Azure Container Registry (ACR)

Azure Container Registry (ACR) is a managed, private container registry based on the open-source Docker Registry 2.0. It stores and manages container images, OCI artifacts, and Helm charts for all types of container deployments. ACR integrates deeply with the Azure ecosystem — from identity and networking to CI/CD pipelines and runtime services like AKS and Container Apps.

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Why Use a Private Registry?

Public registries like Docker Hub are convenient, but they have limitations for production use:

• Rate limits — Docker Hub throttles anonymous and free-tier pulls
• Security — You need to trust that public images have not been tampered with
• Compliance — Many organisations require images to be stored within their own cloud tenancy
• Performance — Pulling from a registry in the same Azure region is significantly faster

ACR addresses all of these by providing a private, geo-replicated registry with integrated authentication and image scanning.

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ACR Service Tiers

ACR offers three tiers, each adding more features and capacity: