Apache Mesos vs Docker Swarm

Overview

Apache Mesos

Stacks306

Followers418

Votes31

GitHub Stars5.3K

Forks1.7K

Docker Swarm

Stacks779

Followers990

Votes282

Apache Mesos vs Docker Swarm: What are the differences?

Introduction

Apache Mesos and Docker Swarm are both container orchestration tools that help manage and scale applications in a distributed environment. However, they have key differences that differentiate them in terms of functionality and architecture.

Resource Management: Apache Mesos uses fine-grained resource sharing by offering each framework the ability to allocate resources dynamically, leading to more efficient resource utilization. On the other hand, Docker Swarm utilizes a coarser level of resource allocation, where resources are allocated based on the whole container.
Networking: Docker Swarm allows each container to have its unique IP address, which simplifies networking and enables containers to communicate directly. In contrast, Apache Mesos relies on external projects like Marathon or Chronos for networking support, which adds an extra layer of complexity to the networking setup.
Scalability: Docker Swarm is designed for simplicity and is easier to set up and use for small to medium-sized clusters. Apache Mesos, on the other hand, is built for scalability and can handle larger clusters more efficiently due to its fine-grained resource allocation capabilities.
Ecosystem Integration: Apache Mesos has a larger ecosystem and supports a broader range of frameworks such as Marathon, Chronos, and Aurora, making it more versatile for various use cases. Docker Swarm, while integrated with other Docker tools like Docker Compose and Docker CLI, does not have as extensive of an ecosystem as Apache Mesos.
Fault Tolerance: Docker Swarm relies on the Docker daemon for fault tolerance, which can lead to a single point of failure if the daemon goes down. Apache Mesos, on the other hand, distributes the master nodes for fault tolerance ensuring the system remains operational even if a node fails.
Container Image Management: Docker Swarm simplifies container image management by allowing easy distribution and sharing of Docker images through the use of Docker Registry. Apache Mesos, on the other hand, lacks built-in support for container image management and relies on external tools or frameworks to achieve similar functionality.

In Summary, Apache Mesos excels in resource management, ecosystem integration, and fault tolerance, catering more towards large-scale and complex clusters, while Docker Swarm focuses on simplicity, networking, and container image management, making it more suitable for smaller, straightforward deployments.

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Advice on Apache Mesos, Docker Swarm

Simon

Senior Fullstack Developer at QUANTUSflow Software GmbH

Apr 27, 2020

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Our whole DevOps stack consists of the following tools:

@{GitHub}|tool:27| (incl. @{GitHub Pages}|tool:683|/@{Markdown}|tool:1147| for Documentation, GettingStarted and HowTo's) for collaborative review and code management tool
Respectively @{Git}|tool:1046| as revision control system
@{SourceTree}|tool:1599| as @{Git}|tool:1046| GUI
@{Visual Studio Code}|tool:4202| as IDE
@{CircleCI}|tool:190| for continuous integration (automatize development process)
@{Prettier}|tool:7035| / @{TSLint}|tool:5561| / @{ESLint}|tool:3337| as code linter
@{SonarQube}|tool:2638| as quality gate
@{Docker}|tool:586| as container management (incl. @{Docker Compose}|tool:3136| for multi-container application management)
@{VirtualBox}|tool:774| for operating system simulation tests
@{Kubernetes}|tool:1885| as cluster management for docker containers
@{Heroku}|tool:133| for deploying in test environments
@{nginx}|tool:1052| as web server (preferably used as facade server in production environment)
@{SSLMate}|tool:2752| (using @{OpenSSL}|tool:3091|) for certificate management
@{Amazon EC2}|tool:18| (incl. @{Amazon S3}|tool:25|) for deploying in stage (production-like) and production environments
@{PostgreSQL}|tool:1028| as preferred database system
@{Redis}|tool:1031| as preferred in-memory database/store (great for caching)

The main reason we have chosen Kubernetes over Docker Swarm is related to the following artifacts:

Key features: Easy and flexible installation, Clear dashboard, Great scaling operations, Monitoring is an integral part, Great load balancing concepts, Monitors the condition and ensures compensation in the event of failure.
Applications: An application can be deployed using a combination of pods, deployments, and services (or micro-services).
Functionality: Kubernetes as a complex installation and setup process, but it not as limited as Docker Swarm.
Monitoring: It supports multiple versions of logging and monitoring when the services are deployed within the cluster (Elasticsearch/Kibana (ELK), Heapster/Grafana, Sysdig cloud integration).
Scalability: All-in-one framework for distributed systems.
Other Benefits: Kubernetes is backed by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), huge community among container orchestration tools, it is an open source and modular tool that works with any OS.

