Technologies For Better Containerization: Docker Hub and Docker Registries

Containerization is a form of virtualization where you deploy and run distributed apps or systems in containers without launching an entire virtual machine for each app. Instead, it allows you to bundle the supplication code with its related configuration files, libraries, and dependencies. 

You then abstract the container, i.e., the single package of software away from the host OS, allowing it to stand alone and become portable, enabling it to run on any platform or cloud, free of issues. In simpler words, containerization enables developers to write applications once and run them everywhere, making it more flexible, efficient, and granular than virtualization.

Well, now you know what containerization is and how it helps make the developers’ lives easier. Let us now dive into what technologies you should look into for better containerization.

Docker

The concepts of containerization and process isolation are decades old. However, the emergence of an open-source Docker Engine in 2013 undoubtedly accelerated the adoption of application container technology. 

According to Docker Inc., there was a 145% year-over-year increase in 2020 in the number of Docker container pulls made from the Docker Hub repository. These days “Docker” and “containers” are used interchangeably with the Docker community is continuously growing at a tremendous pace.

Using Docker, you can effortlessly deploy and scale applications into any environment with complete certainty that your code will run. Whether it be LMS application development, video game development, health and fitness application development, or any other, Docker makes it easier to create, deploy, and run them using containers. It is written in the Google Go (Golang) programming language, making it easy for the developers to package pieces of code functionality and then assemble these packages to build applications.

Docker Registries

These store image repositories, making it effortless to distribute them. A user can create his repository once he has created an account on the Docker hub. The two types of repositories created in Docker; Public and Private repositories. If an image is pushed to a public repository, anybody on the Docker hub can use these images by pulling them. However, if you push an image to a private repository, only the authorized can access images.

Why Should We Use Docker Registries?

• The different versions of images and their storing location can be tightly controlled. Images that are alike can be stored together as a repository.
• The image storage and distribution pipelines can be integrated with our development workflow.
• We can fully own the image distribution pipeline.
• It is the fastest and most efficient way to distribute images inside an isolated network.
• The container environments can be saved as Docker images and pushed to Docker registries. It enables us to share our images with our teammates easily.
• It helps us deploy new Docker images swiftly over a huge cluster of server nodes or machines.

Docker Hub

Docker Hub is an alternative for users looking for a zero maintenance, ready-to-go solution. It provides a free-to-use, hosted registry and additional features such as organization accounts, automated builds, etc. Docker Hub is a hosted registry solution by Docker Inc. It is considered the most comprehensive repository of container images.  

Docker Hub Features

Image Repositories: This feature helps push, pull, find and manage Docker Images. It is a huge library with images from community, official and private libraries.

Automated Builds: We can create new images by changing a source code repository.

Webhooks: It triggers actions after a successful push to a container to integrate Docker Hub with other additional services.

Docker Official Images: We can easily pull and use high-quality container images rendered by Docker.

Docker Verified Publisher Images: Tons of high-quality container images are rendered by external vendors.

Teams and Organizations: It allows us to manage the access to private repositories of container images to organizational members.

Why Should You Use Docker Hub?

• It has thousands of high-quality, trusted official and vendor-specific images.
• Docker’s free plan allows us to create unlimited public repositories and one private repository with three collaborators at most. This can be extremely useful, especially for basic testing.
• It has built-in security features such as audit logs, vulnerability scans, and multifactor authentication.
• Integrations with third-party services such as GitHub, automated tests, build triggers, webhooks, etc.

Final Thoughts

Containerization enables you to package your applications into individual packets that are functionally capable and independent. Docker is the most popular platform to build, run, and manage containers on servers and the cloud. In a nutshell, there is no denying that Docker is here to stay for a long time, and software development will continue to be driven by containers at scale.