{"id":450,"date":"2026-10-14T11:40:56","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T11:40:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scmgalaxy.com\/tutorials\/2015\/10\/24\/visualization-in-devops\/"},"modified":"2026-10-14T11:40:56","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T11:40:56","slug":"visualization-in-devops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/visualization-in-devops\/","title":{"rendered":"Virtualization in DevOps: Using Vagrant, Docker, and Cloud Platforms Together"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Originally published on 2015-10-24; fully revised and updated.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The original post lists core virtualization-related tooling used in DevOps: Vagrant, Docker, and major cloud platforms. This rewritten version explains what each layer does, when to use it, and how they fit into a practical delivery workflow for engineering teams.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Virtualization<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

What this means in a DevOps environment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In practice, teams often combine multiple compute layers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • Virtual machine management<\/strong> (for example, Vagrant) to create reproducible full-OS development environments.<\/li>
  • Operating-system-level virtualization<\/strong> (Docker containers) to package and run applications consistently.<\/li>
  • Cloud platforms<\/strong> (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, VMware Cloud) to run workloads in shared, scalable infrastructure.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Side-by-side comparison of the listed options<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    Category<\/th>Examples from original post<\/th>Primary DevOps use<\/th>Typical trade-off<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
    Virtual machine manager<\/td>Vagrant<\/td>Create repeatable local VM environments for dev\/test<\/td>Heavier resource usage and slower startup than containers<\/td><\/tr>
    OS-level virtualization<\/td>Docker<\/td>Package application dependencies into portable images<\/td>Requires teams to adopt container build\/runtime practices<\/td><\/tr>
    Cloud computing platform<\/td>AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, VMware Cloud<\/td>Host services and environments at scale<\/td>Operational complexity, governance, and cost management<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    How these layers fit together in a delivery flow<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    A common pattern is to develop locally, package with containers, and deploy to cloud infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \nflowchart TD\n    A[Developer workstation] --> B[Vagrant VM optional]\n    B --> C[Build app image with Docker]\n    A --> C\n    C --> D[Push image to registry]\n    D --> E[Deploy on cloud platform]\n    E --> F[Run service and monitor]\n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
    Practical command examples<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    Basic Vagrant workflow<\/h3>\n\n\n
    mkdir demo-vm\ncd demo-vm\nvagrant init\nvagrant up\nvagrant ssh<\/code><\/span><\/pre>\n\n\n
    Basic Docker workflow<\/h3>\n\n\n
    docker<\/span> build<\/span> -t<\/span> myapp<\/span>:dev<\/span> .\ndocker<\/span> run<\/span> --rm<\/span> -p<\/span> 8080:8080<\/span> myapp<\/span>:dev<\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> CSS<\/span> (<\/span>css<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
    Cloud CLI examples<\/h3>\n\n\n
    aws ec2 describe-regions\naz account show\ngcloud projects list<\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
    Best practices<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    • Use VMs when you need full operating system parity; use containers for fast, portable application runtime.<\/li>
    • Keep Docker images minimal and reproducible so CI\/CD runs the same way as local development.<\/li>
    • Standardize environment definitions in version control (Vagrantfile, Dockerfile, IaC files).<\/li>
    • Treat cloud choice as a platform decision with security, observability, and cost controls from day one.<\/li>
    • Document where each layer is authoritative: VM setup, container build, and cloud deployment responsibilities.<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
      This guide explains how VM-based workflows, containers, and cloud platforms complement each other in DevOps. It includes a practical workflow, trade-off table, and command examples for day-to-day use.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3114,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[95,1417,948,1416],"class_list":["post-450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised","tag-devops","tag-devops-visualization","tag-visualization","tag-visualization-in-devops"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=450"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79326,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450\/revisions\/79326"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}