While working on Docker, developers build and deal with various Docker images. They may need a way to store and distribute their images for sharing and collaboration. In this situation, Docker provides services like Docker registry and Docker Hub to store, manage and share their Docker images.
This blog will explain:
- What is Docker Registry?
- What is Docker Hub?
- Primary Difference Between Docker Registry and Docker Hub
What is Docker Registry?
The Docker registry is a software tool that is utilized to store Docker images, which are the building block of containerized applications that contain all the dependencies required to execute them. The Docker registry acts as a central repository where users can push, pull, and manage Docker images. It allows users to easily share and reuse images across different environments.
Docker registry have two types, such as:
- Public Registry: Public Docker registry is accessible to everyone and allows them to access, store, download, and share Docker images. Popular public registries are Docker Hub and Amazon ECR (Elastic Container Registry).
- Private Registry: Private Docker registry is not accessible to everyone and is used for storing images within a private network. It requires authentication for accessing Docker images and only authorized users can push images to the registry or pull images from it. The popular private registries include Azure Container Registry, GitLab Container Registry, EC2 Container Registry, JFrog Container Registry, and AWS Private Registry.
What is Docker Hub?
Docker Hub is Docker’s official registry. It is a cloud-based service that permits users to manage, store, and share Docker images with everyone. It is the world’s largest public repository of Docker images, with millions of images available for developers to use. It permits developers to build applications and collaborate with others. It has pre-built images that can be downloaded and used for building various applications.
Primary Difference Between Docker Registry and Docker Hub
Docker Registry is a self-hosted tool where users can host and manage their public and private registries. This provides users full control over their images and the ability to control permissions and access. Whereas, the Docker Hub is a cloud-based service provided by Docker. It is hosted and managed by Docker, which means users do not have full control over their images on Docker Hub.
Moreover, the Docker registry permits users to set up private registries, which are not accessible to the public. On the other hand, Docker Hub is primarily a public registry and requires a paid subscription to utilize the private repositories.
Conclusion
The Docker Registry is a self-hosted tool used to manage Docker images. It’s a good option for corporation that need to store and distribute Docker images privately. In contrast, the Docker Hub is the default registry for Docker where most developers and organizations publish their Docker images. It’s free to use for public images, but there are pricing plans for private repositories. This blog explained the difference between the Docker registry and Docker Hub.
