Software Container

aka Operating System Level Virtualization

• cf Virtual Machine

Operating-system-level virtualization is a server virtualization method where the kernel of an operating system allows for multiple isolated user space instances, instead of just one. Such instances (often called containers, virtualization engines (VE), virtual private servers (VPS), or jails) may look and feel like a real server from the point of view of its owners and users. On UNIX-like operating systems, this technology can be seen as an advanced implementation of the standard chroot mechanism. In addition to isolation mechanisms, the kernel often provides resource management features to limit the impact of one container's activities on the other containers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operating-system-level_virtualization

see Docker