stored in Docker Hub, says Kreisa.
Docker Inc. is also investing in tools to identify artifacts that are complementary to containers already being employed by developers, as well as surfacing up new use cases from groups of related containers. In addition, a feedback loop based on metadata gathered from production environments should make it easier for developers to identify and remediate issues their applications may be experiencing in production environments.
It’s not clear yet to what degree development teams will embrace workflow tools that should make it easier for them to collaborate. The one thing that is clear is the shift toward microservices-based applications built using containers is starting to accelerate now that Kubernetes has emerged as a de facto standard for deploying those applications. As the need to accelerate the rate at which those applications can be built and deployed increases, tools that enable development teams to collaborate more efficiently around a set of best DevOps practices will be required. Already, there is no shortage of vendors making the case to be the preferred providers of those tools and workflows. Docker, Inc. is clearly betting that, thanks to Docker Hub, it has the inside track to become the dominant provider of those workflow tools.