Beyond multitenancy
container-based application factory
Damien Metzler
dmetzler@nuxeo.com
https://github.com/dmetzler/
Thierry Delprat
tdelprat@nuxeo.com
https://github.com/tiry/
About This talK
This is our story / technical adventure
- multi-tenancy with advanced per-tenant customization
-
build a Software factory using VMs, Docker and now CaaS
but, hopefully, this should also make sense for
- applications that are modular and configurable
- applications moving to the cloud / SaaS model
2012/13 - IdeA & first try
Multi-Tenants, Cloud & Application Factory
Some Context
Nuxeo
About Me
we provide a
Platform that
developers can use to
build
highly customized Content Applications
we provide
components, and the
tools to assemble the
everything we do is
open source
our customers are people building software
in-house -
software vendors -
SaaS
Nuxeo Platform
Repository
Services
Workflows, Conversions, Diff, Notifications, Activity ...
Building ON TOP of a Platform
Building ON TOP of a Platform
Building ON TOP of a Platform
Building ON TOP of a Platform
Customer
1 Customer
More Customers
Customers
APPLICATION LEVEL MULTI-TENANTS
Document Store
Security
Life Cycle
Indexing
Versioning
all clients share the same application
application manages data and configuration partitionning
Application Level Multi-Tenants
Shallow isolation
- quota management is not efficient
-
customization options are limited
Align all customers
- same version, same component set
- same upgrade and maintenance policy
-
per-tenant Backup/Restore is not easy
Management
- scale out is not that easy (i.e. move a tenant)
-
Heterogeneous deployment units
VM level / JVM level / App level
X
250+ Extension Points
-> Big Pain / Risk
Container Level Multi-tenants
rely on infrastructure to provide tenants isolation
application does not need to be impacted
Create "on demand" application for each customer
- use Container level isolation
- provision infrastructure from the Cloud
- custom assembly for each customer
Some key advantages
Flexibility
- safe, easy testing & upgrade
- no impact on custom code
Strong isolation
- quota and QS management is easy
Management
- backup / restore is easy
But it's really a different approach
Application Factory
Application Factory
Application Factory
Application Factory
Application Factory
Application Factory
Let's do this ...
... for our own use cases !
Nuxeo Trials Use Case
We build a platform and customization tools
We want people to be able to taste the full experience
- choose their components
- configure business rules
- run the app they build
Online demo site
with full per-tenant customization
PaaS vs Automation
Early testing with CloudFoundry / OpenShift
- Fast moving ground
- Our app does not fit in Java PaaS
Go with Deployment Automation on IaaS
- Seems easier
- Better match for sys-admin / devops
Some Challenges
Prospects do not pay
Prospects want to access all features
We want them to have a great experience
free customers with high expectations !
Cost is a major concern !
Cutting Costs
EC2 Spot instances
Passivation
Leverage AWS Services
Early Results
A lot of moving parts
- no clear deployment unit
-
lot of scripting
Slow
- provisioning is slow
- passivation is not usable
works but ...
DEAD END ?
We need lighter foot print
We need faster startup
Hope Comes from
Some developers have started playing
with lightweight containers because
VMs are too fat & slow !
and Docker !
the developers
[dev] Cool new stuff on cloud related techs
...
http://www.docker.io/ :
a command line tool for launching and managing
arbitrary processes using LXC.
Open Source project contributed by the dotcloud guys.
...
03/2013
2014 - Nuxeo.io v1
Build the Application Factory on Docker
Arken
First target is to power Nuxeo Trials
need a smooth UX
but also build a generic infrastructure
publish work as opensource
Assign a team of java developers
not system-administrators
Expect results in 3 months !
rebuild / refactor every 3 months
Build Your Own Application
Build Your Own Application
Select
target Platform
Build Your Own Application
Pick additional components
Build Your Own Application
Build Your Own Application
Build new components
Build Your Own Application
Select custom Components
Build Your Own Application
Define Application Model
Build Your Own Application
Build Your Own Application
Choose deployment
environment
Build Your Own Application
Deploy & Run !
Nuxeo.io Factory
NUXEO.IO FACTORY
NUXEO.IO FACTORY
NUXEO.IO FACTORY
NUXEO.IO FACTORY
NUXEO.IO FACTORY
NUXEO.IO FACTORY
Principles
Docker containers !
