Docker Containers Management | Overview

Docker Containers  Management - Overview

Scope:

• Intro,
• Amazon ECR (Elastic Container Registry) – Container Image Storage
• ECR Workflow Command,
• Tag & push a Docker image to ECR,
• Amazon ECS (Elastic Container Service) – AWS-native Orchestration,
• AWS Fargate – Serverless Compute Engine,
• Amazon EKS (Elastic Kubernetes Service) – Kubernetes on AWS,
• Comparison Table,
• Best Use Cases by Service
• Typical Workflow  for (ECS + Fargate + ECR)

Intro:

• Here's twtech Overview of how Docker containers are managed on AWS using ECS, EKS, Fargate, and ECR.

Docker Containers stored on AWS

1. Amazon ECR (Elastic Container Registry) – Container Image Storage

• What it is: A fully managed Docker container registry that stores container images.
• Use case: twtech pushes Docker images to ECR, then ECS/EKS pulls from it to run containers.
• Key Features:
• Secure, private repository
• Integrated with IAM for access control
• Supports vulnerability scanning

 Workflow:

# bash

# Tag and push a Docker image to ECR

docker tag twtechapp:latest accountID.dkr.ecr.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/twtechapp:latest

aws ecr get-login-password | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin ...

docker push accountID.dkr.ecr.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/twtechapp:latest

2. Amazon ECS (Elastic Container Service) – AWS-native Orchestration

• What it is: A container orchestration service that runs Docker containers using a simple configuration.
• Launch Types:
• Fargate (serverless)
• EC2 (twtech manages EC2 instances)
• Use case: Easy-to-use solution for deploying, scaling, and managing containers.

 ECS Concepts:

• Task Definition: JSON blueprint describing container(s)
• Task: A running instance of a Task Definition
• Service: Maintains the desired number of tasks
• Cluster: A logical grouping of resources

3. AWS Fargate – Serverless Compute Engine

• What it is: A serverless compute engine for containers that works with ECS and EKS.
• Use case: Run containers without provisioning or managing servers.
• Benefits:
• Pay-per-use
• No EC2 instance management
• Scales automatically

 Best For:

• Short-lived jobs
• Microservices
• When twtech wants to focus only on containers, not infrastructure

4. Amazon EKS (Elastic Kubernetes Service) – Kubernetes on AWS

• What it is: Managed Kubernetes service to run containerized applications.
• Use case: If is already already using Kubernetes or want more flexibility and community tools.
• Architecture:
• Control Plane managed by AWS
• Worker nodes (self-managed EC2 or Fargate)

 EKS Concepts:

• Pods: Smallest deployable unit (can have 1+ containers)
• Deployments: Define how to manage pods
• Node Groups: EC2 instances that run pods

 Comparison Table

Feature	ECS (EC2)	ECS (Fargate)	EKS (EC2)	EKS (Fargate)
Infra Mgmt.	twtech manages EC2	Fully managed	twtech manages EC2	Fully managed
Complexity.	Low	Very low	Medium-high	Medium
Flexibility.	AWS-specific	AWS-specific	Very flexible	Very flexible
Cost Control.	More control	Pay-per-use	More control	Pay-per-use
Learning Curve.	Low	Very low	High	Medium-high

Best Use Cases by Service

Scenario	Best AWS Service
Simple web app with low maintenance.	ECS + Fargate
Large-scale microservices architecture.	EKS (Kubernetes)
Full control over VMs.	ECS with EC2
CI/CD pipeline storing Docker images.	ECR
Kubernetes expertise/team.	EKS

 twtech-Typical Workflow  for (ECS + Fargate + ECR)

1. Build Docker image
2. Push to Amazon ECR
3. Define ECS Task Definition
4. Create ECS Service with Fargate launch type
5. Monitor via CloudWatch and ECS Console.