In software development, the project lifecycle has multiple stages. Thus, it is a challenging task for developers to package all libraries, binaries, coding and other elements of application into one package. However, thankfully the containerization method proved helpful for developers. Docker is the best software where developers schedule and manage containers easily.
Remember that for software testing, the containerization principle is necessary. So, another tool that we are going to discuss in this article is Podman. The full form of Podman is POD Manager. Here, the pods are containers and this tool manages the same.
You might assume similar tools because they deal with container orchestration, but don’t get on the wrong path! The debate between Podman vs Docker is below.
What is Docker?
To make it simple, Docker is a containerization technology that manages containers. If you don’t know what the container is, then it is a package of all coding and binaries that are used for the software deployment. It is an open source PaaS product developed by Docker Inc. used to deploy and do the load balancing of containers.
- Developer’s community is happier to have such tools because there is a straightforward approach to execute commands.
- Improved portability that is seamless
- Any desktop, data center, and cloud environment can use Docker containers without any modifications.
- Updates that are even lighter and more detailed
- Each Docker container can only run one process at a time. This makes it possible to create applications that can function even while one of their components is offline for maintenance or repair.
- Create containers automatically
- Code templates may be simply used by Docker to create and construct a container automatically.
Pick MilesWeb’s Managed Cloud Hosting Services To Scale Your Business!
What is Podman?
Podman (Pod Manager) is a Linux-native container orchestration tool that creates, builds, and runs your application without using daemons (Docker commands). You can deploy your app container images and containers using Podman’s containerization process, which is fully compliant with Open Container Initiatives (OCI).
There is almost no difference between the Podman container ecosystem and Docker. Podman is almost as good as Docker and functions like Docker, facilitating developers to create, maintain, modify, and run the container and their associated images in a production-ready environment.
Podman: Why? Advantages of Podman
We must examine the services that Podman and libpod (libraries pods) offer in order to comprehend why Podman is so strong:
- Podman assists you in properly managing all types of container image formats, including OCI and Docker images.
- From creation to running, checkpointing and restoring (via CRIU), and removal, it offers a comprehensive container management lifecycle.
- Podman uses CNI, Netavark, and slirp 4 netns to offer comprehensive container networking administration.
- Resource sharing between pods and container groups is supported by Podman, who also permits resource isolation for pods and containers.
- It offers complete assistance building a CLI that is compatible with Docker and can execute containers both locally and remotely.
Related: Docker Container: What is it and what are its advantages?
When to choose: Podman vs Docker?
Docker is suitable when:
When developers require a documented container orchestration ecosystem, it is a go-to tool that comes up with good support. If developers are stuck in running commands, Docker’s support will help them overcome technical hurdles.
You want to build container orchestration quickly and with little fuss. When compared to Podman, which relies on less feature-rich alternatives than Docker Swarm or Kubernetes, support for Docker Swarm helps Docker stand out.
Podman is suitable when:
A very trustworthy and secure system is required. Due to its rootless and demon-free design, Podman’s architecture is a natural way more secure than Docker’s.
In the future, you want to switch to Kubernetes for container orchestration. Podman is specifically designed to support the idea of Pod, a crucial piece of Kubernetes hardware. Try the Best course for Docker and Kubernetes if you want to have a thorough understanding of Kubernetes.
Related: Docker vs RKT: How Do They Both Differ?
Conclusion
After reading this entire blog, you might have the question: is Podman replaceable? The answer depends on your requirements. If you want to develop containerization tech from scratch, Podman is suitable. However, moving can be expensive if your business has already made significant investments in the Docker ecosystem, thus it is important to look at the tech debt in this situation.
