Standalone Container Runtimes
Virtual Machine (VM)
Virtual Machines offer the greatest flexibility for running Docker containers, with many combinations of CPU and RAM configurations available. Both Windows and Linux VMs can host Docker, but VMs require significant maintenance and configuration. They are best suited for Dev/Test workloads due to their operational overhead.
Azure Container Instance (ACI)
Azure Container Instances provide a serverless container runtime where you simply provide the container and Azure runs it. ACI can handle both single and multiple instances, charging based on the number of vCPUs and GBs of memory used per second. This option is ideal for unpredictable burst workloads but can be challenging for cost prediction. ACI can also be integrated with Azure Kubernetes Service for hybrid workloads.
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