Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

OpenShift Container Platform VS LXC

Compare OpenShift Container Platform VS LXC and see what are their differences

OpenShift Container Platform logo OpenShift Container Platform

Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform is the secure and comprehensive enterprise-grade container platform based on industry standards, Docker and Kubernetes.

LXC logo LXC

LXC by Linuxcontainers.org is a set of tools, templates, library and language bindings. It's pretty low level, very flexible and covers just about every containment feature supported by the upstream kernel.
  • OpenShift Container Platform Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-04
  • LXC Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-30

OpenShift Container Platform features and specs

  • Comprehensive Kubernetes Platform
    OpenShift Container Platform provides a robust, enterprise-grade Kubernetes environment with advanced features for application lifecycle management, networking, and security out-of-the-box.
  • Integrated Developer Tools
    The platform includes integrated developer tools such as source-to-image (S2I) build systems and Jenkins pipelines, which streamline development workflows and enhance productivity.
  • Multi-cloud Support
    OpenShift supports hybrid and multi-cloud deployments, allowing organizations to run workloads across on-premises, bare metal, and multiple public cloud providers seamlessly.
  • Enhanced Security Features
    The platform offers advanced security capabilities such as built-in compliance checks, role-based access control (RBAC), and automated security updates to protect workloads from vulnerabilities.
  • Rich Ecosystem and Integrations
    OpenShift integrates seamlessly with a wide range of Red Hat and third-party tools and services, providing a rich ecosystem for building, deploying, and managing containerized applications.

Possible disadvantages of OpenShift Container Platform

  • Complexity
    The platform's extensive features and capabilities can lead to a steep learning curve, making it challenging for teams without prior Kubernetes or OpenShift experience.
  • Cost
    OpenShift Container Platform can be costly, especially for large-scale deployments, as it includes enterprise-grade support and additional tooling not found in vanilla Kubernetes.
  • Resource Intensive
    The platform may require significant compute and storage resources to run efficiently, which can be a consideration for organizations with limited infrastructure capacity.
  • Vendor Lock-in
    While OpenShift is based on open-source Kubernetes, certain features and integrations are Red Hat-specific, possibly leading to a degree of vendor lock-in.
  • Operational Overhead
    Managing and maintaining an OpenShift environment can introduce additional operational overhead due to its comprehensive but complex nature, requiring dedicated staff and expertise.

LXC features and specs

  • Lightweight
    LXC containers share the host operating system's kernel, resulting in lower overhead compared to virtual machines. This means higher efficiency and speed, ideal for applications requiring fast start-up times and lower resource usage.
  • Resource Isolation
    LXC provides a level of resource isolation, allowing users to manage CPU, memory, and other resources per container, which helps in optimizing resource allocation and ensuring better performance.
  • Flexibility
    LXC offers a high degree of flexibility, allowing users to run a variety of workloads, from simple applications to complex, multi-service environments, due to its lightweight nature and ease of management.
  • Security
    LXC provides a secure environment through namespace isolation, cgroups, and other Linux security modules, enhancing the security by isolating the processes within containers from the host system.
  • Ecosystem and Support
    LXC benefits from a robust ecosystem and community support, providing numerous tools and integrations with other systems, making it easier to deploy, manage, and orchestrate containers.

Possible disadvantages of LXC

  • Complex Networking
    Setting up advanced networking configurations can be complicated in LXC, as it may require manual intervention and a deep understanding of networking concepts to achieve the desired network setup.
  • Learning Curve
    For users new to Linux containers, the learning curve might be steep, requiring a solid understanding of Linux kernel features and command-line operations to effectively use LXC.
  • Not a Full Virtualization
    As an OS-level virtualization, LXC shares the host’s kernel, limiting its use to scenarios where the same OS family is required. Unlike full VMs, it cannot run operating systems with different kernels.
  • Security Concerns
    Although LXC improves security by isolating processes, it is not as secure as traditional virtual machines where the hypervisor provides separation, as containers share the host's kernel.
  • Limited Windows Support
    LXC is primarily designed for Linux environments, which limits its usability in Windows-based infrastructures unless used through compatibility layers or subsystems, which may add complexity.

