How Docker benefits both developers and system administrators?

In this post we are exploring the benefits of Docker for application developers and server administrators.

How Docker benefits both developers and system administrators?

Docker Benefits - How Docker benefits both developers and system administrators?

Docker containers in more than one way really revolutionised the software development. Instead of staying dependent on machine OS or requiring to use an entire OS for running an app, the developers now can package their required OS components, binaries and libraries and deploy the app. This lightweight and fast-paced development approach helped software developers to maintain optimum productivity and output while reducing development cost. This is positively impactful for both app developers and system administrators.

Thanks to Docker developers now can use a single machine with the Docker engine installed in it. In that machine different app components and libraries will be packaged as Docker containers. Several containers because of their lightweight and low footprint build can run in a regular desktop machine while the developers use them to build apps for different OS environments. This makes the whole process easier equally for system administrators as well.

Docker Portability: the ease of managing app projects  

Docker is primarily getting popular because of its portability. For implementing a variety of features and spec across diverse OS environments, Docker needs a single machine where several containers consisting of components and libraries are run. This lightweight Docker components come loaded with components and libraries that can run in a variety of environments. This ensures optimum ease in terms of managing a software development project.

The portability of the Docker container comes with great advantage for the system administrators and project managers besides giving a productivity boost to the developers. For example, if a project uses Docker for development and run the software on Windows 10, further during the QA process it can run in Windows Server 2016. Docker container the whole app is segregated from its runtime environment and after the app is developed the same container can be deployed across multiple OS environments without any environment related issues. If the same container is being deployed, the app performance will be the same across multiple environments.

Docker container: can there be any cons?

In spite of being a revolutionary approach to containerisation of the app projects, Docker technology doesn't come without blemishes. When a Docker container is destroyed or terminated, all the data inside it are completely lost and cannot be recovered. To prevent this from happening some preventive measures are required. Volume mounts are used by many administrators to ensure that the data is securely stored in the hosting server when the container is crashed or terminated.

Docker: a promising future

Docker containers appearing as segregated lightweight packages that can run in any environment represent a revolutionary approach to software development. Docker containers can literally run on any computer and server machines and on any cloud platforms. This portability and versatility is the key strength of Docker that made it one of the most popular technologies for software apps targeting multiple OS platforms. Docker besides providing developers a lot of freedom makes system administration and management easier than ever before. From all angles, Docker seems to have a promising future in the software projects of all types and sizes.

How Docker benefits both developers and system administrators?

As per my years experience in Docker technologies I have found two specific benefits that Docker provides:

Developer productivity: Docker provides a clean, elegant development experience while working on large complex projects involving thousands of project's technologies dependencies. It eliminates a lot of the boilerplate code that is currently needed for the most common development use cases.

Hosted production and disaster recovery: Docker provides an easy way for developers to host their applications in a secure environment that is secure against access by both external attackers and security-internal network problems.

Docker Tutorials and helpful articles

Check following tutorial and articles: