windowscontainershyper-vserver-corenano-server

Windows Server Hyper-v container with Windows Server Core as base image


Let's say I have Windows Server 2016 Desktop where I will deploy my micro services as containers. Also, let's say I choose Windows Server Core as base image for my containers. This force me to choose Hyper-v containers.

Is it even resonable to run Windows Server Core as base image in a hyper-v container? I mean, Windows Server Core is quite big in terms of disk space memory (at least compared to Nano Server).

What are the main differences between having Windows Server Core and Windows Server Nano as base image in a hyper-v container? I'm thinking about RAM usage, disk space usage in the host. Ex, If I have many containers (10-20), will that be a problem if using Server Core (because of its larger size)?


Solution

  • I have know tried this using Windows 10 Pro with hyper-v installed:

    Hyper-v container with Windows Server Nano as base image. Container start time was a few seconds. Process memory (vmmem process) about 200Mb.

    Hyper-v container with Windows Server Core (with IIS installed) as base image. Container start time was around 30 seconds. Process memory (vmmem process) about 400Mb

    I will do the same test with regular containers instead of hyper-v containera another day. For that I need to start a Windows Server 2016 wih Desktop UI in Assure.

    Edit: I have now tested regular containers. Startup time was about the half of hyper-v containers. Memory usage was almost nothing since the container share kernel with the host.