Docker Swarm vs Knative

Struggling to choose between Docker Swarm and Knative? Both products offer unique advantages, making it a tough decision.

Docker Swarm is a Development solution with tags like clustering, container-orchestration, docker.

It boasts features such as Native clustering for Docker, Turns multiple Docker hosts into a single virtual host, Load balancing, Service discovery, Scaling services across hosts, Rolling updates, Health checks and failover and pros including Easy clustering of Docker containers, Horizontal scaling, High availability, Load balancing out of the box, Rolling updates with zero downtime, Built-in service discovery.

On the other hand, Knative is a Development product tagged with kubernetes, serverless, containers, open-source.

Its standout features include Serverless containers, Event-driven scale to zero, Autoscaling, Revision tracking, Traffic splitting, Service discovery, and it shines with pros like Simplifies deploying and running serverless workloads on Kubernetes, Built-in autoscaling, Open source and cloud agnostic, Integrates with Istio for traffic management, Active community and contributor support.

Feature	Docker Swarm	Knative
Overall Score	N/A	N/A
Primary Category	Development	Development

Product Overview

Docker Swarm

Description: Docker Swarm is a native clustering solution for Docker containers that turns a group of Docker engines into a single virtual Docker engine. It allows users to manage multiple Docker hosts as a cluster and deploy services across the cluster.

Knative

Description: Knative is an open source Kubernetes-based platform for deploying and running serverless workloads. It simplifies event-driven or scale-to-zero architectures on Kubernetes clusters.

Key Features Comparison

Docker Swarm Features

• Native clustering for Docker
• Turns multiple Docker hosts into a single virtual host
• Load balancing
• Service discovery
• Scaling services across hosts
• Rolling updates
• Health checks and failover

Knative Features

• Serverless containers
• Event-driven scale to zero
• Autoscaling
• Revision tracking
• Traffic splitting
• Service discovery

Pros & Cons Analysis

Docker Swarm

Pros

• Easy clustering of Docker containers
• Horizontal scaling
• High availability
• Load balancing out of the box
• Rolling updates with zero downtime
• Built-in service discovery

Cons

• More complex than standalone Docker
• Requires Docker Engine on each node
• Not as feature rich as Kubernetes
• Limited metrics and logging

Knative

Pros

• Simplifies deploying and running serverless workloads on Kubernetes
• Built-in autoscaling
• Open source and cloud agnostic
• Integrates with Istio for traffic management
• Active community and contributor support

Cons

• Steep learning curve
• Less flexibility than managing Kubernetes directly
• Still maturing technology
• Limited monitoring and debugging capabilities

Pricing Comparison

Docker Swarm

• Open Source

Knative

• Open Source