What is our primary use case?
My main use case for
Docker on Ubuntu is running containers and projects that are in containers, containerized projects.
One of those containerized projects is the monitoring stack build, which includes Prometheus, Alertmanager, and Grafana, and it is a really quick thing to run, install, and test. I am using it mainly for tests around the monitoring.
There are actually multiple use cases during my career with Docker on Ubuntu. It was building containers in the CI/CD, and Ubuntu instances actually ran Docker and all the builds and pushed the artifacts to the registries. There were use cases with the projects themselves being containerized, and all various cases. Pretty much everything in modern Linux ecosystems requires Docker.
What is most valuable?
The best features Docker on Ubuntu offers probably include process isolation in general, and it is easy to use and super straightforward.
Process isolation has helped me in my work for many reasons, such as the ability to give a specific amount of resources to a process, and the fact that a process does not interfere with other processes. There are multiple advantages to this, but this is generally a container thing.
There are actually great multiple things about the features of Docker on Ubuntu. If we take Ubuntu desktop and Docker desktop, we can see that it has a really great application with many features, including Kubernetes integration, CVE scanning, an easy to install and easy to use UI, the image manager, and all of these things. Docker is super powerful with modern Linux, especially with the industry standard such as Ubuntu.
Docker on Ubuntu has positively impacted my organization by enabling us to be a modern company that uses a modern architecture approach. It is difficult to do this without Docker.
The impact of Docker on Ubuntu includes improvements in speed, efficiency, and resource management, especially noticeable in our CI/CD pipelines. If we build the containers, it is much easier to distribute our application. It is much easier to install, configure, scale, and do pretty much everything. Without this proper containerization, the projects would work worse, there would be fewer options for deployment, and so on.
What needs improvement?
Docker on Ubuntu can probably be improved in the UI part. I was part of the Docker testing team, and they have a public testing team. There are some improvements to UI and probably making
Kubernetes a bit more integrated, I would say.
I would not add more about the needed improvements as it is difficult to tell. There are no improvements needed for Docker on Ubuntu that I have not mentioned.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Docker on Ubuntu for at least four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Docker on Ubuntu is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of Docker on Ubuntu requires Kubernetes. It is pretty much impossible to scale without it.
How are customer service and support?
I have never contacted customer support.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We did not use a different solution. It was always Docker.
What was our ROI?
I have seen a return on investment, with a lot of time saved due to faster CI/CD builds and deployments, much cheaper storage due to registries, and a much easier to use general architecture. For example, in my company before
Akamai, Docker was a must have. It saved so much time, so much effort, and so much human resources. It is just difficult to explain. It was super useful.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that technically, I did not use the paid version of Docker. This is a very seldom use case as very few organizations and very few people actually need a paid Docker. 99.9% of people will be happy with the open source version, which is open source and free.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Before choosing Docker on Ubuntu, I did not evaluate other options. It really depends, but there are no really super huge competitors. It is just Podman, but it is a different thing for different cases. It is not that simple with Podman. There are just no proper competitors that are as huge and as famous as Docker is.
What other advice do I have?
My advice to others looking into using Docker on Ubuntu is to learn the containers as this is really cool technology.
I do not have any additional thoughts about Docker on Ubuntu before we wrap up. I would rate this product with a review rating of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.