Docker Linux OS Image Performance Comparison Ubuntu 16.10 host (bare metal) running Docker 1.12, compared to launching stock Docker images of Ubuntu, Clear Linux, CentOS, Debian, and Alpine Linux. Tests by Michael Larabel for a future article on Phoronix. Bare Metal Host: Processor: Intel Core i7-6800K @ 3.80GHz (12 Cores), Motherboard: MSI X99A WORKSTATION (MS-7A54) v1.0, Chipset: Intel Xeon E7 v4/Xeon, Memory: 16384MB, Disk: 120GB Samsung SSD 850 + 4 x 120GB TOSHIBA-TR150, Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X 12258MB, Audio: Realtek ALC1150, Monitor: ASUS PB278, Network: Intel Connection OS: Ubuntu 16.10, Kernel: 4.8.0-27-generic (x86_64), Desktop: Unity 7.5.0, Display Server: X Server 1.18.4, Display Driver: nouveau 1.0.12, OpenGL: 3.3 Mesa 12.0.3 Gallium 0.4, Compiler: GCC 6.2.0 20161005, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 2560x1440 ubuntu: Processor: Intel Core i7-6800K @ 3.80GHz (12 Cores), Motherboard: MSI X99A WORKSTATION (MS-7A54) v1.0, Memory: 16384MB, Disk: 120GB Samsung SSD 850 + 4 x 120GB TOSHIBA-TR150, Graphics: 12288MB, Audio: Realtek ALC1150, Monitor: ASUS PB278 OS: Ubuntu 16.04.1 LTS, Kernel: 4.8.0-27-generic (x86_64), Compiler: GCC 5.4.0 20160609, File-System: aufs, Screen Resolution: 2560x1440, System Layer: docker clearlinux: Processor: Intel Core i7-6800K @ 3.80GHz (12 Cores), Motherboard: MSI X99A WORKSTATION (MS-7A54) v1.0, Memory: 16384MB, Disk: 120GB Samsung SSD 850 + 4 x 120GB TOSHIBA-TR150, Graphics: 12288MB, Audio: Realtek ALC1150, Monitor: ASUS PB278 OS: Clear Linux 11660, Kernel: 4.8.0-27-generic (x86_64), Vulkan: 1.0.3, Compiler: GCC 6.2.0 + Clang 3.9.0 + LLVM 3.9.0, File-System: aufs, Screen Resolution: 2560x1440 centos: Processor: Intel Core i7-6800K @ 3.80GHz (12 Cores), Motherboard: MSI X99A WORKSTATION (MS-7A54) v1.0, Memory: 16384MB, Disk: 120GB Samsung SSD 850 + 4 x 120GB TOSHIBA-TR150, Graphics: 12288MB, Audio: Realtek ALC1150 OS: CentOS Linux 7, Kernel: 4.8.0-27-generic (x86_64), Compiler: GCC 4.8.5 20150623, File-System: aufs, Screen Resolution: 2560x1440 debian: Processor: Intel Core i7-6800K @ 3.80GHz (12 Cores), Motherboard: MSI X99A WORKSTATION (MS-7A54) v1.0, Memory: 16384MB, Disk: 120GB Samsung SSD 850 + 4 x 120GB TOSHIBA-TR150, Graphics: 12288MB, Audio: Realtek ALC1150 OS: Debian GNU/Linux 8, Kernel: 4.8.0-27-generic (x86_64), Compiler: GCC 4.9.2, File-System: aufs, Screen Resolution: 2560x1440 alpine: Processor: Intel Core i7-6800K @ 3.80GHz (12 Cores), Motherboard: MSI X99A WORKSTATION (MS-7A54) v1.0, Memory: 16384MB, Disk: 120GB Samsung SSD 850 + 4 x 120GB TOSHIBA-TR150, Graphics: 12288MB, Audio: Realtek ALC1150 OS: Alpine Linux v3.4 3.4.4, Kernel: 4.8.0-27-generic (x86_64), Desktop: GNOME Shell, Display Server: Wayland Weston + SurfaceFlinger + GNOME Shell Wayland, Compiler: GCC 5.3.0, File-System: AuFS, Screen Resolution: 2560x1440 SQLite 3.8.10.2 Test Target: Default Test Directory Seconds < Lower Is Better Bare Metal Host . 25.59 |================================================== ubuntu .......... 27.52 |====================================================== clearlinux ...... 25.92 |=================================================== centos .......... 27.33 |====================================================== debian .......... 27.38 |====================================================== alpine .......... 27.30 |====================================================== Dolfyn 0.527 Computational Fluid Dynamics Seconds < Lower Is Better Bare Metal Host . 21.28 |================================================== ubuntu .......... 22.96 |===================================================== clearlinux ...... 20.85 |================================================= debian .......... 23.19 |====================================================== alpine .......... 22.43 |==================================================== FFTW 3.3.4 Build: Float + SSE - Size: 2D FFT Size 4096 Mflops > Higher Is Better Bare Metal Host . 13132 |====================================================== ubuntu .......... 13185 |====================================================== clearlinux ...... 13152 |====================================================== centos .......... 13088 |====================================================== debian .......... 13028 |===================================================== alpine .......... 13088 |====================================================== Timed HMMer Search 2.3.2 Pfam Database Search Seconds < Lower Is Better Bare Metal Host . 6.97 |==================================== ubuntu .......... 