6 ms·

Docker Swarm Cluster Complete Guide

84 points by lukasbar 6y ago

belzebalex 6y ago
Docker Swarm is a marvel. It's super easy to use yet does the job very simply.
- auspex 6y ago
  On the surface. Easy to setup a simple use case but long term has a similar learning curve to Kubernetes for a production deployment.
  - readyoubestbook 6y ago
    Maybe I am missing something or underestimating the complexity of a k8s deployment, but we have been running Swarm in production for a while now and it was/is still a breeze. So what would you consider the complexities of running Swarm in production - I would then like to look into these - as a means of being ahead of the curve of complexity...
    - belzebalex 6y ago
      Same for me. Swarm has been super easy to install and to use in production. You can do highly available deployments super easily too. I don't see how one could build the same thing more simply.
- winxton 6y ago
  Agreed. It's my go to for smaller projects and what I recommend for those who don't want to spend more than a day figuring out how to deploy their pet project as it's a logical progression from docker-compose in dev to a production environment. https://dockerswarm.rocks https://dockerswarm.rocks is better for a more complete, production-ready setup guide.
orf 6y ago
Swarm was interesting, but it seems that both SwarmKit and "Classic Swarm" are dead[1][2], with no real activity since 2018. Kubernetes, for better or for worse, has clearly completely won. Not that this article isn't interesting for it's own sake, but it's just something to consider. 1. https://github.com/docker/swarmkit/graphs/contributors https://github.com/docker/swarmkit/graphs/contributors 2. https://github.com/docker/classicswarm/graphs/contributors https://github.com/docker/classicswarm/graphs/contributors
- 1_player 6y ago
  SwarmKit and ClassicSwarm are not "docker swarm", but AFAIK precursors of it until they've been merged into Docker itself. As a production user of Docker Swarm though, it is effectively dead and I've been planning a migration to k8s ASAP.
  - justincormack 6y ago
    Swarmkit is the code that runs "Docker Swarm", it is vendored in to build it. I don't think anyone really uses Classic Swarm any more, and it was a precursor.
    - 1_player 6y ago
      I stand corrected, thanks.
- zenlot 6y ago
  That’s very sad to see Docker Swarm declining. I run few production clusters, all are being set up via Ansible and Wireguard for communication. The setup takes only few minutes and runs perfectly fine. It's been running for a while and I haven't had any issues with clusters, as well as it doesn't require maintenance. While Kubernetes is great, it requires a lot of maintenance and setup isn't straightforward. Sometimes you don't need additional complexity and want things just to run and pretty much forget.
moomin 6y ago
I know Mirantis have pledged to continue developing Docker Swarm, but it still strikes me as a pretty risky choice for 2020.
- DyslexicAtheist 6y ago
  I know some companies still using it because they say K8 is too complex (e.g. learning curve) for their needs. It could be appealing to these cases.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - moomin 6y ago
    Meh, it’s a pain to install, but that can be automated, and a pain to get your head around, but the only features you really need for basic usage are service and deployment. On the other hand, most of the books on it are spectacularly bad.
lukasbar 6y ago
This guide can help people that want to pass DCA exam from Docker Inc.
kfk 6y ago
I am looking into this now. Basically it’s either this or the super hard Kubernetes right? I find it hard to believe that we don’t have a middle ground?
- dblooman 6y ago
  There is AWS ECS as well
- scrappyjoe 6y ago
  K3s is pretty approachable.
- tyingq 6y ago
  Mesos and K3S are two other choices in that space.
- sandGorgon 6y ago
  There is the k3s distro of kubernetes
- auspex 6y ago
  Kubernetes really isn't as difficult as you might think. Early on it was "hard" because most people were learning containers as well as Kubernetes. Also how that we have managed services like EKS, GKE, AKS it's really straight forward to learn. I would suggest start with a GKE cluster and deploy nginx.
  - kfk 6y ago
    There are many managed services, which is great, but how does this work when your storage is somewhere else? For instance I might decide to put the storage (postgres and minio) on a cheap Hetzner dedicated server, how would this work with EKS? I am especially trying to understand doing analytics and ML with dask.distributed. I think running compute on managed Kubernetes with storage inside another server could (hybrid?) should be ok, but I haven't figured this part yet.
    - 6y ago

