Why Containers?
Containers package applications into platform-independent, fully portable runtime solutions, with all dependencies satisfied and isolated, and thereby bring the following benefits:
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Containers cleanly partition code and data, providing full separation of concerns and allowing applications to be easily deployed and upgraded.
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Containers are very efficient; an application within a container is packaged with only the elements needed to run it and make it accessible to the required connections, services, and interfaces, and the container runs as a single operating system process that requires no more resources than any other executable.
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Containers support clean movement of an application between environments — for example, from development to test and then to production — thereby reducing the conflicts typical of departments with different objectives building in separate environments. Developers can focus on the latest code and libraries, quality developers on testing and defect description, and operations engineers on the overall solution infrastructure including networking, high availability, data durability, and so on.
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Containers provide the agility, flexibility, and repeatability needed to revolutionize the way many organizations respond to business and technology needs. Containers clearly separate the application provisioning process, including the build phase, from the run process, supporting a DevOps approach and allowing an organization to adopt a uniform more agile delivery methodology and architecture (microservices).
These advantages make containers a natural building block for applications, promoting application delivery and deployment approaches that are simpler, faster, more repeatable, and more robust.
For an introduction to containers and container images from an InterSystems product manager, see What is a Container?Opens in a new tab and What is a Container Image?Opens in a new tab on InterSystems Developer Community.
