Google App Engine vs OpenShift

Containerization is often seen as the next-gen approach to virtualization, as it encapsulates the application and its dependencies in its own isolated environments, allowing them to run in isolation while utilizing the same resources on an OS.

Containers can be deployed in far larger numbers than VMs, making them extremely popular among new developers looking to build scalable apps that can handle the increasing incoming traffic without a drop in performance.

Here, we take a look at two platforms offering containerization capabilities and compare them to identify the ideal work environments where they will be the best match. If you are looking to select one for your business, use the features and advantages written below to make an informed decision.

Key Takeaways

• App Engine is the PaaS solution from Google

• OpenShift is a containerization software from RedHat

• App Engine runs on GCP, and OpenShift offers an on-premise deployment option

What is Google App Engine? 

Part of the Google Cloud Platform, App Engine is the serverless cloud computing offering from Google allowing developers to test and deploy scalable applications through Google-managed infrastructure. It is offered as a Platform as a Service (PaaS) implementation, allowing developers to build and host scalable applications in their preferred language for any operating system. 

Flexible instances on Google App Engine are essentially Compute Engine VMs, allowing developers to take advantage of custom libraries and deploy their own Docker containers to customize the production environment as they see fit. Apps built using GAE are sandboxed and can be run across multiple servers, ensuring consistent performance during traffic spikes.

Google App Engine Core Features 

• Easier app development

GAE natively supports multiple development languages, including Ruby, Java, C#, Go, Python, PHP, etc. Moreover, your development team can also bring their language runtime using Docker files, meaning they can start working on writing code for any architecture in their preferred language, thereby boosting productivity and development speeds.

• Support for multiple APIs

For advanced applicability, you can also integrate various APIs like XMPP, TaskQueue, CloudSQL, etc. without bloating the main source code of the application. The App Engine is open and flexible, meaning developers can use the proprietary product for their requirements as they see fit.

• Intuitive dashboard

Google App Engine Console allows you to manage the resources on your infrastructure and optimize the performance of your application from a simple, web-based dashboard. In addition, you can also use the rich command-line interface to control your app functions.

Google App Engine Advantages 

• Scalability

With App Engine, you get access to the proprietary Google automatic scaling for flexible and standard environments that ensures consistent performance during unstable traffic.

For example, GAE will increase the number of active instances on your infrastructure during incoming traffic spikes and will increase idle instances during low traffic. Since you are charged only for the resources used, lower idle instances mean cost-efficiency.

• Effective traffic routing

If you want to test different versions of your application using live A/B testing, App Engine also allows you to do that as well. Essentially, GAE will route the incoming traffic to different versions of your application on the infrastructure and report the usage metrics, allowing you to decide the incremental traffic and identify the best version of your app stack.

• Faster time to market

Being a fully managed and serverless PaaS implementation, GAE takes away the hassles of managing servers and server-monitoring tools. Therefore, your developers can focus on building and deploying their apps quickly without having to manage the underlying infrastructure at all.

What is OpenShift? 

Red Hat OpenShift provides you with an enterprise-grade Kubernetes environment and the tools and services required to create, test, deploy, and manage highly scalable container-based app stacks on hybrid cloud environments.

The OpenShift architecture is a multi-layered system, where each layer is tightly bound to each other using Docker and Kubernetes clusters. The self-service platform manages Docker containers that are hosted on top of these layers using Kubernetes.

The primary purpose of OpenShift is to make using container environments viable for enterprise solutions as provisioning and tracking multiple containers across the IT architecture can be challenging. Developers also get continuous security via built-in authorization and authentication, auditing, logging, and integrated container registry.

OpenShift Core Features 

• Full-stack automated operations

OpenShift significantly improves developer productivity via automated installation and life cycle management of every phase of the container stack. You can install Kubernetes applications with a single click and get access to a centralized admin control panel for OTA updates and tuning the performance.

• Built-in service mesh

Containers are extremely useful in deploying and managing microservices and OpenShift takes it a step further using the service mesh, which improves the efficiency and resilience of the interservice communication. This is achieved by abstracting the communication between different layers into a dedicated infrastructure layer.

• Unified Kubernetes experience

With unified operators and an efficient control panel, you can develop and test your applications using CodeReady containers for your preferred infrastructure. OpenShift supports various production languages and their dependencies 

OpenShift Advantages 

• Accelerated app development and deployment

Container platforms like OpenShift help you effectively manage, test, scale, and deploy containers across multiple hosts and operating systems. It also performs automatic checks on code health to ensure minimum disruption during increased incoming traffic.

With OpenShift, your development team can focus on developing and testing highly scalable applications and improve the pace of app development, crucial for gaining a competitive advantage.

• Enterprise-grade solutions without vendor lock-in

A vendor-agnostic container management system like OpenShift allows users to migrate their container processes to new architectures and operating systems rapidly when the IT needs change from one period to the next. Meanwhile, you are also avoiding the compatibility issues and extensive migration costs associated with commercial operating frameworks.

• Self-service provisioning

OpenShift also allows the integration of your development team’s preferred tools directly into the production environment. This self-service provisioning is crucial for improving the production efficiency and speeding up the development process by allowing your developers to work with tools they are comfortable using, resulting in effective container usage.

App Engine vs OpenShift Comparison

Conclusion

Both Google App Engine and Red Hat OpenShift bring their unique pros and cons to the app development scene, and you will need to evaluate your requirements thoroughly before deciding between the two.

App Engine is ideal for work environments that do not want to indulge in setting up servers and maintaining server-monitoring tools when the traffic is spiky.

Meanwhile, the enterprise-grade solutions from OpenShift may be a better fit for apps and services that have to manage high traffic workloads consistently.

If you cannot finalize which one to use on your project, consider talking to a leading app hosting company for deeper insights into the platforms and their pros and cons.

FAQ