What is the primary purpose of Docker volumes?

Docker volumes are primarily used to persist data generated by and used by Docker containers. This is crucial because when containers are stopped or deleted, any data stored in the container's writable layer is lost. Volumes allow data to be stored outside the container's filesystem, which ensures that it remains available even if the container itself is removed or stopped.

By utilizing volumes, data can be shared between containers, backing up important information, and enabling the persistence of stateful applications that need to retain their data across restarts or recreations. This separation of data from the container lifecycle enhances data management and provides a more resilient storage solution.

While other options might touch on related concepts, they do not capture the core function of volumes as effectively. The improvement of performance, management of networking, and optimization of image compression, while relevant to containerization, do not specifically address the need for persistent storage, which is the primary role of Docker volumes.