What is a major advantage of using containers?

Using containers provides significant advantages in various aspects of software deployment and management. One major advantage is that they mitigate the risk of downtime.

This occurs because containers allow for applications to run consistently across different environments, ensuring that what works in development will operate the same way in production. Additionally, containers can be orchestrated to automatically restart or redeploy in case of failure, thereby enhancing the resilience of applications.

The nature of containerization, with its lightweight architecture and isolated environments, also makes it easier to update or roll back applications without affecting the entire system. This capability reinforces stability and efficiency, significantly lowering the chances of experiencing downtime during updates or maintenance.

As for the other options, while using containers does often require less hardware due to the efficient use of resources, this is not as direct an advantage related to the risk of downtime as the ability to ensure continuous availability. Also, increasing hardware costs and reducing security threats are not considered inherent benefits of containerization in the same way that effectively managing downtime is.