Nimble Storage Volume Plug-In Received Docker Certification

Nimble Storage, Inc. announced that its Volume plug-in has been accepted into the Docker Certification Program, a framework for partners to integrate and certify their technology to the Docker Enterprise Edition commercial platform.

As part of the program, Nimble is certifying its Volume plug-in for its All-Flash and Adaptive flash arrays, which provide persistent shared storage for Docker, enabling enterprise IT and DevOps teams to build and deploy more enterprise applications with Docker containers. The Storage Docker Volume plug-in can be downloaded from the Docker Store

Additionally, Nimble will be a gold sponsor at DockerCon, the industry conference for developers and operators of distributed apps with containers, in Austin, TX April 17-20.

Docker Volume Management and its plug-in architecture provides a model for persistent storage in which containers can connect to storage volumes from third party vendors, allowing for a flexible approach to supporting stateful enterprise applications such as databases. However, the lack of performance, highly reliable, persistent storage has held enterprise IT and DevOps teams back from realizing the full benefits of containers.

With the Volume plug-in, customers can use their arrays to deliver persistent shared storage for Docker, speeding up DevOps and enabling more agile IT by making application data as easy to spin up and as portable as the containers themselves. Nimble makes data as easy to control and automate as containers. With the Storage Docker Volume plug-in, DevOps teams can build, ship and run data-intensive applications anywhere they like, taking advantage of Docker’s portability.

In addition, the Storage Volume plug-in unlocks new possibilities for IT teams who want to use containers for existing and legacy applications. Nimble’s solution enables IT teams to import production data right from the native Docker tools when putting existing applications into containers. As a result, IT teams can use Docker and Nimble portability to lift and shift existing applications and data to new or upgraded infrastructure. With enterprise-grade storage efficiency, data protection, and predictive analytics, Nimble simplifies management for container infrastructure.

In conjunction with Nimble’s partnership with Docker and to expand support for the Docker ecosystem, the company has added capabilities to the Storage Docker Volume plug-in to include the ability to:

• Prevent noisy neighbors: IT and DevOps can achieve consistent performance for containers with automatic QoS and QoS limits, multi-tenancy, and performance policies.
• Make data as portable as containerized applications: This can be achieved on-premises with Nimble arrays or in the cloud with Cloud Volumes (currently in beta) – a new cloud storage service.
• Extend enterprise-grade HA: The firm has achieved 99.9999% availability measured across more than 10,000 customers. This same level of HA will be available to customers using arrays in their Docker environments.

“Virtualization forever changed the enterprise data center, enabling previously unimaginable flexibility, ease of management and efficiency,” said Ajay Singh, VP of product management, Nimble. “Containers have the potential to once again transform and improve how IT professionals deliver services. However, the lack of enterprise-grade persistent storage has stymied the enterprise from taking full advantage of containers. With the Nimble Storage Docker Volume plug-in, enterprises can easily use containers for enterprise applications, leveraging Nimble’s unsurpassed Predictive Cloud Platform for persistent shared storage with Docker.“

“We would like to congratulate Nimble on their acceptance into the Docker Certified Program,” said Marianna Tessel, EVP, strategic development, Docker. “Enterprise IT teams are looking to Docker to provide recommendations and assurances on the ecosystem of container content, infrastructure and extensions. Nimble’s inclusion into the program indicates that the Nimble Storage Volume plug-in has been tested and verified by Docker, confirming for customers that container images have been evaluated for security and are supported and built according to best practices.“