Insight on when to use Docker

Understanding what Docker is:

Docker is a tool that permits developers, system admins to simply deploy their applications in containers to run on any remote operating systems.

Here’s why you would want to use Docker:

Imagine you’re performing on a project and you send your code to your team members. Your team members run this exact code on precisely the same data set however, it gets a different result. This will have various reasons like different OS, version of a project package, etc. Docker is trying to solve these problems.

A few advantages of Docker:

1. Reproducibility: The Docker container will run the same on all machines that have docker. The Docker file containing the specifications of the container can be shared with all team members and they can build images from the docker file that will run the same way in all machines and produce the same results.
2. Isolation: Multiple Docker containers will run on the same machine. The containers will not affect the other containers in terms of configuration settings. All containers will run independently and will not affect other containers. For example, they will run on the front end like angular, back end like spring boot, and DB like MySQL in the same machine in different containers. One container will not affect the other.
3. Security: By separating the containers on the entire application there comes security benefits, in the case one container affects security risks while the other remains unaffected.
4. Docker Hub: The docker hub contains a lot of pre-built images and with the version, you can use those images into our application. It will help the developer easily pull the existing images or build images from the docker file that can make the setup process fast and straightforward. Also, you can push the images into docker hub public or private. The docker hub has the ability to store and share the images with other team members.
5. Environment Management: We can separate the container for development, testing, UAT, and production on the same machine, and deploying each container will not affect the other containers. In Docker, we can easily maintain different versions and different environments for our application.
6. Continuous Integration: Docker works well in continuous integration. It is the best fit for Jenkins, Wercker, and other tools. Whenever the code is pushed into the repository, these tools create the new version of docker images with a tag and image and are pushed into the docker hub. We can deploy the latest version of images into our environment like testing, UAT, and production.

Source: https://www.docker.com/get-started

Here’s when you should use Docker:

If your application fits into one or more of the subsequent categories, Docker could also be an honest fit:

• Learning new technologies: Started with a replacement tool without spending time on installation and configuration, Docker offers an isolated and disposable environment.
• App isolation: If you’re looking to run multiple applications on one server, maintaining the components of every application in separate containers will prevent problems that could arise with dependency management.
• Developer teams: If you have developers that tend to work with different setups, Docker provides a convenient solution to have local development environments that closely match the live environment, without having to ssh into a foreign box.

Author: Arunkumar D
Stream: Java