Overview

Docker Compose

Stacks22.3K

Followers16.5K

Votes501

GitHub Stars36.4K

Forks5.5K

Docker Swarm

Stacks778

Followers990

Votes282

Docker Compose vs Docker Swarm: What are the differences?

Introduction

In this article, we will discuss the key differences between Docker Compose and Docker Swarm, which are two popular tools used in container orchestration.

Deployment: Docker Compose is designed for single-host deployments. It allows the definition and management of multiple containers within a single host. On the other hand, Docker Swarm is designed for multi-host deployments. It enables the creation and management of a cluster of Docker hosts, allowing containers to be distributed across multiple machines.
Scaling and High Availability: Docker Compose does not provide built-in scalability and high availability features. It is mainly used for defining and managing container configurations on a single host. In contrast, Docker Swarm offers built-in scaling and high availability capabilities. It allows the replication of services on multiple nodes to ensure fault tolerance and increased performance.
Service Discovery: Docker Compose relies on the links and networks specified in the compose file for service discovery. It does not provide advanced service discovery mechanisms. Docker Swarm, on the other hand, provides built-in service discovery. It offers a DNS-based service discovery mechanism that allows services to find and communicate with each other within the swarm cluster.
Load Balancing: Docker Compose does not provide load balancing capabilities out of the box. Load balancing needs to be implemented externally using tools like NGINX or HAProxy. Docker Swarm, however, provides built-in load balancing. It distributes incoming requests among the various containers running the same service within the swarm cluster, ensuring efficient utilization of resources.
Orchestration: Docker Compose focuses on managing containers within a single host, providing a straightforward way to define and run multiple containers together. Docker Swarm, on the other hand, provides orchestration capabilities for managing containers across multiple hosts. It offers features like automatic container distribution, node failure recovery, and rolling update deployments.
Community: Docker Compose has been around for a longer time and has a larger community support. It has a wide range of resources, documentation, and community-contributed projects available. Docker Swarm, although it has gained significant popularity, has a comparatively smaller community. The resources and community support are not as extensive as Docker Compose.

In Summary, Docker Compose is used for managing containers on a single host, while Docker Swarm is designed for container orchestration across multiple hosts, providing features like scaling, high availability, service discovery, load balancing, and advanced container management.

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Advice on Docker Compose, Docker Swarm

Simon

Senior Fullstack Developer at QUANTUSflow Software GmbH

Apr 27, 2020

Decidedon

GitHub

GitHub Pages

Markdown

Our whole DevOps stack consists of the following tools:

@{GitHub}|tool:27| (incl. @{GitHub Pages}|tool:683|/@{Markdown}|tool:1147| for Documentation, GettingStarted and HowTo's) for collaborative review and code management tool
Respectively @{Git}|tool:1046| as revision control system
@{SourceTree}|tool:1599| as @{Git}|tool:1046| GUI
@{Visual Studio Code}|tool:4202| as IDE
@{CircleCI}|tool:190| for continuous integration (automatize development process)
@{Prettier}|tool:7035| / @{TSLint}|tool:5561| / @{ESLint}|tool:3337| as code linter
@{SonarQube}|tool:2638| as quality gate
@{Docker}|tool:586| as container management (incl. @{Docker Compose}|tool:3136| for multi-container application management)
@{VirtualBox}|tool:774| for operating system simulation tests
@{Kubernetes}|tool:1885| as cluster management for docker containers
@{Heroku}|tool:133| for deploying in test environments
@{nginx}|tool:1052| as web server (preferably used as facade server in production environment)
@{SSLMate}|tool:2752| (using @{OpenSSL}|tool:3091|) for certificate management
@{Amazon EC2}|tool:18| (incl. @{Amazon S3}|tool:25|) for deploying in stage (production-like) and production environments
@{PostgreSQL}|tool:1028| as preferred database system
@{Redis}|tool:1031| as preferred in-memory database/store (great for caching)

The main reason we have chosen Kubernetes over Docker Swarm is related to the following artifacts:

Key features: Easy and flexible installation, Clear dashboard, Great scaling operations, Monitoring is an integral part, Great load balancing concepts, Monitors the condition and ensures compensation in the event of failure.
Applications: An application can be deployed using a combination of pods, deployments, and services (or micro-services).
Functionality: Kubernetes as a complex installation and setup process, but it not as limited as Docker Swarm.
Monitoring: It supports multiple versions of logging and monitoring when the services are deployed within the cluster (Elasticsearch/Kibana (ELK), Heapster/Grafana, Sysdig cloud integration).
Scalability: All-in-one framework for distributed systems.
Other Benefits: Kubernetes is backed by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), huge community among container orchestration tools, it is an open source and modular tool that works with any OS.

