CoreOS launched an updated version of its enterprise-focused Tectonic platform taking advantage of the latest Kubernetes 1.7 release. The update also adds support for Microsoft Azure and bare metal hybrid cloud deployments.

Rob Szumski, product manager at CoreOS, said the Tectonic 1.7 platform includes unaltered feature sets available as part of Kubernetes 1.7, with some updates targeted at helping enterprises deploy and manage their container systems.

“The update tracks the upstream Kubernetes project, and we don’t hold anything back,” Szumski said. “We do add some enterprise features on top to help with the deployment and management, but that’s all.”

Kubernetes received its 1.7 update at the end of June. The latest version includes additional security, storage, and extensibility features designed to target growing enterprise use of the open source technology.

A number of companies have already jumped on adding the 1.7 enhancements to their Kubernetes-based platforms.

Recent reports have shown Kubernetes controlling more than 70 percent of the container orchestration market. This far outpaces other platforms such as Docker Swarm and Mesosphere.

On top of the Kubernetes updates, Szumski said CoreOS now includes preconfigured alerts monitoring Kubernetes clusters, which are part of the open source Prometheus project. Prometheus is a monitoring platform hosted alongside Kubernertes at the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF).

Tectonic 1.7 also includes support for network policy in alpha based on Tigera’s Project Calico that targets security and control of inbound traffic into container pods.

Citing customer demand, the Tectonic 1.7 update also includes commercial support for Microsoft Azure. This expands the platform’s hybrid cloud options, which already included Amazon Web Services (AWS).

“We think of our platform support as to where our customers are going,” Szumski said. “Customers were approaching us about Azure, and we worked with Microsoft to bring some customers to their campus to work through deployment models.”

CoreOS earlier this year began offering previews of its support for Azure.

Microsoft has rapidly become a significant player in the open source container arena. The firm has been updating its platforms to better integrate container work, and last month joined CNCF as a platinum member.

In terms of adding Azure support to what it had already done with AWS, Szumski said the AWS and Kubernetes tooling “was a bit more mature,” but that it had engaged with Microsoft on the engineering work in taking care of the challenges.

“There was obviously nothing insurmountable that we could not overcome,” Szumski said.

One tough hurdle for companies working with containers could be in managing the rapid pace of development. Kubernetes is currently on a quarterly update cycle, with its next iteration schedule to be unveiled by the end of September.

Szumski said its customers are aware of the pace, and actually are interested in always having the most up-to-date enhancements. CoreOS does help alleviate some of the strain by providing automated software upgrades, which Szumski said is designed to eliminate down time of container systems.

“Upgrading can be hard and it’s a large distribution system,” Szumski said. “But we make that really a non-issue for our customers.”

CoreOS' last Tectonic update (v1.6.7) was in early July.

Moving forward, Szumski said CoreOS was working on adding support for Google’s Cloud platform, but that “we don’t have anything to announce yet.”

Since its founding four years ago, CoreOS has raised about $50 million in funding from the likes of Google Ventures, Intel Capital, and Sequoia Capital. CoreOS’ current board is made up mostly of company executives and representatives from its investors.

The firm earlier this year added Mozilla Foundation Executive Chairwoman Mitchell Baker to its boards of directors as its first independent board member. CoreOS CEO Alex Polvi said Baker’s interactions with CoreOS could be more than just that of a traditional board member.

“Mitchell’s commitment is primarily around the board,” said Polvi, who worked as a system administrator at the Mozilla Foundation. “But, she is almost like an executive for the company and helping out wherever needed.”