When comparing Docker Swarm vs Nomad, the Slant community recommends Docker Swarm for most people. In the question“What are the best Docker orchestration tools?” Docker Swarm is ranked 2nd while Nomad is ranked 3rd. The most important reason people chose Docker Swarm is:
This also means that containers can be launched with a simple `docker run` command and Swarm will take care of the rest, such as selecting the appropriate host on which to run the container.
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Pros
Pro Easy setup
This also means that containers can be launched with a simple docker run
command and Swarm will take care of the rest, such as selecting the appropriate host on which to run the container.
Pro Communicates with other Docker tools easily
Since Docker Swarm is a native Docker tool, it exposes the Docker API, making it possible t integrate it and communicate with other Docker tools (CLI, Compose, Krane, etc.).
Pro Lightweight
Docker Swarm is much more lightweight than alternatives: Kubernetes and Mesosphere. Kubernetes, for instance, is very complex - it downloads and installs half of the web, where Docker Swarm has much, much smaller footprint.
Pro Open source
Docker Swarm is open source and provides great guides/documentation for those who want to contribute.
Pro Compatible with Docker Compose
This gives you a well-rounded workflow.
Pro Simple, minimal architecture
Being focused on one thing only also has its advantages. For one, Nomad is very simple architecturally. There's only a single binary for both clients and servers, it also does not need any external services for any coordination or storage.
Pro Complex applications can easily be expressed through Nomad
Nomad uses a high-level abstraction of jobs. Jobs are essentially task groups (sets of tasks). Because of this, Nomad allows users to develop and manage complex applications easily, without having to think about the individual containers that make these applications.
Pro Easy to reason about
Nomad gives a lot of output and is intentionally kept simple. This makes maintenance easy and reduces downtimes.
Pro Big comapnies, like eBay and CircleCI use it
Cons
Con If a node dies in the Swarm Cluster, the containers on that node WILL be started on a another node ...
Con Not fault tolerant
If a node dies in your cluster, the containers on that node won't be restarted
Con Bounded by the limitations of the Docker API
If the Docker API doesn't support something, then you are pretty much out of luck when it comes to Docker Swarm, because it won't be supported by Swarm either.
Con Only provides cluster management and scheduling
While other orchestration tools provide much more than just cluster management and scheduling (they also provide things like secrets management, discovery, monitoring, etc.), Nomad follows the Unix philosophy of doing only one thing and doing it well, providing only cluster management and scheduling.