In past years, there has been a massive increase in Docker usage. Companies of all sizes: small, medium, and large, are using Docker. With Docker, you can decouple your applications from your infrastructure, which will enable you to deliver software smoothly and quickly. 8 billion pulls on Docker Hub were reported in November compared to 5.5 billion a month the previous year.

After you understand the importance and usage of Docker and can build an image, you would most likely want to use that image somewhere. You might want to share that image with a teammate or at least get that image onto a machine somewhere else where it can run. Here is when registries come into play.

Why Do You Need a Docker Registry?

Docker Registry enables the user to securely integrate image storage and distribution into their in-house development workflow. Registries make a fully automated workflow without you having to step in and manually do anything. It’s as simple as that. Just imagine a workflow where all you have to do is push a commit that triggers a build on your CI provider. The provider, in turn, pushes a new image into your registry, which can then fire off a webhook and trigger a deployment.

Finding the best docker registry is a tricky task, but in the end, it is worth the effort. Below are the key reasons you need a top-of-the-line docker registry in your development toolkit.

• Streamed Workflow: You can streamline and optimize various internal tasks. This will give you more time to focus on your exclusive application’s testing, development, and consequent deployment.
• Easy Project Management: You can micromanage almost every aspect of your projects, your employees, and everything related.
• Quicker Development: Using a docker registry will eliminate most of the time spent on navigating, testing, and managing. This will allow you to have more time to focus on the development itself.
• Security: If you’re running something critical and want to secure your Docker containers further, a high-end docker container registry is fantastic. 
• Faster Deployment: Deploying the application is equally as important as developing it, and if you’re not using a docker container registry, it could take some time. The application deployment process to Kubernetes and localized development environments get simplified, streamlined, and faster with the docker registry.
• Easier Navigation: Navigating your docker files on the default platform can be challenging. With the Docker registry, you can add metadata and various information to your docker files. This makes searching, accessing, and using them a lot faster.

Why Should You Use Docker Hub?

Docker Hub is a cloud-hosted, public registry that everyone and anyone can access. Users can update the images according to their requirements and upload them back. It is the world’s most extensive library and community for container images, with over 100,000 container images from open-source projects, software vendors, and the community. The Docker hub registry allows users to scan images stored inside the private repositories for vulnerabilities and produces comprehensive reports detailing all detected vulnerabilities in each image layer sorted by severity level.

Some of the main features of docker hub are:

• Trusted sources:  Docker Hub allows users access to a variety of trusted images reviewed for security and quality standards. These types include verified publisher images, Docker certified images, and official images.
• Free Tier: Docker Hub’s free tier makes container repositories’ useful capabilities accessible. It provides unlimited public repositories and one private repository with a maximum of three collaborators.
• CI/CD features: Docker Hub supports automated tests and build triggers as well as third-party services like Bitbucket and GitHub integrations. You can also use webhooks to automate development pipelines. When an image is pushed to a Docker Hub repository, the webhooks allow you to trigger an action in other services.
• Creation of Teams and Organizations: In Docker Hub, you can create an organizational entity and, within it, one or more teams that contain Docker Hub users. This lets you manage access to your private repositories of container images. 

The Gist of It All 

Using suitable Docker container registries, such as Docker Hub, you can simplify, streamline, and improve your collaboration, testing, CI/CD processes, and various other aspects of your application development. Docker Hub provides the user with a free hosted registry. In addition, it comes with the capabilities of automated build and accounts organization. Using Docker registries is crucial as it allows us to control where we can store our images tightly and enables us to own our image distribution pipeline fully.