github.com/webwurst/docker@v1.7.0/docs/misc/index.md (about) 1 <!--[metadata]> 2 +++ 3 title = "About Docker" 4 description = "Introduction to Docker." 5 keywords = ["docker, introduction, documentation, about, technology, understanding, Dockerfile"] 6 [menu.main] 7 parent = "mn_use_docker" 8 +++ 9 <![end-metadata]--> 10 11 # About Docker 12 13 **Develop, Ship and Run Any Application, Anywhere** 14 15 [**Docker**](https://www.docker.com) is a platform for developers and sysadmins 16 to develop, ship, and run applications. Docker lets you quickly assemble 17 applications from components and eliminates the friction that can come when 18 shipping code. Docker lets you get your code tested and deployed into production 19 as fast as possible. 20 21 Docker consists of: 22 23 * The Docker Engine - our lightweight and powerful open source container 24 virtualization technology combined with a work flow for building 25 and containerizing your applications. 26 * [Docker Hub](https://hub.docker.com) - our SaaS service for 27 sharing and managing your application stacks. 28 29 ## Why Docker? 30 31 *Faster delivery of your applications* 32 33 * We want your environment to work better. Docker containers, 34 and the work flow that comes with them, help your developers, 35 sysadmins, QA folks, and release engineers work together to get your code 36 into production and make it useful. We've created a standard 37 container format that lets developers care about their applications 38 inside containers while sysadmins and operators can work on running the 39 container in your deployment. This separation of duties streamlines and 40 simplifies the management and deployment of code. 41 * We make it easy to build new containers, enable rapid iteration of 42 your applications, and increase the visibility of changes. This 43 helps everyone in your organization understand how an application works 44 and how it is built. 45 * Docker containers are lightweight and fast! Containers have 46 sub-second launch times, reducing the cycle 47 time of development, testing, and deployment. 48 49 *Deploy and scale more easily* 50 51 * Docker containers run (almost) everywhere. You can deploy 52 containers on desktops, physical servers, virtual machines, into 53 data centers, and up to public and private clouds. 54 * Since Docker runs on so many platforms, it's easy to move your 55 applications around. You can easily move an application from a 56 testing environment into the cloud and back whenever you need. 57 * Docker's lightweight containers also make scaling up and 58 down fast and easy. You can quickly launch more containers when 59 needed and then shut them down easily when they're no longer needed. 60 61 *Get higher density and run more workloads* 62 63 * Docker containers don't need a hypervisor, so you can pack more of 64 them onto your hosts. This means you get more value out of every 65 server and can potentially reduce what you spend on equipment and 66 licenses. 67 68 *Faster deployment makes for easier management* 69 70 * As Docker speeds up your work flow, it gets easier to make lots 71 of small changes instead of huge, big bang updates. Smaller 72 changes mean reduced risk and more uptime. 73 74 ## About this guide 75 76 The [Understanding Docker section](introduction/understanding-docker.md) will help you: 77 78 - See how Docker works at a high level 79 - Understand the architecture of Docker 80 - Discover Docker's features; 81 - See how Docker compares to virtual machines 82 - See some common use cases. 83 84 ### Installation guides 85 86 The [installation section](/installation/#installation) will show you how to 87 install Docker on a variety of platforms. 88 89 90 ### Docker user guide 91 92 To learn about Docker in more detail and to answer questions about usage and 93 implementation, check out the [Docker User Guide](/userguide/). 94 95 ## Release notes 96 97 A summary of the changes in each release in the current series can now be found 98 on the separate [Release Notes page](/release-notes/) 99 100 ## Licensing 101 102 Docker is licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. See 103 [LICENSE](https://github.com/docker/docker/blob/master/LICENSE) for the full 104 license text. 105