Container
Also known as: Containerization
A container packages an application together with everything it needs to run, inside its own isolated environment on a shared server.
A container bundles an application, its libraries and its configuration into a single unit that runs independently of the rest of the system. Unlike a virtual machine, which brings along a full operating system of its own, containers share the operating system kernel of the server they run on. That makes them substantially lighter and lets them start in seconds rather than minutes.
In practice, several containers run side by side on the same server, each with its own application — a database, a web server, an internal tool — without interfering with one another. Containers are distributed as a ready-made package, called an image, and can be started up identically on a different server, which makes moves and updates considerably simpler.
A common misunderstanding is assuming containers provide the same separation as a dedicated virtual machine. They don't: containers share the host's kernel, so isolation is less strict than with a VM. Anyone who needs to cleanly separate sensitive applications needs additional safeguards on top, not just the fact that something 'runs in a container.'
What it means in practice
For businesses that run internal applications or tools themselves, rather than relying only on ready-made server installations, containerization considerably simplifies updates and moving to new hardware. A sign that containerization is missing is every application needing its own, manually maintained server. NDVDL uses containerization in infrastructure projects for businesses in Vienna, Lower Austria and Slovakia wherever it actually simplifies operations.
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