Now you are going to learn about something a little different, Docker. Docker is a container provider, and although it is not the only container game in town, it is by far the most widely used. You will be able to leverage what you learn in this section to other container platforms as desired. Of course, you don't have to use Docker in the cloud. It is equally viable in the traditional data center, but since it is a fresh re-imagining of virtual environments, I thought it would better fit in a chapter in the clouds.

Containers offer much benefit as an alternative to "traditional" virtual machines. For example, containers are lightweight and can be deployed much more densely than traditional VMs. Containers contain fewer overhead processes, and so they can start up much faster than VMs. There are many advantages that might compel you to want to create your own containers, so let's give provisioning a try with Chef. Of course, you can use a commercial provider...