OS-Agnostic Container Runtime via Dynamic Resource Profiling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing containerization technologies are limited by the need for OS-specific container runtimes, making cross-platform deployment ineffective or impractical for unknown or disparate operating systems, as they rely on prior knowledge of the target environment and specific runtime availability.
Innovation Solution
An OS-agnostic containerization method that automatically generates a resource profile of the target OS using a network interface application, converting an OS-agnostic container runtime into a target-tailored runtime to deploy applications across diverse computational environments without relying on OS-specific runtimes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If OS-specific container runtimes are used, then container deployment is reliable on known platforms, but deployment fails or is impractical on unknown or disparate operating systems
Solution Approach 1:
The container runtime automatically generates its own OS-specific implementation by executing a constructor script on the target system. The script profiles the operating system environment and dynamically generates the appropriate runtime code, enabling the system to self-adapt to unknown or disparate OS platforms without pre-existing OS-specific runtime versions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameters of the container runtime by dynamically generating OS-specific implementations based on the target system's characteristics. The constructor script profiles the OS environment and uses this information to generate runtime code with parameters tailored to the specific platform, allowing reliable deployment across diverse operating systems.
2Reliability
If multiple OS-specific application versions are developed, then deployment reliability improves across different platforms, but development cost and time increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
A single OS-agnostic container runtime design serves multiple OS platforms universally. The runtime includes a constructor script that can profile and adapt to different operating systems, eliminating the need to develop separate application versions for each platform while maintaining deployment reliability across diverse environments.
Solution Approach 2:
The constructor script acts as an intermediary between the universal OS-agnostic runtime and the specific OS platform. It profiles the target OS environment and generates the necessary OS-specific runtime implementation, serving as a mediator that enables a single application version to deploy reliably across multiple platforms without requiring multiple platform-specific versions.
3Reliability
If virtual machines are used for cross-platform deployment, then application isolation improves, but resource consumption increases appreciably
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the essential isolation and portability features of virtual machines while removing the heavy overhead. By using a lightweight container runtime that generates OS-specific implementations dynamically, the system achieves application isolation and cross-platform deployment without the substantial resource consumption associated with full virtual machine environments.
4Productivity
If containers are deployed without OS-specific runtimes, then resource consumption decreases, but deployment fails on platforms where the runtime is not pre-installed
Solution Approach 1:
The container runtime performs self-service by automatically generating its own OS-specific implementation on the target system. The constructor script profiles the operating environment and dynamically generates the necessary runtime code, enabling the lightweight container to deploy on platforms where no pre-installed runtime exists while maintaining resource efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary action by executing the constructor script that profiles the target OS and generates the runtime implementation before deploying the containerized application. This preliminary generation of OS-specific runtime code ensures platform compatibility is achieved without requiring pre-installed runtimes, maintaining both resource efficiency and adaptability.
Data Source
AI summary
Novel techniques are described for operating system (OS) agnostic containerization for application deployment. For example, an application is being deployed to a large number of target computational environments running a variety of different OSs, including OSs that are either unknown to the deployment environment or not directly supported by OS-specific container runtimes accessible to the deployment environment. Embodiments can automatically generate a resource profile of a target OS running in a target computational environment, for example, by exploiting functionality of a network interface application also running in the target computational environment. The resource profile can be used to convert an OS-agnostic container runtime into a target-tailored container runtime (tailored for the target OS), and the target-tailored runtime can be deployed to build the containerized application in the target computational environment.