Docker vs Kubernetes – What’s the Difference? (Pros and Cons)

Docker vs Kubernetes – What’s the Difference? (Pros and Cons). In this modern world, Docker and Kubernetes are stand out cloud native container ecosystems that are helping businesses to move forward.

These two platforms have initiated the container revolution as they provide openness to the communities. Both the software are used to accomplish different goals and have different fundamentals of deployment, management and built structure.

While Docker is about building containers and Kubernetes is about orchestrating and managing large numbers of containers.

But there’s more to understand about these software.

We’ll address different aspects that separate Docker and Kubernetes and determine how they can fulfill your requirements. Let’s explore the topic and understand the basics of Docker vs Kubernetes – What’s the Difference?.

What is Docker?

Docker is a platform for developing, shipping and functioning applications. It enables users to separate their applications from the framework to deliver operating systems quickly.

It is a utility for running and packaging. You can build standard constraints that include different components required to function in isolation.

Docker is technically a container management tool developed in 2013 and has led the modern container movement since its introduction. If you start using Docker, you can handle your framework in the same ways you handle your applications.

Using docker methodologies for testing, shipping, and deploying code rapidly can notably cut down delays in writing code and running it in production.

It gained popularity in the application and cloud packaging world. You can automate the deployment of applications in portable and lightweight containers.

How Does Docker Work?

Docker provisions, packages and run containers. The container technology is available through the OS. Each container shares the services with the one underlying OS.

Docker images have the dependencies needed to execute the code within the container. So the containers work with no changes that move between Docker environments with the same operating system.

Docker runs multiple containers on the same operating system using the kernel’s resource isolation. This makes it different from virtual machines that focus on encapsulating the OS with executable code on the abstracted layer of the physical hardware.

It was created to work on Linux but offers greater support to non Linux OS, including Apple OS X and Microsoft Windows. You can also avail the Docker versions for Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services.

Let’s have a look at the features that Docker offers.

Features of Docker

Docker gives you numerous features, but we have filtered a few important ones to help you gain a better understanding.

  • Docker offers quick and easier configuration and helps you to create an isolated environment for managing applications.
  • It reduces the maintenance and infrastructure cost to help you save your additional expenses and improve your core business operations.
  • It’s easy to scale and achieve your desired business outcomes with finesse.
  • It has operational efficiencies that remove multiple hiccups caused during the management.
  • It offers an isolated environment with swarm and Routing Mesh.
  • Docker has the Docker Engine component, that handles the tasks and workflows involved in building container based applications. The engine is a server side that hosts images, containers, networks and storage volumes.

These features can offer different benefits and disadvantages to your business based on your requirements, goals, and multiple other factors. Have a look.

Pros of Docker

The software offers great benefits that can help you with containerization.

  • It’s cost savings and ROI.
  • It gives you an easy and reliable configuration to boost your business.
  • It provides you with an efficient and simple initial setup.
  • Docker provides you with every bit of information in the documentation.
  • Docker permits you to describe your application lifecycle in detail.
  • It also allows you to track your container versions and easily examine differences among prior versions.
  • Application isolation.
  • Workflow Management.

Cons of Docker

We also need to focus at some disadvantages:

  • Docker will not provide you with a storage option.
  • It provides but it is a poor monitoring option.
  • You have to handle multiple instances manually.
  • It’s a simple infrastructure handling.
  • It has a very complex automatic horizontal scaling setup.
  • It’s manual cluster deployment is complicated.
  • Health checks do not have any kind of support.
  • Every activity is performed in CLI (command line tool).

With our article Docker vs Kubernetes – What’s the Difference? We hope your basic understanding of Docker have increased. Shall we look at what Kubernetes offers?

What is Kubernetes?

Kubernetes is an open source, robust container management software developed by Google. It’s a sophisticated toolset that helps to automate application life cycle duties.

It has a rapidly growing and large ecosystem that offers support, services and tools. It can facilitate automation and declarative configuration that manages containerized services and workload.

Kubernetes is an immensely stretchable container tool that can deliver complicated applications. It also permits you to handle your containerized application expertly.

It orchestrates the placement of the containers to ensure the optimization of computer resources. Kubernetes helps you handle containerized applications in numerous virtual, physical and cloud environments.

It offers different self healing capabilities that can automatically restart and repair containers if they fail.

How Does Kubernetes Work?

It’s an open source container management system that large scale organizations in various dynamic industries use. Kubernetes permits you to make your application more resilient and dynamic scaling. It keeps records of your container applications that are deployed into the cloud.

