Using RabbitMQ in for communication between different Docker container

Question

I want to communicate between 2 apps stored in different docker containers, both part of the same docker network. I'll be using a message queue for this ( RabbitMQ )

Should I make a 3rd Docker container that will run as my RabbitMQ server, and then just make a channel on it for those 2 specific containers ? So that later on I can make more channels if I need for example a 3rd app that needs to communicate with the other 2?

Regards!

Answer 1

Yes, it is the best way to utilize containers, and it will allow you to scale, also you can use the official RabbitMQ container and concentrate on your application.

Answer 2

If you started using containers, than it's the right way to go. But if you your app is deployed in cloud (AWS, Azure and so on) it's better to use cloud queue service which is already configured, is updated automatically, has monitoring and so on.

I'd like also to point out that docker containers it's only a way to deploy your application components. Application shouldn't take care about how your components (services, dbs, queues and so on) are deployed. For app service a message queue is simply a service located somewhere, accessible by connection parameters.