Docker Networking and Volumes

📅 2026-06-12 | 📂 Docker

Introduction

Docker networking enables container communication, while volumes provide persistent data storage. Understanding both is essential for production deployments.

Docker Networks

# List networks
docker network ls

# Create a custom network
docker network create mynet

# Run container on specific network
docker run -d --name app --network mynet nginx

# Connect running container to network
docker network connect mynet mycontainer

# Inspect network
docker network inspect mynet

Network Types

# Bridge (default) - isolated network
docker run -d --network bridge nginx

# Host - use host network directly
docker run -d --network host nginx

# None - no networking
docker run -d --network none alpine

Volumes for Persistent Data

# Create a volume
docker volume create mydata

# Run with volume mount
docker run -d -v mydata:/app/data postgres

# Bind mount (host path)
docker run -d -v /host/path:/container/path nginx

# List volumes
docker volume ls

# Remove unused volumes
docker volume prune

Compose with Networks and Volumes

version: "3.8"
services:
  app:
    build: .
    networks:
      - frontend
      - backend
    volumes:
      - ./data:/app/data

  db:
    image: postgres:15
    networks:
      - backend
    volumes:
      - dbdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data

networks:
  frontend:
  backend:

volumes:
  dbdata:

Summary

Use custom networks for container isolation and communication. Use named volumes for persistent data and bind mounts for development. Compose ties them together elegantly.

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