Photo by the Author
# Introduction
Before jumping into the projects, let's clarify what Docker is and why people care about it. Docker packages an application and everything it needs into a container. The container is a lightweight, one-size-fits-all solution. No “works on my machine” issues.. If it works on your laptop, it works the same way on a server or in the cloud. Developers love that because sharing code becomes simple and predictable. In this “5 Fun Projects” series, we focus on learning by doing. Every project teaches one basic Docker skill. Eventually, you won't just know Docker in theory – you'll understand how to use it.
# 1. Robust Website Hosting with Nginx and Docker
This video by Techdox shows you how to host a website using Nginx in Docker. You install a web server, add your site files, and run everything in one container. The lesson goes through simple creation Dockerfile (or Docker Compose), sets up Nginx to run your pages, and starts a container to get the site live. There is no need to install Nginx on your machine because everything runs inside Docker. This keeps the setup clean and reproducible.
# 2. Docker Applications for Multiple Containers with Docker Compose
This video shows how you can use Docker Compose to run two services together: a Python Flask backend and a Redis database. All service configurations, including properties, ports, and connections, are defined in one docker-compose.yml file. You start everything with one command, docker compose up. Containers communicate automatically, and local settings stay in one place. This makes it easy to deploy and manage an application on any machine while providing a practical example of managing multiple services in Docker.
# 3. One Database Shared by Multiple Containers
In this One Database for Multiple Docker container Services video, the author shows how to run a single database container and let multiple application containers connect to it. You set up MySQL or another database once in Docker, and each service runs in its own container but connects to the same database via a shared Docker network or appropriate port map. You learn how to configure a network, expose a database port, and connect containers for secure communication. This approach helps save resources by consolidating databases and teaches when a shared database performs better in different scenarios.
# 4. Automatic Continuous Integration with Jenkins on Docker
These videos show how to build a continuous integration (CI) pipeline using Jenkins within Docker to automatically create Docker images when code changes. The first video, Build & Push React Docker Image with Jenkins Pipeline, walks you through setting up a Jenkins container, creating a pipeline to pull source code, building a Docker image, and optionally running tests or pushing the image to a registry. The second video, Automated CI with Jenkins on Docker to Build Docker Images, focuses on the React app, showing how to connect Jenkins to a source repository, build and tag Docker images, and push them automatically. Both studies show that installing Jenkins containers keeps your build environment isolated, reproducible, and consistent. Once set up, every code update creates a new build, making deployment reliable and automatic.
# 5. Logging and Docker monitoring
These videos show how to build a full virtual stack using Docker. Prometheus collects system and container metrics. Loki keeps the logs. Grafana shows everything on real-time dashboards. In the first video, Loki, Prometheus, Grafana and Docker: Logging and Monitoring, you'll learn how to configure Docker for each service, connect it properly, and connect metrics and logs to see how your containers are performing. The second video, Server Monitoring: Prometheus and Grafana Tutorial, focuses on monitoring servers or containers using Prometheus and Grafana in a portable, scalable setup. It shows how to configure Prometheus as Grafana's data source, set up metrics endpoints, and create dashboards to track CPU, memory, and container performance. Both methods rely on containerization, which makes the stack easy to run, replicable, and extensible on any machine.
# Wrapping up
These five projects build your Docker skills one layer at a time. You host the website, connect multiple resources, share databases, develop builds, and monitor everything. Each project provides practical skills that you can use in a real job. Now is your chance to try these projects and test Docker yourself.
Kanwal Mehreen is a machine learning engineer and technical writer with a deep passion for data science and the intersection of AI and medicine. He co-authored the ebook “Increasing Productivity with ChatGPT”. As a Google Generation Scholar 2022 for APAC, he strives for diversity and academic excellence. He has also been recognized as a Teradata Diversity in Tech Scholar, a Mitacs Globalink Research Scholar, and a Harvard WeCode Scholar. Kanwal is a passionate advocate for change, having founded FEMCodes to empower women in STEM fields.
