Docker, Alibaba Expand Container Partnership
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Docker is expanding it presence in China.
The application container leader said June 9 it has launched a cloud-based registry providing local access to Docker images as well as other open source content. Docker will manage the image repository that will be hosted in China by the Alibaba cloud service.
Local access is expected to accelerate downloads of Docker images as well as response rates, meaning container-based applications could be developed and shipped up to seven times faster, the company claimed.
Docker said its Chinese container community was already the third largest in the world despite the lack of local services.
"As we deepen our roots into the Asian market, our focus will be on providing the in-region resources and support organizations need to containerize legacy applications, accelerate their hybrid cloud deployments and build new micro-services," David Messina, Docker's chief marketing officer, noted in a statement.
The expanded service also calls for Alibaba Cloud to resell Docker's enterprise container platform that includes a container runtime, multi-tenant container orchestration along with security and management features. The platform will be integrated with Alibaba's (NYSE: BABA) cloud stack that serves as an enterprise cloud platform running on bare metal to provide private infrastructure and container services, the company said.
The new registry builds on Docker's partnership with the Chinese Internet giant, which previously launched its cloud stack as the first Chinese container application platform to support Docker. The stack is designed to run in existing datacenters, targeting hybrid cloud deployments, according to Tang Hong, chief architect of Alibaba Cloud.
San Francisco-based Docker opened a China office in Shanghai earlier this year as a launching point for expansion in the nascent Asian IT market. The container specialist and other vendors are establishing beachheads in China as they promote tools designed to upgrade local software supply chains.
Last fall, Docker announced a partnership with Alibaba, Hangzhou, China, designed to drive adoption of container-based applications in the Chinese market. The agreement provided Chinese developers with access to an image store and distribution on Docker Hub hosted on the Alibaba cloud.
Under the agreement, Alibaba also supports Docker Engine and Docker Datacenter platforms.
