Open source container platform Docker has kicked off its private beta program for Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Azure. You can already use Docker through the two public cloud platforms but the company has made it easier to deploy Docker Engine on them through tight integration with AWS and Microsoft Azure infrastructure services. Additionally, Docker for Windows and Mac, which was previously in private beta, has now been made publicly available. Here's what you need to know.

In recent years, software containers that allow applications and processes to run in isolation have gained traction in the IT community. The open-source container platform Docker is the top player in this space and big IT vendors have been tripping over themselves to incorporate its software containerisation technology into their own offerings. Open source software provider Red Hat has been working with Docker since 2013 and has provided some key learnings on what not to do when using the container tool.

The open source platform Docker popularised software containers and is loved by developers as it allows them bundle their code into a nice neat package and deploy it to production machines regardless of the environment. System administrators can also use Docker to build, manage and run applications in virtual containers. Now developers and sysadmins can have a bit of fun with Docker by managing their virtual containers through Minecraft with Dockercraft.

When virtualisation was first mainstreamed, it changed the way we managed the server room. We saved money by consolidating servers into larger virtual hosts. Hardware-related downtime dropped because we could afford to spend money on redundancy and quality. Even mundane issues such as rack space and datacenter air conditioning became less of an expense. As system administrators, we could suddenly "create" a new server out of thin air.