Kubernetes gives support to several base container engineers, including Docker. It is designed to schedule and coordinate the packaged applications distributed by Docker containers.

All the Kubernetes deployments have a minimum of one cluster. The cluster has nodes, and the nodes host pods. The pods have a running set of containers and Kubernetes has a control to manage these components.

It automatically shuts down when not used and can run several containers in the same assembled application. It offers multiple features that can keep track of the containers deployed in the cloud. Have a look.

Features of Kubernetes

  • It automates numerous manual processes that can help you to reduce errors and save time and energy.
  • Kubernetes is self monitoring as it checks the health of containers.
  • It also permits you to scale your resources vertically and horizontally.
  • Kubernetes also provides security to your networking and storage devices.
  • It has secret and configuration management as you can store and manage vital information like OAuth tokens, SSH keys and passwords.
  • Kubernetes has automatic bin packing as it uses a cluster of nodes to run containerized tasks.
  • It has automated rollouts and rollbacks, as you can describe the desired state of the deployed containers. It can change the actual state at a controlled rate to the desired state.
  • Kubernetes balances and distributes the network traffic to ensure that the deployment is stable if the traffic to the container rises.
  • Kubernetes can restart containers that fail and replace or kill the containers that don’t respond to the health check.
  •  Secret and Configuration Management.

Pros of Kubernetes

We have filtered the top advantages of Kubernetes that are given below:

  • On premises SANs and public clouds are a variety of storage options.
  • The service with pods is very easy for the organization.
  • Kubernetes was developed by Google, which a decade of profitable experience.
  • It’s adjustable for various cloud environments.
  • Kubernetes can be cheaper than its alternatives
  • It helps to make your application run more stable.

Cons of Kubernetes

Here are some disadvantages of using Kubernetes:

  • It needs effort migrating to stateless.
  • It has very less defined functionality than the Docker API’s availability.
  • Kubernetes has a very complicated installation.
  • It also has a highly complex configuration process.
  • It’s an automatic horizontal scaling setup.
  • Kubernetes are more expensive.
  • You will need vast knowledge.

Now that you understand the basics, here’s the differences between Docker vs Kubernetes.

Difference Between Docker and Kubernetes

There is some major difference between docker and Kubernetes. Have a look.

Docker Kubernetes
Docker Inc developed it in 2013.
Google developed it in 2014.
It has no Autoscaling.
It has auto scaling.
Its cluster setup is challenging and complicated, and Docker's cluster strength is stronger.
Its cluster setup is simple; it just needs only two commands. Kubernetes strength is not as strong as docker.
Docker installation it's very easy and fast.
Kubernetes installation is a little bit complicated and time consuming.
Docker can share its storage volumes among different containers in the same pod.
Kubernetes shares its storage volumes with any other container.
It can support 2000 > nodes.
It can support nearly 5000 nodes.
The container limit of docker is 95000
It has a 300000 container limit.
Docker is used by companies like Pinterest, eBay, Twitter, Spotify, etc.
Kubernetes is used by companies like 9GAG, Intuit, Buffer, Evernote, etc.
Docker needs third party tools for monitoring.
Kubernetes has in built monitoring.

Kubernetes vs Docker

  • Both Docker vs Kubernetes are open cloud technologies. Majority cloud service providers support components of both Docker and Kubernetes.
  • The differences are first in the packaging: the Docker packages containerized applications on a single node and Kubernetes is running them on a cluster.
  • There can be used together but can also can be deployed independently.
  • Kubernetes is extremely beneficial for large enterprises and supports its maintenance, but Docker is better for a smaller project.
  • Docker is about development: building and distributing containers using CI/CD pipelines.
  • On the other hand, Kubernetes in about operations: using your existing Docker containers and managing issues in deployment, scaling and monitoring.

Good effort. We have learned Docker vs Kubernetes – What’s the Difference? (Pros and Cons). Let’s summarize. 

Docker vs Kubernetes - What's the Difference? Conclusion

Both Docker and Kubernetes are leading cloud native container ecosystems that can help you build, manage, and orchestrate your containers in the business network.

You need to choose which software can suit your requirements and how you can extract the desired results using the tool.

Now that you have understood the nitty gritty elements of Docker and Kubernetes, it’s time you become a part of the container revolution which is taken forward by these platforms.

Both the software have different pros and cons. It’s up to you which can blend in with your business operations.

Avatar for Hitesh Jethva
Hitesh Jethva

I am a fan of open source technology and have more than 10 years of experience working with Linux and Open Source technologies. I am one of the Linux technical writers for Cloud Infrastructure Services.

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x