Containerization allows you to isolate software components with their dependencies, environments and configuration settings into an isolated unit known as a container for efficient deployment on any computing platform, including cloud environments. This method helps ensure applications run without issue wherever they're hosted - including on personal computers as well as cloud services like Microsoft Azure.
Containers consist of three key components: hardware infrastructure, the host operating system and a container engine. The latter sits atop of the host OS to virtualize resources necessary for running applications - like memory or CPU resources - within its container environment.
Docker is a container engine, providing a lightweight, quick way of running applications on Linux-based systems.
Containers offer significant advantages over virtual machines (VMs) by sharing an operating system kernel and not needing extra overhead, allowing them to start up more rapidly than their virtual counterparts resulting in higher server efficiency and reduced licensing and management costs.
Scalability is another benefit of containers. They can be scaled out and up automatically, increasing or decreasing service levels to meet demand peaks without needing to restart VMs or servers to adjust resource limits.
DevOps teams can use containers to speed up development and production cycles, as they isolate the development environment from production environments while offering highly scalable infrastructure suitable for agile workflows.
Containerization is quickly gaining in popularity among developers, offering many benefits like scalability, portability and flexibility. Furthermore, it may also help organizations improve their IT operations and boost productivity.
