A Bind Mount Beside a Named Volume

Both put something into the container that outlives it. They differ in who owns the files, which decides which one you want.

Two ways to keep what a container writes
Compared on	Bind mount	Named volume
Written as	`-v /path/on/host:/path/in/container`	`-v mydata:/path/in/container`
Where the files are	A directory you chose, on this machine	A directory Docker manages and you do not name
Who owns the path	You. It exists whether Docker runs or not	Docker. It exists because you asked for a volume
Moves to another machine	Only if that machine has the same path	By name, with no path to agree on
What it is for	Files you edit on the host and want the container to see	Data the container produces and must keep

Use a bind mount when the host is the source of truth — your source code during development, a config file you maintain. Use a named volume when the container is the source of truth, which is almost always what a database wants.

Docker
Containers
File System