84 points by lukasbar 6y ago

belzebalex 6y ago

Docker Swarm is a marvel. It's super easy to use yet does the job very simply.

auspex 6y ago
On the surface. Easy to setup a simple use case but long term has a similar learning curve to Kubernetes for a production deployment.
- readyoubestbook 6y ago
  Maybe I am missing something or underestimating the complexity of a k8s deployment, but we have been running Swarm in production for a while now and it was/is still a breeze. So what would you consider the complexities of running Swarm in production - I would then like to look into these - as a means of being ahead of the curve of complexity...
  - belzebalex 6y ago
    Same for me. Swarm has been super easy to install and to use in production. You can do highly available deployments super easily too. I don't see how one could build the same thing more simply.
winxton 6y ago
Agreed. It's my go to for smaller projects and what I recommend for those who don't want to spend more than a day figuring out how to deploy their pet project as it's a logical progression from docker-compose in dev to a production environment. https://dockerswarm.rocks https://dockerswarm.rocks is better for a more complete, production-ready setup guide.

orf 6y ago

Swarm was interesting, but it seems that both SwarmKit and "Classic Swarm" are dead[1][2], with no real activity since 2018. Kubernetes, for better or for worse, has clearly completely won. Not that this article isn't interesting for it's own sake, but it's just something to consider. 1. https://github.com/docker/swarmkit/graphs/contributors https://github.com/docker/swarmkit/graphs/contributors 2. https://github.com/docker/classicswarm/graphs/contributors https://github.com/docker/classicswarm/graphs/contributors

1_player 6y ago
SwarmKit and ClassicSwarm are not "docker swarm", but AFAIK precursors of it until they've been merged into Docker itself. As a production user of Docker Swarm though, it is effectively dead and I've been planning a migration to k8s ASAP.
- justincormack 6y ago
  Swarmkit is the code that runs "Docker Swarm", it is vendored in to build it. I don't think anyone really uses Classic Swarm any more, and it was a precursor.
  - 1_player 6y ago
    I stand corrected, thanks.
zenlot 6y ago
That’s very sad to see Docker Swarm declining. I run few production clusters, all are being set up via Ansible and Wireguard for communication. The setup takes only few minutes and runs perfectly fine. It's been running for a while and I haven't had any issues with clusters, as well as it doesn't require maintenance. While Kubernetes is great, it requires a lot of maintenance and setup isn't straightforward. Sometimes you don't need additional complexity and want things just to run and pretty much forget.

moomin 6y ago

I know Mirantis have pledged to continue developing Docker Swarm, but it still strikes me as a pretty risky choice for 2020.

DyslexicAtheist 6y ago
I know some companies still using it because they say K8 is too complex (e.g. learning curve) for their needs. It could be appealing to these cases.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- moomin 6y ago
  Meh, it’s a pain to install, but that can be automated, and a pain to get your head around, but the only features you really need for basic usage are service and deployment. On the other hand, most of the books on it are spectacularly bad.

lukasbar 6y ago

This guide can help people that want to pass DCA exam from Docker Inc.

kfk 6y ago

I am looking into this now. Basically it’s either this or the super hard Kubernetes right? I find it hard to believe that we don’t have a middle ground?

dblooman 6y ago
There is AWS ECS as well
scrappyjoe 6y ago
K3s is pretty approachable.
tyingq 6y ago
Mesos and K3S are two other choices in that space.
sandGorgon 6y ago
There is the k3s distro of kubernetes
auspex 6y ago
Kubernetes really isn't as difficult as you might think. Early on it was "hard" because most people were learning containers as well as Kubernetes. Also how that we have managed services like EKS, GKE, AKS it's really straight forward to learn. I would suggest start with a GKE cluster and deploy nginx.
- kfk 6y ago
  There are many managed services, which is great, but how does this work when your storage is somewhere else? For instance I might decide to put the storage (postgres and minio) on a cheap Hetzner dedicated server, how would this work with EKS? I am especially trying to understand doing analytics and ML with dask.distributed. I think running compute on managed Kubernetes with storage inside another server could (hybrid?) should be ok, but I haven't figured this part yet.
  - 6y ago