Trench coats aside, I used The Matrix as a useful analogy to explain visualization and containers to a non-technical friend today.  I’m interested in hearing from others if this is a helpful analogy.

Why does anyone care about virtual servers?

Virtual servers (aka virtual machines or VMs) are important because data centers are just like the Matrix.  The real world of data centers is a ugly, messy place fraught with hidden dangers and unpleasant chores.  Most of us would rather take the blue pill and live in a safe computer generated artificial environment where we can ignore those details and live in the convenient abstraction of Mega City.

Do VMs really work to let you ignore the physical stuff?

Pretty much.  For most people, they can live their whole lives within the virtual world.  They can think they are eating the steak and never try bending the spoons.

So why are containers disruptive?  

Well, it’s like the Surrogates movie.  Right now, a lot of people living in the Cloud Matrix are setting up even smaller bubbles.  They are finding that they don’t need a whole city, they can just live inside a single room.  For them, it’s more like Surrogates where people never leave their single room.

But if they never leave the container, do they need the Matrix?

No.  And that’s the disruption.  If you’ve wrapped yourself in a smaller bubble then you really don’t need to larger wrapper.

What about that messy “real world”?

It’s still out there in both cases.  Just once you are inside the inner bubble, you can’t really tell the difference.