What is Docker?

Before we begin this Docker lesson, we must first learn about Docker. Docker is a virtualized operating system that enables IT firms to simply design, distribute, and operate programmed in Docker containers, which include all of their dependencies. The container is essentially a small package that contains all of the instructions and dependencies, such as frameworks, libraries, and bins.

It’s quite simple to move the container from one environment to another. The area of the DevOps life cycle where Docker really excels is deployment, because when you deploy your solution, you want to know that the code you tested will really work in the production environment. Furthermore, having a container running the solution throughout the development and testing stages is helpful since it allows you to validate your work in the same environment as production.

Docker may be used at any point of the DevOps process, but it is most useful during the deployment phase. The benefits of Docker are the next topic in this Docker lesson.

Now that you know what Docker is, you should be able to tell the difference between it and virtual machines. So, let’s get started.

Docker vs Virtual Machines

A hypervisor layer exists in the virtual environment, whereas Docker has a Docker engine layer.

Within the virtual machine, there are additional layers of libraries, each of which compounds and generates major disparities between a Docker and a virtual machine environment.

Memory utilization in a virtual machine is quite high, but memory usage in a Docker environment is relatively minimal.

In terms of performance, when you build out a virtual machine, especially when you have several virtual machines on a server, the performance degrades. Because there is just one Docker engine, performance is always great with Docker.

Virtual machines are not optimal in terms of portability. They’re still reliant on the host operating system, and using virtual machines for mobility can lead to a slew of issues. Docker, on the other hand, was created with portability in mind. You can develop solutions in a Docker container, and the solution will always operate as intended, regardless of where it is hosted.

In compared to a Docker environment, where boot-up is nearly quick, the boot-up time for a virtual machine is somewhat sluggish.

One of the other drawbacks of utilizing a virtual machine is that you can’t reallocate unneeded RAM within the environment. You can’t do anything with the unused memory if you build up an environment with 9 gigabytes of RAM and 6 of those gigabytes are free. If you have free memory in a Docker container, you may reallocate it and reuse it in other containers in the Docker environment.

Having numerous of them running in the same environment might cause instability and performance problems. Docker, on the other hand, is built to run numerous containers in the same environment—in fact, the more containers that operate in that single Docker engine, the better.

Virtual machines have portability concerns; software can run on one system, but when you transfer that virtual machine to another, some of the program stops working because some dependencies aren’t passed down appropriately. Docker was created to run in a variety of contexts and to be quickly distributed across platforms.

In comparison to the milliseconds it takes for a Docker environment to load up, a virtual machine takes a few minutes to boot up.

Advantages of Docker

Now we’ll look at the benefits of Docker, which is a key topic in our Docker tutorial. Docker, as previously said, allows for quick deployment. Unlike typical virtual machine environments, the environment is very portable and was designed with efficiencies that allow you to operate numerous Docker containers in a single environment.

YAML, a language for specifying the Docker environment you want to construct, may be used to program the setup. As a consequence, you’ll be able to quickly expand your surroundings. Security, on the other hand, is possibly the most significant advantage these days.

You must guarantee that your environment is both extremely secure and scalable, and Docker takes security very seriously. It will be an important part of the agile architecture of the system you’re working on.