Microsoft Azure : Virtual Machines vs Containers
Azure Virtual Machines
Azure virtual machines are used to create virtual machines in the cloud. Virtual machines are compute resources that uses software instead of a physical computer to run programs and deploy apps.
However, virtualization is the process of creating a software based on a virtual version of a computer with a dedicated unit of memory, CPU and storage borrowed from a physical host and server.
Azure VMs are ideal when the total control of the operating system is needed. It is also utilized when you want to run custom software or use custom software configurations. It gives flexibility of virtualization without buying or maintaining the physical hardware that runs the system. Single VMs can be scaled for testing, development or minor tasks. It can also be grouped together to provide high availability, redundancy and scalability.
VMs can be used :
- During Testing and Development.
- When running applications.
- When extending data into the cloud
- During Disaster recovery
Containers
Containers are a virtualization environment which is just like running multiple virtual machines on a single , physical or virtual host. In containers, you cannot manage the operating system unlive in Vms, where you can control the Operating System. Containers are light weight and are designed to be controlled dynamically. It is an agile method which allows you to respond to changes on demand for instance, you can easily restore it if there’s a crash. An example of a container engine is Docker which is supported by Azure.
Virtual Machines vs Containers
Virtual machines provide an abstract layer of an OS which can be controlled unlike in a container. However, containers are lightweight and can run multiple Operating systems at a time.
Also, virtual machines virtualize the hardware while conatiners virtualize the Operating System. Containers can easily deploy and manage applications without worrying about which server will host it.
Azure Containers
Azure Container Instances: This is a paas(platform as a service) offering of Azure which offers a fast and simple way of running a container in Azure.
Azure Container Apps: Containers are pretty much like containers instances but they are not paas offerings. They allow you to run instantly and remove the container management piece.
Azure Kubernetes Service: Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) is a container orchestration service. Orchestration services manage the lifecycle of containers. When deploying a fleet of containers, AKS can make fleet management simpler and more efficient.
Choosing between Virtual Machines or Containers?
This depends on what you’re trying to achieve, if you want to have control of the hardware feature, virtual machines are the best option, but if that’s not the case,then, stick to containers.
