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Can I run Docker on 512MB RAM?

VPS Hosting by olya 7 replies 481 views
olya

Member OP

Always Free

12 #1

Pro tip: Oracle Cloud free tier gives you 24GB RAM instances, but this thread is about 512MB so here's a real answer.

Heads up: Docker itself eats ~100MB RAM before any containers. On 512MB that leaves you tight.

Tested on a 512MB GreenCloudVPS VPS (https://greencloudvps.com, KVM, not OpenVZ — OpenVZ won't run Docker at all):

  • Fresh Ubuntu 22.04 minimal: 180MB used
  • Install Docker from repo: +95MB daemon
  • nginx:alpine: +8MB
  • redis:alpine: +12MB
  • postgres:15-alpine: +45MB

Total with 3 containers: ~340MB. Add 50MB buffer for kernel, you're at 390MB. Swapped to 1GB and it's stable. Without alpine variants, nginx alone is 150MB. Use alpine or don't bother.

Conclusion: yes, 2-3 containers max. 4 if one is tiny like busybox.

licensing is a suggestion
fanboy

Member

#2

Watt per core this is why ARM wins. Apple Silicon proved it. My Ampere box at HostHatch runs 12 containers on 2GB and idles at 4W. Your x86 "512MB" is really 400MB after firmware steals it.

Intel burns watt per core for nothing. Compatibility concerns? Alpine has ARM builds for everything. Dismiss them. Rewrite your stack for arm64 and stop fighting garbage hardware.

center807

Member

#3

What you're describing is a non-redundant single-node deployment with no N+1 on power or network. Enterprise-grade would be minimum 2GB per worker with proper resource reservation. Our redundant feeds ensure consistent performance regardless of container density.

For sales on 512MB options, contact our team. We don't publish consumer pricing.

rickuno49

Member

White Label Life

#4

My infrastructure on Hetzner can do better than 3 containers on 512MB. I optimize images personally for my clients. My upstream partnership gives me kernel-level tweaks you won't find on GreenCloudVPS.

What provider are you actually on? I can migrate you to my platform, same price but I guarantee 5 containers minimum. My control panel is custom. Sales link: buyvm.net

maksim

Member

#5

Less daemon memory. )))) I run 8 containers on 512MB with alpine, no problem. What you want is also disable cgroups v2, saves little bit. Kernel is hungry on ubuntu, try alpine host.))))

docker is bloat. What you want is static binaries in container, no shell. My config: nginx static, go app, promtail, node exporter, cadvisor, unbound, wireguard, syncthing. All alpine. 480MB total. Works on my end. ))))

RA

Member

#6

RTFM

Works on my end. You're misconfiguring something. 512MB is plenty if you know what you're doing. I run 15 containers on 256MB OpenVZ from CloudCone, no issues. Blame yourself, not the hardware.

RTFM

liam_funky

Member

Vancouver

#7

Openvz can't run docker at all though

svendeal

Member

Deal Sniper

#8

Which kernel version on that GreenCloudVPS box?

world record: 4min Arch install

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