What does containerization in computing refer to?

Containerization in computing refers to the practice of breaking applications into independent sections, or containers, that encapsulate all the necessary components, such as code, libraries, and dependencies, needed for the application to run. This approach allows developers to deploy applications consistently across different computing environments, enhancing portability and scalability.

By isolating applications from one another, containerization helps to prevent conflicts and simplify updates and maintenance. Each container can be developed, tested, and deployed independently, which speeds up the software development lifecycle and optimizes resource utilization. This methodology supports microservices architecture, where applications are divided into smaller, focused services that can be managed and scaled individually.

The other options do not accurately describe containerization in the context of computing. Grouping physical servers relates to infrastructure management rather than application deployment. Storing data in cloud environments refers to cloud storage solutions, and creating backups of data is focused on data protection, neither of which align with the core concept of containerization.