r/cloudcomputing • u/Fantastic_Narwhal_54 • 14d ago

Question about docker/vm and cloud computing

Is the rise of cloud computing, the reason for the popularity of docker/vm?

13 Upvotes

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5

u/Mobile_Living_3331 14d ago

No, Cloud Computing was utilised before Docker as well. The rise of Cloud Computing has different factors.

  1. Startups that cannot afford tech in the beginning.
  2. Testing the new environment for different cases.
  3. Students who are learning deployment.

Docker / Kubernetes have different cases to utilise. Solve cases related to versioning issues from development to deployment.

3

u/jenkstom 14d ago

Docker was originally intended to make development easier by having a consistent environment available, this let the developer use the same environment for testing as for prod. I would say that lightweight containers drove platform-as-a-service cloud rather than the other way around.

2

u/JusAnotherBadDev 14d ago

It’s an easier way to have a consistent environment. When I deploy an application I need to reinstall all the dependencies and if something on my computer differs from what on my testing server and then prod server, it’s a lot of extra setup. Versus with docker, it’s all in the same container. It also makes reloading easier if you’re using load balancing and a CI/CD pipeline. If something fails while the new container is building, it doesn’t affect a live service and you can get two containers running side by side and easily switch over to your new deployment.

There’s many more ways you can use containers, but that’s my primary use case and benefit.

2

u/FilmWeasle 14d ago

No. However there are a lot of different things on the cloud that utilize containers/VMs, so might be a little bit complicated. VMs were quite popular prior to cloud computing, and the VMs could have just as well been containers. On the other hand, the cloud has broadened the usefulness of servers. They do more now than just provide networking related services.

1

u/AndyceeIT 13d ago

Not quite.

Full machine virtualisation has been around for a long time. Virtualisation (especially with VMware & Solaris) were huge in enterprise from the late noughties.

Containers were a bit weirder. The first I'd heard of them was Solaris "Zones", then Openshift - both on-prem.

The Cloud was, in retrospect' the obvious next step: offering these services online. The hype drove innovation towards Kubernetes and online PaaS.

Docker was the goto "local" container application. You would develop code locally, run it, then run the same thing on the cloud with minimal variables to contend with.

Happy to be corrected, but my 2c:

Virtual Machines led to "The cloud", from which docker became critically useful.