Charlie Calvert

Docker is safe in the sense that it works reliably. However, it does not separate a process from the machine on which it is running. If you have a virus in your docker container, then it could spread to other docker containers or onto the host machine. A VM should isolate a virus and prevent spread outside the VM but they are usually resource intensive. Docker containers, on the other hand, use less resources and load more quickly than a virtual machine.

VirtualBox is a free, open source, solution for creating virtual machines, but the extension pack may not be free. On Windows you could use Hyper-V at no additional cost beyond the price of a server edition. Lots of people use VMware but I have very little experience with it.

Should I use Pouchdb or Firebase?

I want to store text documents and notes. Most of them are very short, just a means of tracking information while I'm doing research.

I want to be able to access them from multiple locations, preferably through a web browser but that is not a necessity.

I've also considered putting my information in a text document or word document but I would like to be a little more formal about the process.

I have used node, react, and express in many projects and have found them to be useful. React has a large and vibrant community and the technology is well maintained and encapsulates many of the best ideas in modern JavaScript development. I would consider seriously adopting it.

I personally like express and find it intuitive and easy to use. These days there are a wide variety of alternatives, but I don't think anyone stands out as an obvious choice. It would be up to you to explore the options and to see what looks good:

https://blog.back4app.com/expressjs-alternatives/

The only one that stands out to me is Koa. But I haven't done much exploration in this territory, primarily because I am already so happy with Express JS.