Docker vs VM

Docker vs. VM

Here we will teach you all you need to know about the difference between Docker VS VM.
VM has long been the standard for cloud architecture due to its many advantages: the flexibility to operate several OS environments independently, the variety of virtual machine types, and a streamlined toolbox that simplifies VM maintenance.
Consider this: What if there was a VMware alternative that was lighter, cheaper, and more customizable? Docker is a container technology that allows users to create distributed applications.
So, how are they distinct? And how do they work together? Let’s see.

What is VM (virtual machines)?

A virtual machine is just a virtual server that emulates a physical server when it comes down to it.
In a virtual machine, the physical hardware of the system is used to replicate the same environment in which you install your apps on the system. It’s possible to create either a system virtual machine (which runs a whole operating system in the virtual environment) or application virtual machines (which let you run computer applications on their own).

So, Docker.

As we know, Docker is open-source software that provides containers for software development. Docker requires familiarity with containers. “A lightweight, standalone, executable bundle of a piece of software that includes everything needed to run it,” says Docker.
It can run on both Windows and Linux systems since containers are platform-independent. Docker may also run on a virtual computer if needed. Docker’s main function is to run microservice applications in a distributed architecture.

What is the difference between Docker and a virtual machine?

Docker is a container-based technology, and containers are just operating system userspace. At its most basic, a container is just a group of processes separated from the rest of the system and run from a separate image with all of the data required to support the processes.
It is designed to run programs. The host OS kernel is shared by the containers running in Docker.
A Virtual Machine, on the other hand, isn’t built with container technology. These are made up of an operating system’s user space and kernel space. Server hardware is virtualized in VMs. Each VM includes an operating system (OS) and applications. It makes use of hardware resources provided by the host.
VMs and Docker both have advantages and disadvantages. Each workload in a VM environment requires its own operating system.
However, in a container environment, several workloads can run on a single operating system. The greater the OS footprint, the greater the environmental benefits of containers. It also provides additional benefits such as decreased IT management resources, smaller snapshot sizes, faster app startup, reduced & simplified security upgrades, and less code to move, migrate, and upload workloads.
Any process on your system can be Dockerized. It doesn’t require a Hypervisor, hence no guest OS to carry along. Virtual Machines are useful nowadays, but they tackle different challenges than Docker. Then there are virtual machines for isolating entire systems. They work at varying levels of abstraction.

Virtual Machines Have Many Advantages

When working with a virtual machine, you have a wider range of tools at your disposal. Compared to other container technologies, Docker offers a more complex tooling ecosystem, including Docker-managed and third-party-developed tools.
To run a Docker container, you can start a Docker instance within the virtual machine, as shown earlier (which is the predominant method of running containers at present). Containers and virtual machines can co-exist in this manner.

Docker Container Benefits

Docker containers are process-isolated and do not require the use of a hardware hypervisor. Docker containers, as a result, are substantially smaller and demand limited resources than a VM.
Docker is quick. Very efficient. While a VM can take several minutes to boot and be dev-ready, starting a Docker container from a container image can take anywhere from a few milliseconds to (at most) a few seconds.
Containers can be shared by many team members, providing much-needed portability throughout the development pipeline. This decreases the frequency of ‘works on my computer problems that plague DevOps teams.