I've been using Docker on Linux for a while, but I'm new to it on Windows. I've been trying to run some simple images from Microsoft, like "nanoserver" and "servercore," on two different hosts: Windows 10 Enterprise (latest version) and a Windows Server. The performance of the images is similar once they're up and running, but the start times are drastically different. On the Windows 10 Enterprise host, it takes about 1 minute and 30 seconds to start a container, while on the Windows Server, it only takes about 5 seconds. Does anyone have insights on why this is happening?
2 Answers
Are you sure your Windows 10 host isn’t using Hyper-V isolation? That can really slow things down because it needs to launch a utility VM for every container. In contrast, Windows Server typically uses process isolation by default. You could try forcing the `--isolation=process` option, but it may require matched versions of the host and image to work properly on Windows 10.
There could be several reasons for this slowness. You might want to check out some articles online that discuss slow container starting times on Windows 10 Enterprise. They could have some pointers that could help you out!
I've looked into a few of these, but most focus on slow-running containers rather than slow start times. My issue is specifically about how long it takes to get them up and running.
Thanks for this tip! I hadn't thought about Hyper-V isolation playing a role. I'll definitely check that out when I’m back at the office.