Docker makes running multiple servers very easy, especially with orchestration engines like Kubernetes and Docker Swarm. While some developers envision Docker Desktop as just a GUI on top of Docker Engine, that characterization barely scratches the surface. Docker Desktop is an easy-to-install application and includes Docker Engine, Docker CLI client, Docker Compose, Docker Content Trust, Kubernetes, and Credential Helper. However, the seamless integration and interoperability of these tools makes Docker Desktop user-friendly—regardless of your experience with Docker. Trusted by an astounding 70% of Fortune 100 companies, we’re helping our customers streamline how they build, share, and run applications. The Docker Dashboard provides you with a simplified UI to manage your core Docker components on Docker Desktop.
Finally, we will be showing off some of the next generation of innovation across Docker, including some new features and sneak previews for Docker Desktop at our September Community All Hands meeting. The free event takes place Thursday, September 16th from 8 AM – 11 AM Pacific time, register today here. As with all of these components, Docker’s updates keep these all in sync working together and secure with the latest fixes applied automatically for you. When you switch to Windows containers, Settings only shows those tabs that are active and apply to your Windows containers. A responsive server is crucial for an optimal multiplayer gaming experience.
Manage containers using Docker Desktop
Along with all of these tools, Docker Desktop also supports you in using them whatever system architecture you choose. With support for Apple M1 ARM Mac and QEMU included in Docker Desktop, you are able to build and use multi-architecture images (Linux x86, ARM, Windows) on whatever platform you are working on out of the box. Furthermore, Kubernetes has a large, active community and is compatible with major cloud providers, offering a range of tools and open-source projects that enhance its functionality. This broad support makes Kubernetes a versatile platform capable of operating in public, private, on-premises, or hybrid environments. This tool significantly eases the management of interconnected containers. For instance, Docker Compose can manage all these components as a unified application in a web application that requires separate containers for the database, web server, and application server.
Each microservice can be encapsulated in its Docker container, isolating its functionality and dependencies from the rest. This isolation simplifies individual microservices’ development, testing, and deployment, making the overall process more efficient and less error-prone. The Docker architecture employs several features of the Linux kernel, such as namespaces and cgroups, to isolate the container’s view of the operating system and limit its access to resources. This isolation allows multiple containers to run simultaneously on a single Linux instance, ensuring each container remains isolated and secure. In production, there are plenty of services to host Docker containers, including AWS ECS, Azure Container Instances, DigitalOcean Docker Droplets, and many others. If your provider doesn’t offer managed Docker hosting, you can always install it yourself on your VPS.
Are There Any Containerization Alternatives to Docker?
These containers enable developers to package an application with all its necessary components, such as libraries and other dependencies, and ship it as a single package. Docker also allows you to organize your code for deploying on new services. Ideally you’d split these up into separate applications to run on separate servers, but development can get messy. If you wanted to add another server to your cluster, you wouldn’t have to worry about reconfiguring that server and reinstalling all the dependencies you need. Once you build a container, you can share the container file with anyone, and they could easily have your app up and running with a few commands.
When you use Docker, you are creating and using images, containers, networks,
volumes, plugins, and other objects. When you use the docker pull or docker run commands, Docker pulls the required images from your configured registry. When you use the docker push command, Docker pushes
your image to your configured registry. Docker was first released as an open source platform in March 2013 under the name dotCloud. In 2016, Docker integrated its Swarm orchestration with Docker Engine in version 1.12.
Integrating with the host machine
Integrating Docker Hub and Docker registry services further enhances this process, allowing for efficient management and sharing of Docker images. Docker can also save you money if you’d like to run multiple apps on a single VPS. If each app has different dependencies, it’s very easy for your server to become cluttered, like a Thanksgiving dinner plate with everything mixing together. With Docker, you can run multiple separate containers with, for example, seperate versions of PHP, like a high school lunch tray with everything separated.
If you are logged in, you can also see the images you and your organization have shared on Docker Hub. Whether you’re a small startup or an organization with 1,000+ developers, Docker Desktop is designed to grow with you. Docker Hub is a public
registry that anyone can use, and Docker looks for images on
Docker Hub by default. Play with Docker is an interactive playground that allows you to run Docker commands on a linux terminal, no downloads required. In November 2019, Mirantis acquired Docker products and IP around Docker Engine. The acquisition included Enterprise, Docker Trusted Registry, Docker Universal Control Plane and Docker CLI as well as the commercial Docker Swarm product.
What can I use Docker for?
Despite excellent logical isolation, containers still share the host’s operating system. An attack or flaw in the underlying OS can potentially compromise all the containers running on top of the OS. Vulnerabilities can involve access and authorization, container images and network traffic among containers.
Docker is written in the
Go programming language and takes
advantage of several features of the Linux kernel to deliver its functionality. Docker uses a technology called namespaces to provide the isolated workspace
called the container. When you run a container, Docker creates docker what is it a set of
namespaces for that container. A container is defined by its image as well as any configuration options you
provide to it when you create or start it. When a container is removed, any changes to
its state that aren’t stored in persistent storage disappear.
What Does Docker Do, and When Should You Use It?
Docker consists of various components and tools that help create, verify and manage containers. All of these core components of Docker Desktop come with a simple graphical interface to help you control and manage these settings. Just having a VM doesn’t make this magic, as most of you who have used Docker Desktop will have noticed, you don’t need to “go into a VM” to use Docker. This is achieved through integrations in both networking and the file system into the VM to make this seem like a seamless piece of your local machine.
- The first line is a Docker command that tells Docker to base this image on the nginx image from the Hub.
- A daemon can also
communicate with other daemons to manage Docker services. - To build your own image, you create a Dockerfile
with a simple syntax for defining the steps needed to create the image and run
it. - From there the guide touches on installing Docker within a Debian Linux system.
- Learn more about Docker and customize your experience with additional tools.
Hostinger’s VPS provides an optimal environment for running cloud-native applications developed with Docker. This virtual private server environment delivers the performance and scalability crucial for cloud-native applications, enabling them to grow and adapt as required. Cloud-native applications are designed to run in a dynamic, distributed cloud environment, and Docker’s containerization technology plays a crucial role in this approach.
Docker Swarm stands out as a user-friendly and accessible solution for Docker orchestration, ensuring that even those new to container orchestration can manage their Docker containers effectively. It automates container distribution, load balancing, and failure handling tasks, making Docker container management more simple and intuitive. Unlike Kubernetes, Docker Swarm is particularly well-suited for smaller-scale deployments without the overhead and complexity. It offers a simple approach to orchestration, allowing users to set up and manage a cluster of Docker containers quickly.
