Interactive diagram showing exactly how a small-business workload maps across three containerization stages — plain Docker, docker-compose, Kubernetes. Click a stage to see the architecture, what each layer actually does for you, and when to stop (hint: most businesses never need stage 3).
One service running on one server that restarts on boot? Stage 1 is fine. You don\'t need compose, you definitely don\'t need Kubernetes. A single docker run --restart unless-stopped ... with systemd or Watchtower for auto-updates covers 80% of small-business workloads.
Three or more services that depend on each other (web + database + cache, WordPress + MariaDB, Ghost + Redis)? Stage 2. docker-compose is the sweet spot. One YAML file, one docker compose up -d, done.
Multi-node failover, zero-downtime deploys, 10+ services, or ops team already running K8s for other reasons? Stage 3 is rational. Otherwise the operational complexity dwarfs the value.
The pattern that kills small businesses: starting at Stage 3 because someone wrote an article saying "you should be on Kubernetes." K8s is a fine tool for the right problem. Most small-business problems aren\'t the right problem.