Google Cloud Platform takes Container Builder to More Cloud Users

GCP Google Cloud Container Builder

Google Cloud Platform has doubled down on its container service and announced the launch of Google Cloud Container Builder, a tool that allows users to build container images irrespective of the deployment environment.

The new tool aims to complement to existing container service Google Cloud already has, enabling development teams to have a tighter release process and increased reliability, while eliminating the headache of managing infrastructure for running builds.

Google Cloud Platform container builder
GCP Container Engine

Google has silently been utilizing the container builder for some time now – since March 2016 – as the build-and-package engine behind its App Engine flexible environment. Google says that lot of its App Engine flexible environment users didn’t notice container builder, but said that deploying code was much faster and more reliable. Google has now decided to make the builder available to all its container users.

All the top cloud providers offer container services, as containers play a critical role in assisting software development.

Containers simply make it easier for developers to know that their software will run, no matter where it is deployed. They also enable what’s often called “microservices.” Instead of having one large monolithic application, microservices break down applications into multiple small parts that can talk to each other. This means different teams can more easily work on different parts of an application and, as long as they make no major changes to how those applications interact, they can work independently of each other. That makes developing software faster and testing it for possible errors easier.”Techcrunch

Google cloud has already packed several features into its Google Container Engine that support the Docker container format. Google Container Registry makes it easy to store and access private Docker images.

Over and above this, the container engine is fully managed by Google. They take on the responsibility of keeping the containers up-to-date, and have also committed to a service level agreement.




The Google Cloud Container Engine Service Level Agreement commitment is a Monthly Uptime Percentage to Customer of at least 99.5%.”GCP Container Engine

Google already uses containers to run a lot of its own applications, from Gmail to YouTube, and the company has strong expertise in this area. They are now exploiting that strength by getting these services out to their existing and new users.

Thanks for reading our work! We invite you to check out our Essentials of Cloud Computing page, which covers the basics of cloud computing, its components, various deployment models, historical, current and forecast data for the cloud computing industry, and even a glossary of cloud computing terms.