What is container management? A container is a unit of software that packages together a single application and all its dependencies to make apps easier to develop, deploy, and manage. Containers are also known as operating-system-level virtualizations. While virtual machines package multiple apps, each with their own operating system, containers run on a shared operating system. This allows them to load and run quickly and reliably and move easily to different computing environments.
Containers include everything that is needed to run software, including files and libraries. They combine the libraries of an app into one deployable unit that uses minimal memory resources.
Container management is an automation process for the creation, deployment, and scaling of containers. It uses a platform to facilitate the replacement, addition, and organization of containers on a large scale. Container management includes application security tools, scheduling, monitoring, and storage.
The purpose of container management is so that systems can work more efficiently. At some point the number of containers becomes too vast for an IT team to handle, and a container management system becomes imperative.
Effective container management helps keep environments more secure and also makes it more flexible and easier to develop new apps.
Container management also offers automation enabling developers to keep up with rapid changes.
Container management is necessary for the rapid deployment and updating of applications. It makes security, orchestration, and networking easier.
The benefits of container management include:
While container management offers many benefits, it also comes with some challenges.
1. Lower overall costs due to a smaller compute footprint.
2. Moving to a stateless and ephemeral architecture dramatically reduces the need for persistent storage and means spending less money on storage.
3. Containers help improve the productivity and efficiency of staff by automating provisioning and deprovisioning. It also simplifies storage management by removing dependencies on server-specific applications.
4. Using immutable container images reduces the amount of storage capacity consumed.
5. Sharing redundant information among containers leads to lower storage costs.
6. As the features and benefits of containers continue to improve, competition drives the cost down, so that container management is getting better and cheaper every day.
