Basics

Containers#

  • Containers offer the same abilities as a Virtual Machine but with less overhead.
  • Containers do not virtualize a complete OS

Used for#

  • Software Portability -- Running software consistentyl on different machines
  • Isolation -- Keeping individual pieces of software separate from one another
  • Scaling -- Increasing or decreasing resource sallocated to software as needed
  • Automation -- Automating processes to save time and money
  • Efficient Resources Usage -- Containers use resources efficiently, which saves money

Advantages#

  • Isolation and portability of VMs
  • More lightweight thean VMs - Less resources usage
  • Faster than VMs -- Container can start in seconds
  • Smaller than VMs -- Container images canb e measured in megabutes, not gigabytes

Limitations#

  • Less flexible than VMs -- You can't run a Windows container on a Linux machine.
  • Introduces new challenges around orchestration and automation

Docker#

  • A container runtime, which actually allows you to implement container. (Container is just a concept)
  • Allows you to build and manage containers and container images

Other Container Runtimes#

  • rkt
    • Ultimately does the same thing as Docker.
    • Is more linux like and may be easier for linux stuff
    • Supports more container images formats than Docker
  • containerd
    • Emphasizes simplicity, robustness, portability
    • Focused solely on running containers
    • Does not has many features as Docker but may not be a downside