Container Technology & Coca-Cola Freestyle
Keith Crockett
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First, I must mention that I'm not a technical expert in either container technology or the Coca-Cola Freestyle machine. In order to make things easier for me to comprehend I will compare things in every day life to technology.
I do have to say that I am a big fan of the Coca-Cola Freestyle machine. It provides so many choices and so many options that you can make the ultimate of all ultimate soft drink combinations.
Cartridges and Containers
Cartridges- The Coca-Cola Freestyle machine uses small cartridges that are highly concentrated to provide a strong punch of flavor. These cartridges are small which allows more flavor options and choices. Another benefit is that instead of sending and shipping very heavy boxes of syrup a much smaller box of cartridges can be sent. The agility is amazing as well, if a flavor isn't doing well get rid of it and try something else. You can see trends in different geographies, maybe in the Southeast they like cherry in their Coke and maybe in the Northwest they like vanilla in their Coke or maybe people like a shot of cherry and a shot of vanilla. A new radical flavor coming to a store near you I'm sure is right on the horizon.
Containers- Container technology provides a lot of flexibility if some part of an application isn't well received or needs an improvement take that component out and put in something new with relative ease. Instead of having to add another server or big box, containers can allow you to partition at the operating system level to maximize the horse power of your server. With the ability to make changes quickly you can do a A/B testing and respond to customer demands quickly. Perhaps even develop a new application in what would at one time take 6 months to a matter of days. That way if it isn't well received the amount of man hours lost is not so painful. On the flip side if it is well received the return on investment is much faster.
I'm sure someone can think of other similarities if you can throw them in a comment to the article.
So if you're in IT and the next time you stop at one of your favorite restaurants that has a Coca Cola Freestyle machine and say, "Wow I really like this Coca Cola Freestyle machine." just maybe you will also think, maybe we should take a look at using containers.
Containers have been part of Red Hat Enterprise Linux for many years. . .