12.8M views12.8M

Comments

Michael

CEO at asencis Ltd

Jan 5, 2021

Needs advice

We develop rapidly with docker-compose orchestrated services, however, for production - we utilise the very best ideas that Kubernetes has to offer: SCALE! We can scale when needed, setting a maximum and minimum level of nodes for each application layer - scaling only when the load balancer needs it. This allowed us to reduce our devops costs by 40% whilst also maintaining an SLA of 99.87%.

272k views272k

Comments

Pavel

Jan 27, 2021

Needs adviceon

Linux

Windows

Docker

Hello, we have a bunch of local hosts (Linux and Windows) where Docker containers are running with bamboo agents on them. Currently, each container is installed as a system service. Each host is set up manually. I want to improve the system by adding some sort of orchestration software that should install, update and check for consistency in my docker containers. I don't need any clouds, all hosts are local. I'd prefer simple solutions. What orchestration system should I choose?

199k views199k

Comments

Detailed Comparison

Docker Compose	Docker Swarm
With Compose, you define a multi-container application in a single file, then spin your application up in a single command which does everything that needs to be done to get it running.	Swarm serves the standard Docker API, so any tool which already communicates with a Docker daemon can use Swarm to transparently scale to multiple hosts: Dokku, Compose, Krane, Deis, DockerUI, Shipyard, Drone, Jenkins... and, of course, the Docker client itself.
Statistics
GitHub Stars 36.4K	GitHub Stars -
GitHub Forks 5.5K	GitHub Forks -
Stacks 22.3K	Stacks 778
Followers 16.5K	Followers 990
Votes 501	Votes 282
Pros & Cons
Pros 123 Multi-container descriptor 110 Fast development environment setup 79 Easy linking of containers 68 Simple yaml configuration 60 Easy setup Cons 9 Tied to single machine 5 Still very volatile, changing syntax often	Pros 55 Docker friendly 46 Easy to setup 40 Standard Docker API 38 Easy to use 23 Native Cons 9 Low adoption
Integrations
Docker	Docker

What are some alternatives to Docker Compose, Docker Swarm?

Kubernetes

Kubernetes is an open source orchestration system for Docker containers. It handles scheduling onto nodes in a compute cluster and actively manages workloads to ensure that their state matches the users declared intentions.

Rancher

Rancher is an open source container management platform that includes full distributions of Kubernetes, Apache Mesos and Docker Swarm, and makes it simple to operate container clusters on any cloud or infrastructure platform.

Tutum

Tutum lets developers easily manage and run lightweight, portable, self-sufficient containers from any application. AWS-like control, Heroku-like ease. The same container that a developer builds and tests on a laptop can run at scale in Tutum.

Portainer

It is a universal container management tool. It works with Kubernetes, Docker, Docker Swarm and Azure ACI. It allows you to manage containers without needing to know platform-specific code.

Codefresh

Automate and parallelize testing. Codefresh allows teams to spin up on-demand compositions to run unit and integration tests as part of the continuous integration process. Jenkins integration allows more complex pipelines.

CAST.AI

It is an AI-driven cloud optimization platform for Kubernetes. Instantly cut your cloud bill, prevent downtime, and 10X the power of DevOps.

k3s

Certified Kubernetes distribution designed for production workloads in unattended, resource-constrained, remote locations or inside IoT appliances. Supports something as small as a Raspberry Pi or as large as an AWS a1.4xlarge 32GiB server.

Flocker

Flocker is a data volume manager and multi-host Docker cluster management tool. With it you can control your data using the same tools you use for your stateless applications. This means that you can run your databases, queues and key-value stores in Docker and move them around as easily as the rest of your app.

Kitematic

Simple Docker App management for Mac OS X

Docker Machine

Machine lets you create Docker hosts on your computer, on cloud providers, and inside your own data center. It creates servers, installs Docker on them, then configures the Docker client to talk to them.