VSHN.timer #51: Windows Containers And Other Microsoft News

Welcome to another VSHN.timer! Every Monday, 5 links related to Kubernetes, OpenShift, CI / CD, and DevOps; all stuff coming out of our own chat system, making us think, laugh, or simply work better.

This week we’re going to talk about some interesting news coming from Redmond, WA.

1. Times have changed a lot. It was about 20 years ago when Steve Ballmer called Linux „a cancer“, making quite a few people jump to the Linux bandwagon right away. In the meantime, Linux has conquered our pockets through Android, and continues to provide support for most cloud services out there. Now even Windows 10 boots with Linux off-the-box… It was time for Microsoft (via its president Brad Smith) to recognize the importance of the Linux project and move forward.

https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/18/21262103/microsoft-open-source-linux-history-wrong-statement

2. It was only a question of time for Microsoft Azure (of all places!) to support Windows Server containers. And it has finally happened, although it took a bit longer than one would have thought. However, in these times of Visual Studio Code, .NET, and SQL Server all running on Linux, it might only be an interesting option for legacy app deployments.

https://www.theregister.com/2020/04/29/windows_server_containers_azure_kubernetes/

3. Speaking about Windows Containers, you may be asking yourself some questions about them, such as how they compare to Linux containers, and what are their trade-offs. Thankfully Chad Crowell from Linux Academy has recently published a nice introduction to the subject.

4. There is a lot going on right now in the „Microsoft galaxy;“ for those interested, the recorded sessions of Microsoft Build 2020 are available online for free.

https://www.windowscentral.com/microsoft-build-2020-sessions-now-available-demand

5. The tool of the week brings Azure and Kubernetes closer: the recently introduced Azure Service Operator for Kubernetes allows DevOps engineers to provision Azure services through the standard kubectl tool.

https://github.com/Azure/azure-service-operator

How do you like the „new Microsoft“? Have you deployed Windows containers in production? Do you have any other tips you would like to share with the community? Get in touch with us through the form at the bottom of this page, and see you next week for another edition of VSHN.timer.