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VMs or Containers
VMs are great for running multiple, isolated OS environments on a single hardware platform. They offer strong security isolation and are useful when applications need different OS versions or configurations.
Containers are lightweight and share the host OS kernel, making them faster to start and less resource-intensive. They’re perfect for microservices, CI/CD pipelines, and scalable applications.
Smart engineers focus on the right tool for the job rather than getting caught up in “better or worse” debates.
Use them in combination to make life better.
Popular container technologies
Docker: The most widely used container platform, known for its simplicity, portability, and extensive ecosystem.
Podman: A daemonless container engine that’s compatible with Docker but emphasizes security, running containers as non-root users.
We will be using Docker for this course.