Deployment & Infrastructure
Docker
Containers that make deployments repeatable
Maintained by
Docker, Inc.
Released 2013
Plain explanation
What Docker is
Docker packages an application together with everything it needs to run into a container. The same container runs the same way on a developer laptop, a test server, and production, which removes a whole category of deployment surprises.
Container tooling used to package applications and their runtime dependencies consistently across developer, test, and production environments.
How Axis uses it
Containers earn their keep once a system has more than one moving part. For a single small service on a managed host, we usually skip the extra layer.
What it is used for
Where Docker shows up in our projects
These are the practical applications we build with it, not a list of everything it can theoretically do.
01
Repeatable deployments
02
API services
03
Background workers
04
Development environment consistency
05
Cloud deployments
Honest assessment
When Docker is the right call, and when it is not
Every technology has a range where it performs well and a range where something else is a better answer. We would rather say so up front.
A strong fit when
- The application has multiple services or runtime dependencies
- Consistency between environments matters
- The deployment platform is designed around containers
We would consider another option when
- A simple managed host already handles the runtime cleanly and containers would only add another layer to maintain
Related services
Where Docker fits into an Axis project
Have a project that may use Docker?
We can review the requirements and tell you whether it is the right technical choice for what you are building.