Docker and containerisation
The same environment on a developer laptop, in the pipeline and in production — which removes an entire category of deployment problem.
Containers
Chosen per project
Maintainable handover
Most deployment failures are environment differences: a library version, a missing extension, a configuration file that only exists on one server. Containers make the environment part of the artefact, so what was tested is exactly what runs.
The practical benefit for a small team is onboarding. A new developer runs one command and has the full stack — application, database, cache — rather than a day of setup instructions that are subtly out of date.
What we build with Docker
Reproducible local development environments
Consistent deployment across staging and production
Applications with several services that must run together
Modernising deployment for an existing application
Where it fits — and where it does not
Good fit when
Environment differences are causing real problems
Several services need to run together locally
Deployment should be repeatable and automated
The team can support containers in production
Consider something else when
A single simple application on a managed platform
Teams with no container operations experience and no plan to gain it
Very small projects where the tooling exceeds the problem
How a container image is built
Each instruction adds a cached layer. Ordering them from least to most frequently changed is what keeps rebuilds fast.
Base image
A slim, pinned official runtime.
System packages
Only what the application genuinely needs.
Dependencies
Copied and installed before source, so the cache survives code changes.
Application code
Copied last — it changes most often.
Runtime config
Non-root user, health check, entrypoint.
How we work with Docker
Small images
Multi-stage builds and slim base images, because image size is pull time on every deploy.
Non-root by default
Containers run as an unprivileged user — a default that is easy to set and awkward to retrofit.
Config from environment
No secrets baked into images; configuration injected at runtime.
Compose for development
One file bringing up the whole stack, so onboarding is a single command.
Our typical Docker setup
| Concern | What we use |
|---|---|
| Images | Multi-stage builds on slim, pinned official bases |
| Local development | Docker Compose bringing up the full stack |
| Registry | A private registry with vulnerability scanning |
| Security | Non-root user, no secrets in layers, minimal surface |
| Orchestration | ECS, Cloud Run or Kubernetes depending on scale |
| CI/CD | Images built once, promoted through environments |
Frequently asked questions
Not always. For a single application on a managed platform it can be more tooling than the problem justifies. It earns its place when several services must run together, or when environment differences are already costing you time.
On Linux hosts the overhead is negligible — containers are process isolation, not virtual machines. On macOS and Windows development machines there is a filesystem penalty, which is a local annoyance rather than a production concern.
Nearly always. The work is usually in externalising configuration and file storage rather than in the Dockerfile itself.
Topics people search for
Services built with Docker
Cloud Solutions
Hosting designed around what your application actually needs, with the monitoring and backups that make it safe to rely on.
Software Maintenance
Keeping working systems working — including ones built by somebody else.
Custom Software Development
Software shaped around the way your business already works, instead of a packaged product you have to reorganise around.
Tell us what you are trying to build
Describe the problem in plain language and we will tell you what it would take to solve it — the approach, the moving parts and the sensible order to build them in. No obligation either way.