Chapter 14: Containers and Docker

I'm sure by now you've heard of virtual machines. If you're reading this book in order, we've just finished a whole chapter on them. However, some of you might have also heard about this technology called containers or a tool called Docker and are wondering how they are different to virtual machines. What purpose do they serve? And aren't they a Linux thing, not a Windows thing?

Virtual machines and containers are conceptually related. Virtual machines take what used to be a physical thing (an actual server, installed on a rack) and turn it into isolated software (for example, Hyper-V). Containers do the same thing for applications – they take something that used to be installed on an operating system and isolate it in its own environment.

Think of the typical process you might go through when your business buys a new piece of software. Typically, you receive an installable EXE file. You run the installer and it...