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Docker vs OpenShift: What are the differences?

Introduction

Docker and OpenShift are both containerization platforms that enable developers to package and deploy applications. While they share some similarities, there are several key differences between the two. In this article, we will explore these differences in detail.

  1. Docker: Docker is an open-source containerization platform that allows developers to build, package, and distribute applications within containers. It provides a lightweight and portable runtime environment for applications, ensuring consistency across different environments. Docker enables efficient resource utilization and scalability, making it popular among developers for its ease of use and flexibility.

  2. OpenShift: OpenShift, on the other hand, is a containerization platform that is built on top of Docker. It is a Kubernetes-based platform developed by Red Hat that provides a complete container management solution. OpenShift offers additional features and tools that enhance Docker's capabilities, such as advanced orchestration, automated scaling, and integrated DevOps tools. OpenShift also provides a more streamlined and user-friendly interface for managing containerized applications.

  3. Orchestration and Scaling: Docker provides basic container orchestration capabilities through tools like Docker Compose and Docker Swarm. However, OpenShift offers more advanced orchestration features through its integration with Kubernetes. OpenShift allows for automated scaling of applications based on demand, load balancing, and easy deployment of multiple containers across a cluster. This makes OpenShift a preferred choice for large-scale applications that require robust orchestration and scaling capabilities.

  4. Security and Access Control: Docker provides basic security measures, such as namespace isolation and resource limitations, to ensure the security of containers. However, OpenShift offers additional security features, such as Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), that allow for fine-grained access control and authentication mechanisms. OpenShift also provides built-in support for implementing secure container registries and image signing, making it a more secure option for enterprise-grade applications.

  5. Integrated CI/CD Pipeline: OpenShift provides built-in integration with Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) tools, such as Jenkins, making it easier to set up automated build, test, and deployment pipelines for containerized applications. Docker, on the other hand, does not have built-in support for CI/CD pipelines and requires additional tooling and configuration to set up a similar workflow.

  6. Platform and Infrastructure Management: Docker is primarily focused on providing a container runtime environment, while OpenShift aims to provide a complete container management platform. OpenShift offers features for managing underlying infrastructure, such as monitoring, logging, and resource allocation. It also provides a centralized dashboard for managing clusters, applications, and components. This makes OpenShift a more comprehensive solution for organizations that require a platform for managing both their containers and infrastructure.

In summary, Docker is a lightweight and flexible containerization platform, while OpenShift builds on top of Docker to provide advanced orchestration, security, integrated CI/CD, and platform management capabilities. OpenShift is a more holistic solution for organizations that require a complete container management platform.

Decisions about Docker and Red Hat OpenShift
Florian Sager
IT DevOp at Agitos GmbH · | 3 upvotes · 407.4K views
Chose
LXDLXD
over
DockerDocker

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.

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Pros of Docker
Pros of Red Hat OpenShift
  • 823
    Rapid integration and build up
  • 691
    Isolation
  • 521
    Open source
  • 505
    Testa­bil­i­ty and re­pro­ducibil­i­ty
  • 460
    Lightweight
  • 218
    Standardization
  • 185
    Scalable
  • 106
    Upgrading / down­grad­ing / ap­pli­ca­tion versions
  • 88
    Security
  • 85
    Private paas environments
  • 34
    Portability
  • 26
    Limit resource usage
  • 17
    Game changer
  • 16
    I love the way docker has changed virtualization
  • 14
    Fast
  • 12
    Concurrency
  • 8
    Docker's Compose tools
  • 6
    Easy setup
  • 6
    Fast and Portable
  • 5
    Because its fun
  • 4
    Makes shipping to production very simple
  • 3
    Highly useful
  • 3
    It's dope
  • 2
    Very easy to setup integrate and build
  • 2
    HIgh Throughput
  • 2
    Package the environment with the application
  • 2
    Does a nice job hogging memory
  • 2
    Open source and highly configurable
  • 2
    Simplicity, isolation, resource effective
  • 2
    MacOS support FAKE
  • 2
    Its cool
  • 2
    Docker hub for the FTW
  • 2
    Super
  • 0
    Asdfd
  • 99
    Good free plan
  • 63
    Open Source
  • 47
    Easy setup
  • 43
    Nodejs support
  • 42
    Well documented
  • 32
    Custom domains
  • 28
    Mongodb support
  • 27
    Clean and simple architecture
  • 25
    PHP support
  • 21
    Customizable environments
  • 11
    Ability to run CRON jobs
  • 9
    Easier than Heroku for a WordPress blog
  • 8
    Easy deployment
  • 7
    PostgreSQL support
  • 7
    Autoscaling
  • 7
    Good balance between Heroku and AWS for flexibility
  • 5
    Free, Easy Setup, Lot of Gear or D.I.Y Gear
  • 4
    Shell access to gears
  • 3
    Great Support
  • 3
    High Security
  • 3
    Logging & Metrics
  • 2
    Cloud Agnostic
  • 2
    Runs Anywhere - AWS, GCP, Azure
  • 2
    No credit card needed
  • 2
    Because it is easy to manage
  • 2
    Secure
  • 2
    Meteor support
  • 2
    Overly complicated and over engineered in majority of e
  • 2
    Golang support
  • 2
    Its free and offer custom domain usage
  • 1
    Autoscaling at a good price point
  • 1
    Easy setup and great customer support
  • 1
    MultiCloud
  • 1
    Great free plan with excellent support
  • 1
    This is the only free one among the three as of today

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Cons of Docker
Cons of Red Hat OpenShift
  • 8
    New versions == broken features
  • 6
    Unreliable networking
  • 6
    Documentation not always in sync
  • 4
    Moves quickly
  • 3
    Not Secure
  • 2
    Decisions are made for you, limiting your options
  • 2
    License cost
  • 1
    Behind, sometimes severely, the upstreams

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What is Docker?

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

What is Red Hat OpenShift?

OpenShift is Red Hat's Cloud Computing Platform as a Service (PaaS) offering. OpenShift is an application platform in the cloud where application developers and teams can build, test, deploy, and run their applications.

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What are some alternatives to Docker and Red Hat OpenShift?
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.
rkt
Rocket is a cli for running App Containers. The goal of rocket is to be composable, secure, and fast.
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.
Cloud Foundry
Cloud Foundry is an open platform as a service (PaaS) that provides a choice of clouds, developer frameworks, and application services. Cloud Foundry makes it faster and easier to build, test, deploy, and scale applications.
Vagrant
Vagrant provides the framework and configuration format to create and manage complete portable development environments. These development environments can live on your computer or in the cloud, and are portable between Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.
See all alternatives