We started working with Microsoft five years ago to containerize Windows Server applications. Today, many of our enterprise customers run Windows containers in production. We’ve seen customers containerize everything from 15 year old Windows .NET 1.1 applications to new ASP.NET applications.
If you haven’t started containerizing Windows applications and running them in production, here are five great reasons to get started:
1. It’s time to retire Windows Server 2008
Extended Support ends in January 2020. Rewriting hundreds of legacy applications to run on Windows Server 2016 or 2019 is a ridiculously expensive and time-consuming headache, so you’ll need to find a better way — and that’s Docker Enterprise.
2. It’s much easier than you think to containerize legacy Windows apps
You can containerize legacy Windows applications with Docker Enterprise without needing to rewrite them. Once containerized, these applications are easier to modernize and extend with new services.
3. Both Swarm and Kubernetes will support Windows nodes
The recently announced Kubernetes 1.14 includes support for Windows nodes. With Docker Enterprise, you will soon be able to use either orchestrator to run Windows nodes.
4. Your Windows apps become fully portable to the cloud
Once you containerize your Windows applications, it’s easy to migrate them to almost any cloud. With Docker Enterprise, applications are fully portable.
5. You’re in good company
Hundreds of enterprises now run Windows container nodes in production. Last fall, we talked about how GE Digital, Jabil and the largest bank in Italy have containerized Windows Server applications. Two of the world’s top ten bio-pharmaceutical companies and one of the largest manufacturers now run production Windows containers on Docker Enterprise.
At DockerCon Barcelona 2018 and DockerCon 2019, we heard from several other customers about how they use Docker Enterprise to containerize Windows applications:
- Quicken Loans, a $3 billion home mortgage lender, is rolling out the Docker Enterprise container platform to support hundreds of Windows applications. Docker Captain Tommy Hamilton, who works at Quicken Loans, shared his advice on how to successfully containerize Windows applications at DockerCon this year.
- Mitchell International, a software company in the auto insurance industry, is containerizing over 400 Windows .NET and IIS applications with Docker Enterprise. Marius Dornean, Director of R&D at Mitchell International, explains how they modernized .NET applications in his DockerCon session.
- Entergy, a large utility company headquartered in New Orleans, is modernizing its infrastructure and reducing security exposure by containerizing over 500 Windows 2000, 2003 and 2008 applications.
- Mizuho Financial Group, an international financial services firm with over Quicken Loans, a $3 billion home mortgage lender, is rolling out the Docker Enterprise container platform to support hundreds of Windows applications. Docker Captain Tommy Hamilton, who works at Quicken Loans, shared his advice on how to successfully containerize Windows applications at DockerCon this year.Mitchell International, a software company in the auto insurance industry, is containerizing over 400 Windows .NET and IIS applications with Docker Enterprise. Marius Dornean, Director of R&D at Mitchell International, explains how they modernized .NET applications in his DockerCon session.Entergy, a large utility company headquartered in New Orleans, is modernizing its infrastructure and reducing security exposure by containerizing over 500 Windows 2000, 2003 and 2008 applications.Mizuho Financial Group, an international financial services firm with over $1.9 trillion in assets, modernized its JVM-based internal service bus by containerizing Windows Server applications on Docker Enterprise.Tele2, a Dutch telecom company, has containerized over 500 legacy applications, including .NET, Magento and Jenkins. Application updates that used to take 3+ days to deploy now take minutes, and the company saw a significant increase in customer satisfaction metrics within 6 months…9 trillion in assets, modernized its JVM-based internal service bus by containerizing Windows Server applications on Docker Enterprise.
- Tele2, a Dutch telecom company, has containerized over 500 legacy applications, including .NET, Magento and Jenkins. Application updates that used to take 3+ days to deploy now take minutes, and the company saw a significant increase in customer satisfaction metrics within 6 months.
If you’re thinking about containerizing old or new Windows applications, there’s never been a better time to do it.
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