Encapsultaing Processes using Docker

One of the problems with monoliths that when one part of the system goes mad, you are going to work very hard to get out of the mess.

This time we'll discuss how Docker can save your day, by encapsulating a running process while minimizing affects on current system architecture.

An example for this kind of process is FFMPEG: a complete, cross-platform solution to record, convert and stream audio and video. This process is CPU bound, and may leave your other processes w/ no option to serve due to lack of CPU resources.

Encapulate the Process as a Docker Container
We'll encapulate FFMPEG in a Docker container, in a way that we could use the same interfaces we used to call FFMPEG before:
1. The FFMPEG input folder will be mapped to a host folder
2. The FFMPEG outut folder will be mapped to a host folder
3. The container can be run from command line resulting in FFMPEG process execution

The bonus for this design, as docker resources can be easily manages, we will be able to limit the amount of memory and CPU used by the FFMPEG process

Creating the Docker Container
As the Docker community is highly active, we can easily find a good baked Docker image for this task. This specific one is using the Alpine Linux flavour that ensures us a minimum overhead

Running the Docker Container from Command Line
In the following lines we'll:

1. Pull the image 
2. Run it, while mapping the internal /tmp folder to the host /tmp folder
3. Limit the number of CPU cores to 4 (in this case)
4. Add to the run any relevant parameter

docker pull alfg/ffmpeg
docker run -it --cpus="4" -v /tmp:/tmp --rm alfg/ffmpeg ffmpeg -buildconf [EXTRA_PARAMS]

Bottom Line
Docker is a great solution for microservices based architecture, but it can also provide a real value for monolith low hanging fruites cases

Keep Performing,
Moshe Kaplan