VM vs Docker
I keep rereading the Docker documentation to try to understand the difference between Docker and a full VM. How does it manage to provide a full filesystem, isolated networking environment, etc. without being as heavy? Why is deploying software to a docker image (if that's the right term) easier than simply deploying to a consistent production environment? up vote 77 down vote I like Ken Cochrane's answer. But I want to add additional point of view, not covered in detail here. In my opinion Docker differs also in whole process. In contrast to VMs Docker is not (only) about optimal resource sharing of hardware, moreover it provides a "system" for packaging application (Preferable but not a must, as a set of Microservices). To me it fits in the gap between Developer Oriented tools like rpm, debian packages, maven, npm + git on one side and Ops tools like Puppet, VMWare, Xen you name it... Why is deploying software to a docker image (if that