A process control system includes a plurality of field devices operating to control a process. A communication infrastructure couples the field devices to a software-defined control system (SDCS) that receives data from the field devices and transmits instructions to the field devices. A data cluster, executing the SDCS, includes a plurality of computing nodes, each of which includes a processor executing an operating system, a memory, and a communication resource coupled to one or more other computing nodes in the data cluster. First and second containers, each of which is an isolated execution environment, are instantiated on a first computing node within the operating system of the first computing node. The second container is instantiated within the first container. The first and second containers correspond to levels of a hierarchical structure of the SDCS.

A process control system includes a plurality of field devices operating to control a process. A communication infrastructure couples the field devices to a software-defined control system (SDCS) that receives data from the field devices and transmits instructions to the field devices. A data cluster, executing the SDCS, includes a plurality of computing nodes, each of which includes a processor executing an operating system, a memory, and a communication resource coupled to one or more other computing nodes in the data cluster. First and second containers, each of which is an isolated execution environment, are instantiated on a first computing node within the operating system of the first computing node. The second container is instantiated within the first container. The first and second containers correspond to levels of a hierarchical structure of the SDCS.