Tech in Diagrams

What are Containers?

A container packages an application with its dependencies and runs as an isolated process on a shared OS kernel.

Beginner 5 min DevOps
App + dependenciesDockerfileImageImmutable layersRegistryStores imagesContainer runtimeShared host kernelOrchestratorScheduling & restarts
One image, identical behaviour everywhere.

Hover a node to trace its connections · click or press Enter for a short explanation

Common misconception

“"A container is a small virtual machine."”

Containers share the host's kernel and isolate processes; VMs virtualise hardware and run a full guest operating system. That is why containers start in milliseconds.

Next conceptInfrastructure as CodeInfrastructure as code describes environments in version-controlled files instead of manual console clicks.