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Docker Compose vs Docker Swarm vs Kubernetes: What are the differences?
Introduction
This markdown provides a comparison between Docker Compose, Docker Swarm, and Kubernetes, highlighting their key differences.
- Docker Compose: Docker Compose is a tool that allows defining and running multi-container Docker applications. It focuses on defining and managing the interdependencies of containers. Docker Compose is suitable for local development and small-scale deployments, as it lacks advanced scaling and orchestration features.
- Docker Swarm: Docker Swarm is a native clustering and orchestration solution for Docker. It enables the creation and management of a swarm of Docker nodes, turning them into a single virtual Docker host. Docker Swarm is built into Docker Engine and provides basic orchestration capabilities, such as service discovery and load balancing, ideal for simple container deployments.
Kubernetes: Kubernetes is a powerful container orchestration platform that automates deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications. It offers advanced features like self-healing, scaling, multi-container scheduling, and fault tolerance. Kubernetes is highly scalable, fault-tolerant, and suitable for large-scale containerized deployments.
Scalability: Docker Compose lacks built-in scaling capabilities. It is designed for single host/container environments and does not offer native scaling options. Docker Swarm provides some scaling features, allowing the replication of services across multiple nodes. However, Kubernetes excels in scalability, providing auto-scaling capabilities based on resource utilization, custom metrics, or even by time of day.
Advanced Scheduling: Docker Compose and Docker Swarm offer simple service discovery and load balancing capabilities. In contrast, Kubernetes offers advanced scheduling features, allowing fine-grained control over where and how containers are deployed. Kubernetes supports various scheduling strategies, such as affinity, anti-affinity, node selectors, etc., providing greater flexibility in workload distribution.
Service Discovery and Load Balancing: Docker Compose has limited support for service discovery, often relying on environment variables or custom scripts. Docker Swarm comes with built-in service discovery capabilities, allowing containers to communicate with each other using service names. Kubernetes provides a highly scalable and dynamic DNS-based service discovery mechanism, allowing containers to discover and communicate with each other using the service name or DNS record.
In summary, Docker Compose is suitable for small-scale local development, Docker Swarm provides basic clustering and orchestration capabilities, while Kubernetes offers advanced container orchestration features and scalability, making it ideal for large-scale containerized deployments.
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?
If you just want the basic orchestration between a set of defined hosts, go with Docker Swarm. If you want more advanced orchestration + flexibility in terms of resource management and load balancing go with Kubernetes. In both cases, you can make it even more complex while making the whole architecture more understandable and replicable by using Terraform.
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%.
Our whole DevOps stack consists of the following tools:
- GitHub (incl. GitHub Pages/Markdown for Documentation, GettingStarted and HowTo's) for collaborative review and code management tool
- Respectively Git as revision control system
- SourceTree as Git GUI
- Visual Studio Code as IDE
- CircleCI for continuous integration (automatize development process)
- Prettier / TSLint / ESLint as code linter
- SonarQube as quality gate
- Docker as container management (incl. Docker Compose for multi-container application management)
- VirtualBox for operating system simulation tests
- Kubernetes as cluster management for docker containers
- Heroku for deploying in test environments
- nginx as web server (preferably used as facade server in production environment)
- SSLMate (using OpenSSL) for certificate management
- Amazon EC2 (incl. Amazon S3) for deploying in stage (production-like) and production environments
- PostgreSQL as preferred database system
- Redis 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.
Pros of Docker Compose
- Multi-container descriptor123
- Fast development environment setup110
- Easy linking of containers79
- Simple yaml configuration68
- Easy setup60
- Yml or yaml format16
- Use Standard Docker API12
- Open source8
- Go from template to application in minutes5
- Can choose Discovery Backend5
- Scalable4
- Easy configuration4
- Kubernetes integration4
- Quick and easy3
Pros of Docker Swarm
- Docker friendly55
- Easy to setup46
- Standard Docker API40
- Easy to use38
- Native23
- Free22
- Clustering made easy13
- Simple usage12
- Integral part of docker11
- Cross Platform6
- Labels and annotations5
- Performance5
- Easy Networking3
- Shallow learning curve3
Pros of Kubernetes
- Leading docker container management solution166
- Simple and powerful130
- Open source108
- Backed by google76
- The right abstractions58
- Scale services26
- Replication controller20
- Permission managment11
- Supports autoscaling9
- Cheap8
- Simple8
- Self-healing7
- Open, powerful, stable5
- Promotes modern/good infrascture practice5
- Reliable5
- No cloud platform lock-in5
- Scalable4
- Quick cloud setup4
- Cloud Agnostic3
- Custom and extensibility3
- A self healing environment with rich metadata3
- Captain of Container Ship3
- Backed by Red Hat3
- Runs on azure3
- Expandable2
- Sfg2
- Everything of CaaS2
- Gke2
- Golang2
- Easy setup2
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Cons of Docker Compose
- Tied to single machine9
- Still very volatile, changing syntax often5
Cons of Docker Swarm
- Low adoption9
Cons of Kubernetes
- Steep learning curve16
- Poor workflow for development15
- Orchestrates only infrastructure8
- High resource requirements for on-prem clusters4
- Too heavy for simple systems2
- Additional vendor lock-in (Docker)1
- More moving parts to secure1
- Additional Technology Overhead1
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What is Docker Compose?
What is Docker Swarm?
What is Kubernetes?
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