Docker in the cloud

What do you use Docker for in a cloud environment?

It seems the sysop team of my company wants to use Docker in AWS / Azure, but they are not 100% what is it used for.

I thought it was used for "simulating" a cloud environment in a local setup. By simulating I mean it was used in a local environment to create instances upon needed, but AWS and Azure already have that feature, so.. I don't know what other use does it have.

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Comments

networker050184

Docker is more about having a consistent environment for development. You can develop your application in a container than ship that same container to a VM in the cloud running Centos, a physical server in your office running Ubuntu, etc. and it always behaves the same.

Devilsbane

It can also be for building environments on the fly. A provisioning model that helps keep costs down because the environments can be built and destroyed quickly and easily.

yzT

But you can do that with AWS built-in features. Customize an instance, save as AMI, and deploy it whenever you need it. That's why I don't understand the use of Docker in the cloud.

networker050184

Say you have three apps you need to run in AWS. All three apps where written by different developers in different dev environments with their own set of dependencies. You can spin up three separate VMs to match these environments or you can run Docker and ship the containers over to AWS, Azure, Google, run it on your private cloud, develop on it anywhere etc. without worrying about the underlying machine architecture, packages etc. So the problems solved by Docker do over lap with regular VMs, but not completely.

yzT

ahh I thought the containers must be in the Docker server, but if they can be deployed everywhere, then that make sense

networker050184

Well the system you push it to still has to be running Docker, but the containers operate in their own space.

JockVSJock

Containers 101 - Developer.com