Rather than scour the internet for an array of answers regarding cloud services related to container hosting and management, let us help you out with the go-to guide.
For starters, let us explain what containers are. They are a solution to the problems that pop up when trying to figure out how to run software when moving between computer environments. A container lets you pack workloads on to a single server while also increasing the capacity for new computing jobs to begin – and all it takes is a second.
Containers may sound similar to virtual machines, but there are some major differences. While containers give each application running its very own isolated environment, they all share the host server’s operating system. Because containers don’t have to load an operating system like virtual machines, they are created and booted in a matter of seconds as compared to the minutes it would take to do the same in a virtual machine.
Containers also require less memory space than virtual machines, making them lightweight and delivering faster launch times. They also offer customization when compared to the set limits involved with virtual machines. The amount of disk space, nodes, CPU, and RAM can be provisioned, increased, or decreased in each container as needed without the need to restart it in order to save the changes.
For an example of containers, let’s use the Google organization. Google used to run on a single operating system involving a hardware node. Now, however, they have the technology to run several “copies” of their operating system to enhance their available resources. These “copies” are all containers, each holding a mimic copy of their individual operating system in order to store various groups of resources.
Container hosting is similar to hosting a web page. By creating an account for a container, or docker, hosting site, you can upload and store your various containers. This gives the effect of using multiple pages within the hosting domain. Accessing those stored containers is not exclusive to the computer environment you initially uploaded from, too. You can access your container hosting and pull or copy those stored containers down to another computer environment if you wish to.
This brings container management into play, and it’s not as complicated as you may think. A simple explanation of this is knowing what containers you need at any specific time and making sure that they are in place to be easily accessed. In a lot of ways, it is almost identical to web page management. You need to know what information is on what page and consistently update that information for use in the future. Container management focuses on optimizing the interface to suit your needs, creating transparency and greater security for your containers, and making the best possible uses of your logistical resources.
If you are familiar with web-based hosting or web-site management, then you already have an idea of how container hosting and management works. While the containers are not available to the public, depending on your preferences, they are extremely useful when it comes to optimizing your computer environments without the need of repeatedly installing multiple programs.
To talk more about this or any of our services, please feel free to contact us.