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  1. Stackups
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  4. Virtual Machine Platforms And Containers
  5. Azure Container Service vs Docker

Azure Container Service vs Docker

OverviewDecisionsComparisonAlternatives

Overview

Docker
Docker
Stacks194.2K
Followers143.8K
Votes3.9K
Azure Container Service
Azure Container Service
Stacks97
Followers214
Votes11

Azure Container Service vs Docker: What are the differences?

Developers describe Azure Container Service as "Deploy and manage containers using the tools you choose". Azure Container Service optimizes the configuration of popular open source tools and technologies specifically for Azure. You get an open solution that offers portability for both your containers and your application configuration. You select the size, the number of hosts, and choice of orchestrator tools, and Container Service handles everything else. On the other hand, Docker is detailed as "Enterprise Container Platform for High-Velocity Innovation". The Docker Platform is the industry-leading container platform for continuous, high-velocity innovation, enabling organizations to seamlessly build and share any application — from legacy to what comes next — and securely run them anywhere.

Azure Container Service belongs to "Containers as a Service" category of the tech stack, while Docker can be primarily classified under "Virtual Machine Platforms & Containers".

Some of the features offered by Azure Container Service are:

  • Create a container hosting solution optimized for Azure
  • Scale and orchestrate applications using Apache Mesos or Docker Swarm
  • Use popular open source, client-side tooling

On the other hand, Docker provides the following key features:

  • Integrated developer tools
  • open, portable images
  • shareable, reusable apps

"Easy to setup, very agnostic" is the top reason why over 3 developers like Azure Container Service, while over 816 developers mention "Rapid integration and build up" as the leading cause for choosing Docker.

Docker is an open source tool with 54K GitHub stars and 15.6K GitHub forks. Here's a link to Docker's open source repository on GitHub.

Spotify, Pinterest, and Twitter are some of the popular companies that use Docker, whereas Azure Container Service is used by QwikSense, Veris, and Sensewaves. Docker has a broader approval, being mentioned in 3527 company stacks & 3449 developers stacks; compared to Azure Container Service, which is listed in 8 company stacks and 7 developer stacks.

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Advice on Docker, Azure Container Service

Florian
Florian

IT DevOp at Agitos GmbH

Oct 22, 2019

Decided

lxd/lxc and Docker aren't congruent so this comparison needs a more detailed look; but in short I can say: the lxd-integrated administration of storage including zfs with its snapshot capabilities as well as the system container (multi-process) approach of lxc vs. the limited single-process container approach of Docker is the main reason I chose lxd over Docker.

482k views482k
Comments

Detailed Comparison

Docker
Docker
Azure Container Service
Azure Container Service

The Docker Platform is the industry-leading container platform for continuous, high-velocity innovation, enabling organizations to seamlessly build and share any application — from legacy to what comes next — and securely run them anywhere

Azure Container Service optimizes the configuration of popular open source tools and technologies specifically for Azure. You get an open solution that offers portability for both your containers and your application configuration. You select the size, the number of hosts, and choice of orchestrator tools, and Container Service handles everything else.

Integrated developer tools; open, portable images; shareable, reusable apps; framework-aware builds; standardized templates; multi-environment support; remote registry management; simple setup for Docker and Kubernetes; certified Kubernetes; application templates; enterprise controls; secure software supply chain; industry-leading container runtime; image scanning; access controls; image signing; caching and mirroring; image lifecycle; policy-based image promotion
Create a container hosting solution optimized for Azure;Scale and orchestrate applications using Apache Mesos or Docker Swarm;Use popular open source, client-side tooling;Migrate container workloads to and from Azure without code changes
Statistics
Stacks
194.2K
Stacks
97
Followers
143.8K
Followers
214
Votes
3.9K
Votes
11
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • 823
    Rapid integration and build up
  • 692
    Isolation
  • 521
    Open source
  • 505
    Testa­bil­i­ty and re­pro­ducibil­i­ty
  • 460
    Lightweight
Cons
  • 8
    New versions == broken features
  • 6
    Documentation not always in sync
  • 6
    Unreliable networking
  • 4
    Moves quickly
  • 3
    Not Secure
Pros
  • 6
    Easy to setup, very agnostic
  • 3
    It supports Kubernetes, Mesos DC/OS and Docker Swarm
  • 2
    It has a nice command line interface (CLI) tool
Integrations
Java
Java
Docker Compose
Docker Compose
VirtualBox
VirtualBox
Linux
Linux
Amazon EC2 Container Service
Amazon EC2 Container Service
Docker Swarm
Docker Swarm
boot2docker
boot2docker
Kubernetes
Kubernetes
Docker Machine
Docker Machine
Vagrant
Vagrant
Docker Swarm
Docker Swarm
Apache Mesos
Apache Mesos

What are some alternatives to Docker, Azure Container Service?

Amazon EC2 Container Service

Amazon EC2 Container Service

Amazon EC2 Container Service lets you launch and stop container-enabled applications with simple API calls, allows you to query the state of your cluster from a centralized service, and gives you access to many familiar Amazon EC2 features like security groups, EBS volumes and IAM roles.

Google Kubernetes Engine

Google Kubernetes Engine

Container Engine takes care of provisioning and maintaining the underlying virtual machine cluster, scaling your application, and operational logistics like logging, monitoring, and health management.

LXD

LXD

LXD isn't a rewrite of LXC, in fact it's building on top of LXC to provide a new, better user experience. Under the hood, LXD uses LXC through liblxc and its Go binding to create and manage the containers. It's basically an alternative to LXC's tools and distribution template system with the added features that come from being controllable over the network.

Containerum

Containerum

Containerum is built to aid cluster management, teamwork and resource allocation. Containerum runs on top of any Kubernetes cluster and provides a friendly Web UI for cluster management.

LXC

LXC

LXC is a userspace interface for the Linux kernel containment features. Through a powerful API and simple tools, it lets Linux users easily create and manage system or application containers.

Docker Cloud

Docker Cloud

Docker Cloud is the best way to deploy and manage Dockerized applications. Docker Cloud makes it easy for new Docker users to manage and deploy the full spectrum of applications, from single container apps to distributed microservices stacks, to any cloud or on-premises infrastructure.

rkt

rkt

Rocket is a cli for running App Containers. The goal of rocket is to be composable, secure, and fast.

Amazon EKS

Amazon EKS

Amazon Elastic Container Service for Kubernetes (Amazon EKS) is a managed service that makes it easy for you to run Kubernetes on AWS without needing to install and operate your own Kubernetes clusters.

Vagrant Cloud

Vagrant Cloud

Vagrant Cloud pairs with Vagrant to enable access, insight and collaboration across teams, as well as to bring exposure to community contributions and development environments.

instainer

instainer

InstaDocker is a Docker container hosting service which allows run any Docker container on the cloud instantly.

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