OpenShift Container Platform videos

OpenShift Container Platform by RedHat | Kubernetes Made Easy | Tech Primers

LXC videos

TRIBE ARCHIPELAGO LXC PRESET REVIEW (PHOTOSHOP LIGHTROOM CC)

More videos:

  • Demo - LXC VS INDIA EARL PRESETS | REVIEW + DEMO
  • Review - Watch Before You Buy! Cocraft LXC CS18 - Review [0034]

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to OpenShift Container Platform and LXC)
Developer Tools
76 76%
24% 24
Cloud Computing
0 0%
100% 100
Containers As A Service
100 100%
0% 0
DevOps Tools
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare OpenShift Container Platform and LXC

OpenShift Container Platform Reviews

11 Best Rancher Alternatives Multi Cluster Orchestration Platform
On the flip side, the OpenShift Container Platform is a powerful commercialized tool introduced by Red Hat as flagship software. It boasts a very simple and intuitive user interface that lets you easily create, build, test, and deploy your applications directly to the cloud.

LXC Reviews

Top 10 Best Container Software in 2022
LXC is the acronym for Linux Containers which is a type of OS-level virtualization method for executing numerous isolated Linux systems(containers) sitting on a control host employing a single Linux Kernel. This is an open source tool under the GNU LGPL License. It is available on the GitHub Repository.
Docker Alternatives
The 3 main components of LXC Container include LXC, LXD which is the runtime component, a Daemon thread developed in GO. This component manages containers and images. The third component is LXFUSE. This component manages the file systems. LXC is an older, more popular but a lower level set of tools. LXD component expands on LXC thus offering a better User Interface and CLI...
Source: www.educba.com
5 Container Alternatives to Docker
Next up, 1 percent of containers were LXC Linux Containers in 2018. Nicknamed “chroot on steroids,” LXC dates back before Docker picked up steam. Thus, LXC has a pretty active community around it.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, LXC seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 38 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

OpenShift Container Platform mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of OpenShift Container Platform yet. Tracking of OpenShift Container Platform recommendations started around Mar 2021.

LXC mentions (38)

  • Beyond Docker - A DevOps Engineer's Guide to Container Alternatives
    Working with legacy applications that needed full system access taught me that a different way to do containerization is by using LXC/LXD. The focus in system containers, rather than application containers, can be thought of like a light VM rather than what most consider the typical container. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • Top 8 Docker Alternatives to Consider in 2025
    LXC provides system-level containerization, offering a different approach focused on creating environments that more closely resemble traditional virtual machines. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • RunCVM: An open-source Docker runtime for launching container images in VMs
    What situations would make this better than LXC? https://linuxcontainers.org/. - Source: Hacker News / 9 months ago
  • Top 5 Docker Alternatives for Software Developers in 2024
    Linux Container Daemon (LXD) is a container and virtual machine manager developed by Canonical. It provides flexibility by offering a single process for multiple containers. It connects to the Linux container library (LXC) using a REST API. It is an add-on to LXC, providing more features and functionalities. - Source: dev.to / 11 months ago
  • A Brief History Of Serverless
    Docker introduced their new container technology at PyCon 2013. At this time, Docker containers were just a wrapper for Linux Containers but this fundamentally changed the landscape of computing (more on this later). - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing OpenShift Container Platform and LXC, you can also consider the following products

Docker - Docker is an open platform that enables developers and system administrators to create distributed applications.

VirtualBox - VirtualBox is a powerful x86 and AMD64/Intel64 virtualization product for enterprise as well as...

Google Kubernetes Engine - Google Kubernetes Engine is a powerful cluster manager and orchestration system for running your Docker containers. Set up a cluster in minutes.

Proxmox VE - Proxmox is an open-source server virtualization management solution that offers the ability to manage virtual server technology with the Linux OpenVZ and KVM technology.

Amazon ECS - Amazon EC2 Container Service is a highly scalable, high-performance​ container management service that supports Docker containers.

Hyper-V - Install Hyper-V on Windows 10