[tinco]

> What's the difference between Docker and normal virtualization technology (OpenVZ/KVM)? Are there any good examples of when and where to use Docker over something like OpenVZ?

Docker is exactly like OpenVZ. It became popular because they really emphasize their OpenVZ Application Templates feature, and made it much more user friendly.

So users of Docker, instead of following this guide: https://openvz.org/Application_Templates

They write a Dockerfile, which in a simple case might be:

    FROM nginx
    COPY index.html /usr/share/nginx/html

So no fuzzing with finding a VE somewhere, downloading it customizing it, and then installing stuff manually, stopping the container and tarring it, Docker does that all for you when you run `docker build`.

Then you can push your nice website container to the public registry, ssh to your machine and pull it from the registry. Of course you can have your own private registry (we do) so you can have proprietary docker containers that run your apps/sites.

From my perspective, the answer to your question would be: Always prefer Docker over OpenVZ, they are the same technology but Docker is easier to use.

But I've never really invested in OpenVZ so maybe there's some feature that Docker doesn't have.

[segmondy]

Docker and OpenVZ are not the same. Docker is single application focus. OpenVZ provides the entire OS in a container. OpenVZ has support for live migration.

[tinco]

It could be that their communities have different philosophies about containers, but this is not a technical difference. I think Docker added support for live migration recently too (the Doom demo on that recent Docker con right?)

They are built around the same set of kernel features and as far as I can see offer exactly the same abstractions.

For example Phusion Baseimage is a Docker baseimage that's similar to an OpenVZ container in the sense that it emulates a full running Ubuntu environment. It has is uses but the Docker community rather sees containers that encapsulate a single application with no external processes.

[klibertp]

> OpenVZ provides the entire OS in a container.

Docker does that, too. Actually, I'm running docker containers as a fast and easy replacement for VirtualBox VMs.

[unclesaamm]

Perhaps you could do this if you're on Linux, and booting into separate OS's that run off the Linux kernel. Or if you're using boot2docker. However, in neither case does Docker itself provide the kernel in the container.

[tinco]

What do you mean with that Docker does not provide the kernel itself? I did not mean Docker and OpenVZ are similar technology, they are exactly the same technology, just different toolset. You can only run Docker on linux (boot2docker simply runs a Linux VM), you use the kernel of the host os.

[alinspired]

OpenVZ is closer to KVM (full virtualization). OpenVZ container is a lightweight VM which shares host kernel, has persistent FS and traditional OS you have to manage.

[GhotiFish]

When I worked with docker containers, I noticed that they seem to present a full OS, with a FS that you had to manage.

I had to change /etc config files, mange where logfiles went and how they were handled, all of this is described on a diffing filesystem.

I might be misinterpreting what you mean though. I have no experience with OpenVZ and little with Docker.

[alinspired]

This was mentioned many times, but still: this is about "best practices" or common use case. OpenVZ or Docker (or even full VMs) can interchangeably be used to solve a given use case