Apache Mesos vs DC/OS: What are the differences?

Introduction

Apache Mesos and DC/OS are two popular distributed systems platforms used for managing large-scale data centers and running containerized applications. While both platforms offer similar functionality, there are key differences that differentiate them.

1. Architecture: The architecture of Apache Mesos is based on a master-slave design, where a Mesos master node manages Mesos slave nodes. In contrast, DC/OS builds on top of Mesos and provides additional features like service discovery, load balancing, and multi-tenancy. It introduces the concept of a DC/OS master, which coordinates multiple Mesos masters, making it more powerful and flexible for enterprise deployments.

2. User Interface: Apache Mesos primarily provides a command-line interface (CLI) and a web-based user interface (UI) called the Mesos web UI. On the other hand, DC/OS offers a more advanced web-based UI, the DC/OS dashboard, which provides a visually rich user experience, making it easier to navigate through the system and manage applications.

3. Application Management: Mesos focuses on managing and scheduling tasks and frameworks, providing a flexible framework for deploying applications. DC/OS, being built on top of Mesos, enhances application management by providing extended capabilities like app deployment, rolling upgrades, and scaling, making it easier to manage and monitor applications.

4. Service Management: DC/OS goes beyond Mesos' native functionality and offers more advanced service management capabilities. It introduces service definitions and allows users to deploy and manage services as first-class citizens, providing a declarative and easy way to create and manage long-running services.

5. Package Management: DC/OS includes a built-in package manager called the DC/OS Universe, which allows users to install and manage applications or services from a marketplace-like repository. In contrast, Apache Mesos does not have built-in package management, requiring users to manually manage and install applications.

6. Enterprise Features: DC/OS caters more towards enterprise needs by providing additional features like fine-grained ACL-based multi-tenancy, security, and high availability. It offers advanced authentication and authorization mechanisms, allowing enterprises to enforce secure access control and management policies.

In summary, Apache Mesos provides a foundational layer for resource management and scheduling, while DC/OS builds on top of Mesos and provides additional features like advanced user interface, application and service management, package management, and enterprise-grade features.