I've been using Docker on Linux for a while, but I'm unfamiliar with how it works on Windows. I've tested some basic images like 'nanoserver' and 'servercore' on two different systems—a Windows 10 Enterprise machine and a Windows Server. While the performance of the containers seems similar once they're running, the startup times vary drastically. On the Windows 10 Enterprise host, it takes around 1 minute and 30 seconds to start these images, whereas on the Windows Server, it only takes about 5 seconds. I'm curious if anyone knows why this performance discrepancy exists and how to resolve it.
2 Answers
A lot of factors can contribute to slow startup times on Windows 10 Enterprise. I've seen various discussions online that mention possible culprits. Check out some common troubleshooting tips to see if they help you out!
Are you sure your Windows 10 host isn't using Hyper-V isolation? That can significantly slow down the start time since it has to launch a utility VM for each container, while Windows Server typically uses process isolation. You might want to check if you can set the launch to --isolation=process, but keep in mind that your host and image versions need to align for that to work on Windows 10.
Thanks for the tip! I hadn’t considered that aspect. I’ll be sure to check it out when I get back to work.
I've checked some of those resources. Most discuss containers running slowly, but my issue is with them taking a long time to start. Performance is fine once they're running!