Container Capsule Disaggregation for Image Size Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
In agile DevOps environments, containerized applications often include redundant secondary software functions within their images, leading to bloated container images as these functions are built and replicated across multiple applications, wasting resources and increasing deployment complexity.
Innovation Solution
A container cloud platform that disaggregates secondary service functions from application containers, delivering them as 'capsule' images that can be shared across multiple applications, allowing these service functions to be invoked at runtime, with a run-escape controller managing deployment and monitoring across host computing devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If secondary service functions are included in application container images, then applications can execute complete functionality, but container image size increases and resources are wasted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments container images into two distinct types: core application images containing only primary application code, and capsule images containing secondary service functions. This segmentation allows applications to have lightweight core images while accessing additional functionality through shared capsule images, resolving the contradiction between complete functionality and reduced image size
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates universal capsule images that can be shared across multiple applications. These capsule images contain secondary service functions that can be invoked by different core application images, allowing one image to serve multiple purposes and reducing overall resource consumption while maintaining complete functionality
2Productivity
If secondary service functions are replicated across multiple application images, then each application has complete functionality, but deployment complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges secondary service functions from multiple applications into shared capsule images. Instead of replicating the same service functions across multiple application images, the system combines them into universal capsules that can be referenced by multiple applications, significantly simplifying deployment while maintaining complete functionality
3Loss of energy
If service functions are disaggregated into separate capsule images, then resource utilization improves, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a capsule management system as an intermediary layer that handles the complexity of managing disaggregated service functions. This intermediary automatically handles capsule image retrieval, instantiation, and coordination between core applications and service functions, improving resource utilization while abstracting away system complexity from users
Data Source
AI summary
A container cloud platform that allows software functions to be shared by multiple applications in different application containers is provided. The service functions are containerized and disaggregated from the application containers. The containerized services are delivered as a capsule for applications that invoke the service functions at application runtime. The images of the service containers are deployed at the host computing devices operating the corresponding application containers. The container cloud platform monitors the deployed service containers for their execution as well as their termination.