Docker Acquires Unikernels Systems, A Unikernel Technology Startup

The Combined strengths of the two specialized companies enable organizations to build, ship and run distributed applications from the data centers to the Cloud and Internet of Things.

Docker Inc., a US-based container software pioneer and provider, has acquired Unikernel Systems, a Cambridge, UK-based company focused on unikernel technology. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Docker acquired the company to expand its capabilities with microservices and connected devices and to continue to simplify the developer experience. Docker also acquired the team to gain more deep technical knowledge, which will allow the company to address deep problems and issues in the developer stack. In addition, the deal also fits with Docker’s strategy to move away from just containers technology and push forward microservices as an ecosystem, and this deal will allow Docker and developers to build even more efficient microservices architectures. 

Solomon Hykes, founder and CTO of Docker, said in a statement: 
“We are honored to have the Unikernel Systems team, with its incredible pedigree, join the Docker family,” and also added this: “Our shared vision to take transformative technology and make it accessible to a much wider audience has made the union a natural fit and it aligns with one of our core tenets to separate applications from infrastructure constraints. Through the Docker platform, unikernels will be on a ‘continuum’ with Linux and Windows containers, enabling users to create truly hybrid applications across all formats with a uniform workflow.”

Anil Madhavapeddy, co-founder and CTO of Unikernel Systems, said in a statement:
“We are excited to be part of an organization and a community like Docker that will have such a positive impact on the work that our team and the broader unikernel community have accomplished thus far,” and also added this: “Similar to what Docker has done for Linux containers, by combining forces, we will be able to unlock the entire Docker ecosystem for use with unikernels, including orchestration and networking. The integration with Docker tooling will accelerate the progress of unikernels and enable users to choose how they ‘containerize’ and manage their application - from the data center to the cloud to the Internet of Things.”

The idea behind unikernel technology is to remove the complexity and reduce footprint by compiling source code into a custom operating system that includes only the functionality required by the application logic. By adopting the technology, we can now streamline an application from hundreds of gigabytes to megabytes and make a boot in just milliseconds; this led to better usage and fewer surface areas for security vulnerability. Unikernels technology is just another example of rapidly-growing market for modern applications today. 

Founded by ex-alumni from hypervisor company Xen, Unikernel Systems is a Cambridge, UK-based startup that has been one of the major players in developing unikernel technology, an emerging space that could simplify application deployments in the cloud and Internet of Things.   

Founded in 2008 and based in San Francisco, California, Docker, Inc. is the company behind the widely popular Docker open source platform, an open platform for developers and system administrators to build, ship and run distributed applications. Docker’s technology has been downloaded more than 1.8 billion times, and it’s been  used by millions of developers across thousands of the world’s most innovative organizations, including eBay, Baidu, the BBC, Goldman Sachs, Groupon, ING, Yelp, and Spotify. 

Image credit: Silicon Angle