New Midokura release works with container software

Midokura says its new version of Midokura Enterprise Midonet (MEM), a network virtualization overlay, supports OpenStack Liberty and Ubuntu OpenStack, as well as container software environments.

Designed for use with Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) clouds, MEM is a scalable network virtualization tool for enterprises. According to Midokura, the latest release of MEM -- which creates a software-based abstraction layer between IaaS and network hardware -- supports container software like Docker. The company also reports that it is contributing to the Kuryr project, which seeks to bridge the gap between containers and OpenStack Neutron.

Lee Doyle, principal analyst for Doyle Research, says that, as an SDN company making an IaaS play, it makes sense for Midokura to add support for various OpenStack implementations, such as Liberty and Ubuntu, as well as for container software.

"All of these things need networking help," said Doyle. "They all need network virtualization to help them scale, to help provision and manage them, to isolate resources. ... You still need additional networking features [to make them work]."

Midokura says the new version of Midonet also supports older OpenStack releases Juno and Kilo.