Leverage AWS infrastructure
Principles
Passivation
- Less than 5% of trials are active at a given time
- Fast start/stop (no data)
- High density hosting on AWS
Principles
Dual state orchestration
- Expected vs Actual
-
Decoupling & Monitoring
Use a distributed registry
CASTING
Containers infrastructure:
Docker + CoreOS
Scheduler:
Fleet
Distributed registry:
etcd
Monitoring:
DataDog
CASTING
The Containers:
Nuxeo Servers
Manager Application (AngularJS)
Passivator (Go Service)
ArkenCtl (Go Cmd)
Dynamic reverse proxy Gogeta
Big Picture
Big Picture
Big Picture
Big Picture
Deploy new tenant
Big Picture
Register new tenant
Big Picture
Deploy more tenants
Big Picture
Route request to Customer X
Big Picture
Route request to Customer X
PASSIVATE
ACTIVATE
ACTIVATE
ACTIVATE
ACTIVATE
started
Monitoring
Some Good Results
1000+ instances/month managed on 4 EC2 VMs (m3.2xlarge)
Production hosting for some Nuxeo based applications
Eventually stable
Docker and Go are really great
The vision is good !
All Good ?
Almost !
Miseries
- CoreOS updates
- btrfs fragmentation and IO issues
- etcd stability
- fleet "shortest path" scheduling
- ...
Lots of moving parts + Lots of young solutions
Experience a new type of failure every day !
Structural Issues
Lot of boring glue code
- Networking, Port Mapping, provisionning ...
-
developers are sick of shell scripts
Storage management is an issue
- asymmetrical model & scalability
- Security concerns on shared infrastructure
CoMplexity
Troubleshooting is tricky
Command line tools
Still too scary for a customer
the system is complex to setup
now - Nuxeo.io v2
Leverage our experience and Docker evolutions
Drivers
Docker ecosystem evolved
Kubernetes, Swarm, Compose, Rancher ...
We still believe in the initial vision
Customers starts to like the idea of Containers
We have learned a lot from Nuxeo.io v1
Time for a reboot
Additional contraints
Cluster configurations
1 node, 2 nodes, 7 nodes ...
Customer compliant
avoid or hide and package
the glue code
X
Leverage Docker evolution
Networking in Docker / Rancher / Kubernetes
- No more "manual" port & DNS mapping
- Use Software Defined Network
s/port-mapping/SDN/g
s/Ansible/Swarm/g
s/Scripting/Compose/g
Clustering in Docker-Swarm / Rancher / Kubernetes
- No more scripting automation
Stack templating in Docker-Compose / Rancher / Kubernetes
- Manage an application as a set of containers
Free from the Shell !
less glue code to write / debug
focus on application level
Leverage Docker evolution
Volumes in Docker
storage can now be provisionned as a container
containers can now be statefull
Can provision Storage nodes exactly as Processing nodes
Streamline architecture: everything is container
all tenant resources are provisioned the same way
CaaS ?
- Avoid building a CaaS infrastructure
- Focus on Application Customization & Templating
- Keep some flexibility on Cluster Orchestration
RANCHER
Caas Choice
Nice high level REST API
abstraction on CaaS provider
Swarm/Kubernetes/Cattle
Administration UI
- Infrastructure vs Application view
-
Monitoring and SSH access
Close to Docker
- Built on top of Docker and Compose
- Contribute to Docker
CaaS Choice
Application Management
-
Stack definition & templating
Provide additional features
- Health Monitoring
- Load Balancing and DNS
- Rolling upgrades
Volume plugins :
convoy: NFS / GlusterFS
Nuxeo.io with Rancher
Nuxeo.io with Rancher
Nuxeo.io with Rancher
Nuxeo.io with Rancher
Nuxeo.io with Rancher
Nuxeo.io with Rancher
Direct Gains
Rancher & Docker
do the heavy lifting
One unique API
to deploy new tenants
Arken Contents
Application Templating
Package Selection : Wizard + Config + Docker File
Deployment template : Compose + Rancher
Passivation Management
Passivation aware Routing
State management
API & Adapter
Independent
Go Based
OpenSource
multi-tenants ?
data isolation : separated data containers (docker)
processing isolation : separated containers (docker)
configuration : separated Nuxeo config + stack (compose + rancher)
infrastructure isolation: separated environments (rancher)
Application is not even aware about tenants !
Tenants sharing an Application
Tenants sharing Infrastructure
Take aways
Software based multi-tenant application
- lots of limitations
Docker
- build and ship reusable executions units
Compose
- software defined infrastructure
Volume plugin
- open the way to stateful containers
Container based multi-tenancy
- per tenant customization
Any Questions ?
Thank You !
http://www.nuxeo.com/careers/
We are hiring !
New York, Paris, Lisboa
Container Story
By Thierry Delprat
Container Story
QCon Sao Paulo 2016
- 2,194