Docker Hub vs Docker Swarm

Overview

Docker Swarm

Stacks779

Followers990

Votes282

Docker Hub

Stacks224

Followers262

Votes7

Docker Hub vs Docker Swarm: What are the differences?

Introduction

Docker is a popular platform that provides an open-source environment to automate the deployment, scaling, and management of applications using containerization. Two key components of Docker are Docker Hub and Docker Swarm, which serve different purposes within the Docker ecosystem.

Key Differences between Docker Hub and Docker Swarm

Functionality: Docker Hub is a cloud-based repository for Docker images, allowing users to store and access pre-built container images. It serves as a central registry for sharing, collaborating, and distributing Docker images. On the other hand, Docker Swarm is a clustering and orchestration tool that enables the creation and management of a swarm of Docker nodes, forming a single virtual containerization system.
Purpose: Docker Hub primarily focuses on image management. It provides a platform for storing, sharing, and discovering Docker images, making it easier for developers to access and use pre-existing images in their applications. Docker Swarm, however, is designed for container orchestration. It allows the execution and management of multiple containers across a cluster of Docker nodes, enabling high availability, load balancing, and scaling of applications.
Deployment: Docker Hub serves as a platform for pulling or pushing Docker images to/from remote registries. Developers can easily deploy their applications by pulling the required images from Docker Hub and running them on their local machine or remote servers. In contrast, Docker Swarm facilitates the deployment of applications across a swarm of Docker nodes. It handles the distribution of containers, load balancing, and service discovery, ensuring that applications run smoothly across the cluster.
Scalability: Docker Hub is not primarily focused on scalability. It provides a centralized registry for images, but it does not directly manage the scalability of applications. Docker Swarm, on the other hand, is specifically designed for scalability. It enables the scaling of services by replicating containers across the cluster, automatically distributing the workload and ensuring high availability.
Networking: Docker Hub does not offer advanced networking features. It mainly focuses on image management and distribution. Docker Swarm, however, provides advanced networking capabilities. It includes features such as service discovery, load balancing, and ingress routing mesh, allowing containers within the swarm to communicate with each other and with external networks efficiently.
Management: Docker Hub offers basic management features like access control, image versioning, and image scanning. It provides a user-friendly interface for managing and organizing images. Docker Swarm, on the other hand, offers comprehensive management capabilities. It allows users to manage and control the entire swarm, including service deployment, rolling updates, monitoring, and scaling, using a powerful command-line interface or a graphical user interface.

In Summary, Docker Hub focuses on image management and distribution, while Docker Swarm enables container orchestration and management of Docker nodes to create a virtual containerization system.

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Advice on Docker Swarm, Docker Hub

Simon

Senior Fullstack Developer at QUANTUSflow Software GmbH

Apr 27, 2020

Decidedon

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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.

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Detailed Comparison

Docker Swarm	Docker Hub
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.	It is the world's easiest way to create, manage, and deliver your teams' container applications. It is the perfect home for your teams' applications.
Statistics
Stacks 779	Stacks 224
Followers 990	Followers 262
Votes 282	Votes 7
Pros & Cons
Pros 55 Docker friendly 46 Easy to setup 40 Standard Docker API 38 Easy to use 23 Native Cons 9 Low adoption	Pros 2 Uses a very familiar collaboration model as GitHub, the 1 Allows users to set permissions to restrict access or s 1 Quickly creates organizations, add users or create grou 1 Fairly inexpensive with usage based pricing 1 Security scanning available Cons 1 Does not provide any insight into the registry usage 1 Lacks fine grain access control 1 Lacks LDAP, SAML and OAuth support
Integrations
Docker	No integrations available

What are some alternatives to Docker Swarm, Docker Hub?

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.

Docker Compose

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.

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

Related Comparisons

Docker Hub vs Docker Swarm: What are the differences?

Introduction

Key Differences between Docker Hub and Docker Swarm

Functionality: Docker Hub is a cloud-based repository for Docker images, allowing users to store and access pre-built container images. It serves as a central registry for sharing, collaborating, and distributing Docker images. On the other hand, Docker Swarm is a clustering and orchestration tool that enables the creation and management of a swarm of Docker nodes, forming a single virtual containerization system.
Purpose: Docker Hub primarily focuses on image management. It provides a platform for storing, sharing, and discovering Docker images, making it easier for developers to access and use pre-existing images in their applications. Docker Swarm, however, is designed for container orchestration. It allows the execution and management of multiple containers across a cluster of Docker nodes, enabling high availability, load balancing, and scaling of applications.
Deployment: Docker Hub serves as a platform for pulling or pushing Docker images to/from remote registries. Developers can easily deploy their applications by pulling the required images from Docker Hub and running them on their local machine or remote servers. In contrast, Docker Swarm facilitates the deployment of applications across a swarm of Docker nodes. It handles the distribution of containers, load balancing, and service discovery, ensuring that applications run smoothly across the cluster.
Scalability: Docker Hub is not primarily focused on scalability. It provides a centralized registry for images, but it does not directly manage the scalability of applications. Docker Swarm, on the other hand, is specifically designed for scalability. It enables the scaling of services by replicating containers across the cluster, automatically distributing the workload and ensuring high availability.
Networking: Docker Hub does not offer advanced networking features. It mainly focuses on image management and distribution. Docker Swarm, however, provides advanced networking capabilities. It includes features such as service discovery, load balancing, and ingress routing mesh, allowing containers within the swarm to communicate with each other and with external networks efficiently.
Management: Docker Hub offers basic management features like access control, image versioning, and image scanning. It provides a user-friendly interface for managing and organizing images. Docker Swarm, on the other hand, offers comprehensive management capabilities. It allows users to manage and control the entire swarm, including service deployment, rolling updates, monitoring, and scaling, using a powerful command-line interface or a graphical user interface.

In Summary, Docker Hub focuses on image management and distribution, while Docker Swarm enables container orchestration and management of Docker nodes to create a virtual containerization system.

Docker Hub vs Docker Swarm

Overview

Docker Hub vs Docker Swarm: What are the differences?

Introduction

Key Differences between Docker Hub and Docker Swarm