- An operating system paradigm in which the kernel allows the existence of multiple isolated user space instances. Such instances, called containers (Solaris, Docker), zones (Solaris), virtual private servers (OpenVZ), partitions, virtual environments (VEs), virtual kernels (DragonFly BSD), or jails (FreeBSD jail or chroot jail) may look like actual computers from the point of view of programs running in them. A computer program running on an ordinary operating system can see all resources (connected devices, files and folders, network shares, CPU power, quantifiable hardware capabilities) of that computer. However, programs running inside of a container can only see the container’s contents and devices assigned to the container. Containerization is used to securely allocate finite hardware resources among a large number of mutually-distrusting users, to consolidate server hardware by moving services on separate hosts into containers on the one server, or to separate several programs to separate containers for improved security, hardware independence, and added resource management features. ← Wikipedia
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