Container Development Work

Voice of the DBA

On my new laptop, I only use containers as database servers. I made the decision not to install SQL Server or PostgreSQL and instead work on containers only. I’ve written lightly about this, but I set up docker-compose files to load different instances of SQL Server and PostgreSQL (and others) and batch files to start and stop them. I’ve also set dedicated places on my disk where I can drop backup files and access them from the host.

It’s 2024. I moved to containers on my laptop exclusively for databases for the first time this year. This is despite the fact that I like containers, am comfortable with them, and find them handy. Moving from installed database server software to containers took a conscious effort, and it took time to configure everything. Really, it took me a bit of time to think about how I’d want to configure my system so that my work in SSMS went smoothly.

I saw an blog recently from Microsoft on some of the devcontainer work they’ve done. I talked with a few people, who showed me how easy this was to do in ADS or VS Code and ensure your database was included as a part of your project. On one hand I was impressed. On the other, I don’t see many people with projects in ADS/VS Code and the need to spin up/down containers and connect through that tool. Plus, how easy is it to get connected with SSMS or another tool to the container?

If there is any friction in using a new technology, most of us won’t adopt it. Even if we’re forced, we’ll be upset (and less productive) for quite some time if using something is a hassle. I believe in containers, but spinning one up from go-sqlcmd is far different from easily being able to grab a backup file from a friend and get it restored.

While I see lots of companies where developers are excited to use containers, I see relatively few where containerized is the default, or even common, method of working with something. I see even fewer where containers are used for database work. Certainly some people use them, but not most.

Local installs, dev servers, and VMs seem to still be very common. They’re tried, true, and familiar, Most of us like things that are familiar and we fall back to them quickly.

Do you use containers for anything? Testing out software? Actual work? Are you even allowed to use Docker or something similar to run containers? Maybe less likely, but I’m curious, how many of you actually deploy containers in production and with what tech installed in the containers?

Let us know today. I think containers have lots of possibilities, but they haven’t caught on as quickly or widely as I would have thought. Primarily because of friction.

Steve Jones

Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Spotify, or iTunes.

Note, podcasts are only available for a limited time online.