Chapter 5: Alternatives for Deploying and Running Containers in Production

As container technology and cloud computing mature, the number of ways in which you can deploy your Docker containers has exploded. Some of the options are as simple as running Docker on a single host, and others feature advanced features such as autoscaling, multi-cloud support, and more. You could even run your Docker containers on-premises on bare-metal servers or adopt a hybrid cloud solution.

After reading this chapter, you will understand that the many choices available offer different trade-offs. You will learn how to build the smallest viable production environment. You will be able to choose between different cloud providers and their managed container runtimes, as well as articulate the benefits of running Docker either on-premises or in a hybrid cloud. Most importantly, you will be able to make an informed decision about choosing a production path for deploying Docker containers given competing objectives.

Understanding the spectrum of choices will help guide you toward making better decisions.

In this chapter, we are going to cover the following main topics:

• Running Docker in production – many paths, choose wisely
• What is the minimum realistic production environment?
• Managed cloud services
• Running your own Kubernetes cluster – from bare-metal servers to OpenStack
• Deciding on the right Docker production setup