Zero-Images

A New Way Of Dealing With OS Images

The Problem

The current method of deploying workloads in the cloud using Docker containers and virtual machine images has inherent issues. These images consume significant storage space, result in slow and bandwidth-intensive transfers to the internet's edge, drive up costs, introduce complexity, and pose security risks due to difficulties in tracking their contents over time.

For instance, a complete Ubuntu image can easily be 2 GB in size, comprising millions of files. In contrast, the Flist (metadata for Zero-Image) for a full Ubuntu image is less than 2 MB (1000 times smaller). Based on this flist only the required files will be dowbloaded which can easily be 10x less compared to the original image size. These downloaded files (or subparts of files) are identified by a fingerprint (hash) and will only boot once authenticity can be verified.

Process

  • Zero-OS or the Zero-Image Command Line (works on linux) gets informed to provision a virtual filesystem based on a Zero-Image URL.
  • The Zero-Image Metadata is stored on e.g. an S3 Server or our Zero-Hub

Introducing Flist

A new image format that separates the image data (comprising files and subfile parts) from the metadata describing the image structure.

An Flist's format uniquely encompasses comprehensive file descriptions along with all relevant metadata such as size, modification and creation timestamps, and POSIX attributes. Additionally, it incorporates a fingerprint for each component, ensuring deterministic behavior—a crucial feature for security focused use cases.

Flists provide the flexibility to manage metadata and data as separate entities, offering a versatile approach to handling various build and delivery scenarios.

The Benefits

  • Rapid deployment: Zero-OS enables containers and virtual machines to launch up to 100 times faster, especially in decentralized scenarios.
  • Enhanced security: Zero-OS prevents tampering with images, ensuring higher security levels.
  • Reduced storage and bandwidth: Zero-OS significantly reduces storage and bandwidth requirements, potentially achieving up to a 100-fold improvement.
  • Deterministic deployments: engineers can precisely define deployments beforehand, ensuring predictable outcomes without changes during deployment.
  • 100% compatible: with existing standards, docker and virtual machines. The same format is useful for VM's as well as any container technology.

Status

Usable for years, see Zero-OS.