Evolution of Linux Containers and Future
Linux containers is an operating system level virtualization technology for providing multiple isolated Linux environments on a single Linux host. Unlike virtual machines (VMs) containers do not run dedicated guest operating systems rather they share the host operating system kernel and make use of the guest operating system system libraries for providing the required OS capabilities. Since there is no dedicated operating system, containers start much faster than VMs.
Image credit: Docker Inc.
Containers make use of the Linux kernel features such as Namespaces, Apparmor, SELinux profiles, chroot & CGroups for providing an isolated environment similar to VMs. Linux security modules guarantee that access to the host machine and the kernel from the containers is properly managed to avoid any intrusion activities. In addition containers can run different Linux distributions from its host operating system if both operating systems can run on the same CPU architecture.
In general containers provide means of creating container images based on various Linux distributions, an API for managing the lifecycle of the containers, client tools for interacting with the…
