Container, as defined in the dictionary, is an object that can hold something. Extending its meaning: a place where some correlated items can be stored or move together; a separator of things; a constrain for the contained things. Starting in 1982 with chroot, to BSD-jails, Solaris Containers, LXC, OpenVZ, and Docker, container systems try to keep something isolated from the host system, to keep related things together, to limit the resources a thing can utilize: all focusing and prioritizing different aspects.

This paper was written in 2016 as part of a research project at scip AG, Switzerland. It was initially published online at https://www.scip.ch/en/?labs.20161006 and is available in English and German. Providing our clients with innovative research for the information technology of the future is an essential part of our company culture.