10.55 |====================================================== centos .......... 7.48 |====================================== debian .......... 7.00 |==================================== alpine .......... 8.20 |========================================== TSCP 1.81 AI Chess Performance Nodes Per Second > Higher Is Better Bare Metal Host . 1214506 |================================================== ubuntu .......... 1250486 |=================================================== clearlinux ...... 1268619 |==================================================== debian .......... 1223285 |================================================== alpine .......... 1243777 |=================================================== John The Ripper 1.8.0 Test: Blowfish Real C/S > Higher Is Better Bare Metal Host . 10353 |====================================================== ubuntu .......... 10128 |===================================================== clearlinux ...... 5891 |=============================== centos .......... 7492 |======================================= debian .......... 9862 |=================================================== alpine .......... 10020 |==================================================== Himeno Benchmark 3.0 Poisson Pressure Solver MFLOPS > Higher Is Better Bare Metal Host . 2072.71 |================================================ ubuntu .......... 2003.65 |============================================== clearlinux ...... 2244.39 |==================================================== debian .......... 2005.56 |============================================== alpine .......... 1564.70 |==================================== Timed Linux Kernel Compilation 4.3 Time To Compile Seconds < Lower Is Better ubuntu . 74.85 |================================================ centos . 74.77 |================================================ debian . 81.15 |==================================================== alpine . 99.00 |=============================================================== Timed PHP Compilation 5.2.9 Time To Compile Seconds < Lower Is Better Bare Metal Host . 19.71 |====================================== ubuntu .......... 20.88 |======================================== clearlinux ...... 28.10 |====================================================== debian .......... 21.48 |========================================= C-Ray 1.1 Total Time Seconds < Lower Is Better Bare Metal Host . 15.57 |=================================================== ubuntu .......... 15.59 |=================================================== clearlinux ...... 16.54 |====================================================== centos .......... 15.94 |==================================================== debian .......... 15.60 |=================================================== alpine .......... 15.60 |=================================================== FLAC Audio Encoding 1.3.1 WAV To FLAC Seconds < Lower Is Better Bare Metal Host . 6.34 |============================================= ubuntu .......... 6.52 |=============================================== clearlinux ...... 6.34 |============================================= centos .......... 7.69 |======================================================= debian .......... 6.44 |============================================== alpine .......... 6.54 |=============================================== PostgreSQL pgbench 9.4.3 Scaling: Mostly RAM - Test: Normal Load - Mode: Read Write TPS > Higher Is Better Bare Metal Host . 3147.12 |==================================================== ubuntu .......... 3119.85 |==================================================== debian .......... 3077.93 |=================================================== Redis 3.0.1 Test: GET Requests Per Second > Higher Is Better Bare Metal Host . 2025733.91 |=============================================== ubuntu .......... 1998103.08 |=============================================== clearlinux ...... 2095210.68 |================================================= centos .......... 1916026.79 |============================================= debian .......... 1706732.23 |======================================== Redis 3.0.1 Test: SET Requests Per Second > Higher Is Better Bare Metal Host . 1561907.13 |================================================= ubuntu .......... 1381204.19 |=========================================== clearlinux ...... 1548215.34 |================================================= centos .......... 1450378.91 |============================================== debian .......... 1371772.56 |===========================================