Welcome to the Summer of IoT! As part of our Summer of IoT blog series, we spotlight practical ways to simplify and accelerate your digital transformation journey. In this second post, we’re diving into how OPC Router Docker Containers make industrial connectivity more flexible and easier to manage. Whether you're optimizing existing systems or exploring new technologies, our goal is to give you real-world strategies to make IoT adoption smarter and more efficient.
In industrial automation, efficiency is everything—whether it’s edge applications on the plant floor or in the solutions that keep operations running smoothly. For many, managing OPC Router installations has always meant dealing with servers, complex configurations, and time-consuming updates. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
In this blog, I’ll introduce you to OPC Router Docker Containers: what they are, why they matter, and how they can help you streamline your industrial connectivity with less hassle and greater flexibility. We hope you’ll learn:
- What OPC Router in a Docker container means
- Why it can save you time, simplify updates, and improve scalability
- How it fits into modern, flexible industrial architectures
Time is money. Let’s help you save both.
What are Containers?
A container is a package of software that includes all the applications and dependencies needed for it to be deployed. This allows containers to be easily moved across different environments, while keeping their behavior consistent. This ensures that a container will run the same way in development, testing, and production and prevents situations where something may work on one machine but not on another.
What is a Docker Container?
Docker is a runtime environment for deploying containers. Docker is one of the most popular options for this, and provides the framework for building, packaging, and running containers. Other options for this include Podman, Containerd, and LXC, each with their own pros and cons. Choosing the right runtime will depend on your individual needs, and these environments are often interoperable with each other. Since Docker is the most popular, we will typically refer to Docker when mentioning containers.
The Difference Between Containers and Virtual Machines
When working with containers, it’s important to consider how they differ from virtual machine (VM) deployments. Virtual machines simulate an entire instance of an operating system and will require some extra isolation from the rest of the components on a physical machine. This can provide security benefits and will be more familiar with most users, but the need to simulate an entire OS will be resource intensive and take additional time to start up.
Containers on the other hand are designed to include only the bare minimum needed for deployment and can interact with your machine’s hardware directly alongside any installed operating systems. This reduces the resource load dramatically, as well as allowing for faster deployment speeds.
VM deployment will be familiar to more users and have an easier learning curve. VMs are typically used with a Windows operating system, which has its own benefits over the Linux-based container approach. Microsoft specific technologies, such as COM and OPC DA, will only work on Windows-based machines. Most containers are Linux-based (OPC Router, for example), so they would not be compatible with those features. Most newer technologies, such as OPC UA, are not dependent on Windows and will work just fine in a container environment. However, this is still something to keep in mind depending on your system design.
The Other Benefits of Container Deployment
By combining consistent deployment, lightweight resource usage, and fast startup times, containers offer greater flexibility for deploying your applications. You can move containerized deployments between physical machines quickly and confidently knowing your environment will remain stable and perform as expected wherever it runs.
These benefits can be compounded when you use containers with orchestration tools such as Kubernetes or Helm. Because containers can be deployed uniformly and with speed, this lends itself easily to automation. By using one of these orchestration tools, you can configure your containers to deploy more instances as demand grows, load balance traffic between themselves, as well as replace failed containers all without manual intervention.
Why Deploy OPC Router as a Container?
Deploying OPC Router as a container gives you flexibility that you wouldn’t see from traditional Windows installation. Container deployments are ideal for edge devices, where you may need to process data close to the source. Container deployments also allow for easy transition between different versions of the same image, which can make troubleshooting and deployment of updates easier while reducing downtime.
Another benefit of container deployment is the ability to use cloud-based CaaS (Container-as-a-Service) platforms. OPC Router containers can be deployed in services such as Amazon ECS, Amazon Fargate, and Azure Container Instances (ACI). Similarly, the same ability applies to Kubernetes deployments and the corresponding platforms (EKS, AKS, OpenShift, etc.).
Container deployment is ideal for those looking to deploy multiple instances of OPC Router, or those looking to deploy with a low resource impact. It makes scaling, managing, and updating instances more predictable and repeatable, whether you’re working at the edge, on-premises, or in the cloud.
Ready to Simplify Your OPC Router Deployment?
As we’ve shown, deploying OPC Router in a Docker container opens the door to faster, more scalable, and more consistent industrial connectivity. It’s a practical step toward modernizing your infrastructure and reducing the burden on your engineering teams.
If you're ready to explore how containerization fits into your environment, or if you need help getting started, we’re here to support you.
Request a consultation today and let us help you take the next step in your IoT journey with confidence and clarity.
