What is Container?

Definition: In the azure context, the container is a software package.

• This container bundles the application’s code and all the configuration files, libraries, and all dependencies needed to run the application.
• This will allow the deployment team to deploy the application seamlessly in multiple environments.

What is Azure Container Instance (ACI)?

Definition: Azure Container Instance is a serverless way to deploy and run the containers in Azure.

• Azure Container instance offers the fastest way to run the container in Azure, without managing any Virtual Machine.
• The operation team can reply on containers being the same every time, no matter which target they are being deployed to.
• Azure Container Instance starts the VM a lot quicker compared to a Virtual Machine.
• ACI caches some common OS images, which helps to speed up the deployment.
• ACI can deploy both Linux and Windows containers with the same API, we just need to provide the OS type at the time of creating the container group.
• All the application dependencies are included in the container Image.
• Applications running in containers can be easily deployed at multiple software and hardware.
• Compared to ACI, Virtual Machine requires a lot of updates and maintenance. ACI doesn’t have any component related to OS that requires support.
• Development and deployment are a lot easier and faster resulting in quicker delivery.