Introduction to the containerized setup

What is a container image?

A container image is an application together with all the required dependencies wrapped together into a single image, which basically is a compressed archive. The application that runs from a container image is called a container.

Compared to a virtual machine, a container only contains the required dependencies to run the application or service and is not bloated with other files. This makes containers very small in size and boot up almost instantly. This results in very quick deployments or updates, by simply replacing the old container.

For more information, Docker Inc. wrote a blogpost about what a container is and what its benefits are: https://www.docker.com/resources/what-container/

Prerequisites for a containerized setup

Before you can pull a container image, you need an authentication token. You can request it in TCP > Software > Thinkwise containers.

For more information about authentication tokens see: Thinkwise Container Registry - Authentication

Deployment examples

There are many ways to deploy container images, a few examples are:

• On your own machine or on-premises
  • As a standalone container(s)
  • With Docker Compose
  • As a service in Docker Swarm
  • In a Kubernetes cluster
• On Microsoft Azure
  • As an App Service
  • In an Azure Kubernetes Service cluster