@tmick Thanks for reading and for the nudge. This one was a first-step/intro, so I skipped the VM or jail comparison. That deserves its own follow-up.
Short version: Docker lands between a full VM and a chroot or jail. You get clean dependency isolation, reproducible images, and easy portability without running a second OS per service. Compared to jails, you also get a standard workflow, simple networking, and images you can move between hosts. On a single box with multiple services, that convenience adds up fast.
If you spin up Docker, let us know your thoughts.