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Azure Container Registry
Azure Container Registry
Azure Container Registry (ACR) is a private container image registry used to store
Docker images
in a secure and high-availability environment. Azure Container Registry is a
managed Docker
registry service based on the open-source Docker Registry 2.0 and it allows you to
store and
manage images for all types of container deployments. Microsoft Azure manages the
underlying
infrastructure and technology behind ACR, while the tenant manages the endpoints,
access, and
image repositories.
ACR is an elastic service that can grow easily based on our needs using the
following plans:
Pricing Detail:
Basic Standard
Premium
Price Per Day $ 0.167 $ 0.667 $
1.677
500
concurrent nodes
100
Total web hooks 2 10
(Additional available upon
request)
Supported
Geo Replication Not Supported Not Supported $
1.667 per replicated
region
ACR pricing details: Most developers will find the basic tier enough to test
various applications
and code; however, large businesses will probably opt for the Premium plan, which
offers more
storage and global replications. We can manage ACR using Azure CLI (with Azure
Cloud Shell) or
the Azure portal. Because the underlying infrastructure is managed by Azure, our
role in
managing ACR is limited and doesn’t require complex operation procedures. To push
and pull
Docker images to and from ACR, we use the Docker CLI command line utility, which is
great as it
doesn’t require us to learn how to use another tool.
Fig. Azure Container Registry: Securing Container Workflows
PROS:
I. Store and manage images for all types of container deployments
II. Automated Container Builds, Testing and Security Scanning
III. Store your container image in local, network-close storage on Azure
IV. Use Common Command Line Interface (CLI) to interact with the registry
V. Manage Windows and Linux container images in a single registry
I. Store and manage images for all types of container deployments:
Docker is becoming the new binary format for deployments. Development and
operations teams can manage the configuration of their app, isolated from
the
configuration of the hosting environment. Containers aren't just deployed to
highly
scalable orchestration systems like Mesosphere DC/OS, Docker Swarm and
Kubernetes, but all types of deployments. Azure App Services, Azure Batch,
Service
Fabric and other services are coming online that support containers as their
deployment model. Regardless of where you deploy containers, you'll need a
place to
store and manage the images. Using the Azure Container Registry, you can
store your
images for all types of container deployments.
IV. Use Common Command Line Interface (CLI) to interact with the registry
Benefit from using familiar and open source CLI tools like Docker login,
push and pull.
You don’t need to learn new APIs or commands to work with the registry.
Users can
benefit from using familiar tooling capable of working with the open source
Docker
Registry.
Azure container registry can manage both Windows and Linux images, giving
you the
flexibility to choose the platform and workloads to run within the
containers.
Best Practices:
If you place your registry near your container hosts, it will help
reduce both latency and
costs.
When you are deploying containers to multiple regions, you can use the
geo-replication
feature.
ACR supports nested namespaces that allow you to share a single
registry across multiple
groups.
There are two main situations when authenticating with an ACR:
o Individual identity – allows you to pull or push images from the
development
machine.
o Service/Headless identity – enables you to build and deploy
pipelines where the
user is not directly involved.
ACR allows you to delete images by tag, by manifest digest, and by
repository.
Cons:
I. The deployment is an area that needs improvement, as it can take some
time to deploy.
II. It took time to deploy this containerization and the application. For
example, when
creating the ACR and you click to deploy it and create the replication,
it takes some time
to create the replication.
III. Implementation needs improvement. When uses VPN connections and try to
pull the
images from Container images to the local Dockers, it slows down. The
images are slow
when we have a VPN setup.
IV. It can have more graphical interfaces to manage containers. At present,
the handling or
management of the containers is very basic.
Azure Container Registry Alternatives &
Competitors:
I. Amazon Elastic Container Registry (ECR)
Amazon Elastic Container Registry (ECR) is a fully-managed Docker container
registry that
makes it easy for developers to store, manage, and deploy Docker container
images.
Amazon ECR is integrated with Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS),
simplifying your
development to production workflow.
III. Harbor.
Project Harbor is an enterprise-class registry server that stores and
distributes Docker
images. Harbor extends the open source Docker Distribution by adding the
functionalities
usually required by an enterprise, such as security, identity and
management.
Nexus needs to be served over SSL, otherwise Docker won't connect to it. This can
be achieved
with a k8s ingress + kube-lego for a Let's Encrypt certificate. However, in order
to serve both
the nexus UI and the Docker registry through one ingress (thus, one port) one needs
a reverse
proxy behind the ingress to detect the Docker user agent and forward the request to
the
registry. While azure container registry don’t need this.
Nexus as a Container Registry powers enterprises with an advanced Docker and Helm
registry
for container storage management and K8s deployments. As DevOps teams scale, it is
critical to
rely on precise intelligence about the quality of open source components within
applications.
Nexus Lifecycle delivers open source component intelligence regarding security
vulnerabilities,
license risks, and architectural quality to developers and security experts.
Organizations looking
for a fully integrated, universal container management registry paired with the
most precise
component intelligence use the Nexus Platform to meet growing demands of
containerization
and open source governance.