Edge-driven Docker registry: facilitating XR application deployment

In recent years, containerization is becoming more and more popular for deploying applications and services and it has significantly contributed to the expansion of edge computing. The demand for effective and scalable container image management, however, increases as the number of containers deployed grows. One solution is to use a localized Docker registry at the edge, where the images are stored closer to the deployment site. This approach can considerably reduce the latency and bandwidth required to download images from a central registry. In addition, it acts as a proactive caching mechanism by optimizing the download delays and the network traffic. In this paper, we introduce an edge-enabled storage framework that incorporates a localized Docker registry. This framework aims to streamline the storage and distribution of container images, providing improved control, scalability, and optimized capabilities for edge deployment. Four demanding XR applications are employed as use cases to experiment with the proposed solution.