What is the difference between overlay2, devicemapper, and btrfs storage drivers in Docker?

Question

Docker Fundamentals — Hard

What is the difference between overlay2, devicemapper, and btrfs storage drivers in Docker?

Accepted Answer

overlay2, devicemapper, and btrfs are different storage drivers in Docker with unique characteristics. overlay2 uses a union filesystem stacking layers with CoW via hardlinks, recommended for modern Linux systems; devicemapper uses block-level storage with thin provisioning; btrfs utilizes a native CoW filesystem with snapshots, each offering distinct performance, stability, and system requirements.