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Detailed Comparison

Apache Mesos	Docker Swarm
Apache Mesos is a cluster manager that simplifies the complexity of running applications on a shared pool of servers.	Swarm serves the standard Docker API, so any tool which already communicates with a Docker daemon can use Swarm to transparently scale to multiple hosts: Dokku, Compose, Krane, Deis, DockerUI, Shipyard, Drone, Jenkins... and, of course, the Docker client itself.
Fault-tolerant replicated master using ZooKeeper;Scalability to 10,000s of nodes;Isolation between tasks with Linux Containers;Multi-resource scheduling (memory and CPU aware);Java, Python and C++ APIs for developing new parallel applications;Web UI for viewing cluster state	-
Statistics
GitHub Stars 5.3K	GitHub Stars -
GitHub Forks 1.7K	GitHub Forks -
Stacks 306	Stacks 779
Followers 418	Followers 990
Votes 31	Votes 282
Pros & Cons
Pros 21 Easy scaling 6 Web UI 2 Fault-Tolerant 1 Elastic Distributed System 1 High-Available Cons 1 Not for long term 1 Depends on Zookeeper	Pros 55 Docker friendly 46 Easy to setup 40 Standard Docker API 38 Easy to use 23 Native Cons 9 Low adoption
Integrations
Apache Aurora	Docker

What are some alternatives to Apache Mesos, Docker Swarm?

Kubernetes

Kubernetes is an open source orchestration system for Docker containers. It handles scheduling onto nodes in a compute cluster and actively manages workloads to ensure that their state matches the users declared intentions.

Rancher

Rancher is an open source container management platform that includes full distributions of Kubernetes, Apache Mesos and Docker Swarm, and makes it simple to operate container clusters on any cloud or infrastructure platform.

Docker Compose

With Compose, you define a multi-container application in a single file, then spin your application up in a single command which does everything that needs to be done to get it running.

Tutum

Tutum lets developers easily manage and run lightweight, portable, self-sufficient containers from any application. AWS-like control, Heroku-like ease. The same container that a developer builds and tests on a laptop can run at scale in Tutum.

Portainer

It is a universal container management tool. It works with Kubernetes, Docker, Docker Swarm and Azure ACI. It allows you to manage containers without needing to know platform-specific code.

Codefresh

Automate and parallelize testing. Codefresh allows teams to spin up on-demand compositions to run unit and integration tests as part of the continuous integration process. Jenkins integration allows more complex pipelines.

Nomad

Nomad is a cluster manager, designed for both long lived services and short lived batch processing workloads. Developers use a declarative job specification to submit work, and Nomad ensures constraints are satisfied and resource utilization is optimized by efficient task packing. Nomad supports all major operating systems and virtualized, containerized, or standalone applications.

CAST.AI

It is an AI-driven cloud optimization platform for Kubernetes. Instantly cut your cloud bill, prevent downtime, and 10X the power of DevOps.

k3s

Certified Kubernetes distribution designed for production workloads in unattended, resource-constrained, remote locations or inside IoT appliances. Supports something as small as a Raspberry Pi or as large as an AWS a1.4xlarge 32GiB server.

Flocker

Flocker is a data volume manager and multi-host Docker cluster management tool. With it you can control your data using the same tools you use for your stateless applications. This means that you can run your databases, queues and key-value stores in Docker and move them around as easily as the rest of your app.

Related Comparisons

Apache Mesos vs Docker Swarm: What are the differences?

Introduction

Resource Management: Apache Mesos uses fine-grained resource sharing by offering each framework the ability to allocate resources dynamically, leading to more efficient resource utilization. On the other hand, Docker Swarm utilizes a coarser level of resource allocation, where resources are allocated based on the whole container.
Networking: Docker Swarm allows each container to have its unique IP address, which simplifies networking and enables containers to communicate directly. In contrast, Apache Mesos relies on external projects like Marathon or Chronos for networking support, which adds an extra layer of complexity to the networking setup.
Scalability: Docker Swarm is designed for simplicity and is easier to set up and use for small to medium-sized clusters. Apache Mesos, on the other hand, is built for scalability and can handle larger clusters more efficiently due to its fine-grained resource allocation capabilities.
Ecosystem Integration: Apache Mesos has a larger ecosystem and supports a broader range of frameworks such as Marathon, Chronos, and Aurora, making it more versatile for various use cases. Docker Swarm, while integrated with other Docker tools like Docker Compose and Docker CLI, does not have as extensive of an ecosystem as Apache Mesos.
Fault Tolerance: Docker Swarm relies on the Docker daemon for fault tolerance, which can lead to a single point of failure if the daemon goes down. Apache Mesos, on the other hand, distributes the master nodes for fault tolerance ensuring the system remains operational even if a node fails.
Container Image Management: Docker Swarm simplifies container image management by allowing easy distribution and sharing of Docker images through the use of Docker Registry. Apache Mesos, on the other hand, lacks built-in support for container image management and relies on external tools or frameworks to achieve similar functionality.

Apache Mesos vs Docker Swarm

Overview