[Yandex Cloud documentation](../../index.md) > [Yandex Container Registry](../index.md) > Concepts > Overview

# Yandex Container Registry concepts

Container Registry is a service for storing and distributing Docker images.

Container Registry offers a reliable storage solution independent of external locks. In Container Registry, Docker images are stored in the same Yandex Cloud [data centers](../../overview/concepts/geo-scope.md) as the rest of the cloud infrastructure, ensuring high speed Docker image operations and no expenses for external traffic.

To ensure data security, Container Registry transfers Docker images over [HTTPS](https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTPS) using SSL certificates managed from Yandex Cloud. Container Registry also comes with a built-in [vulnerability scanner](vulnerability-scanner.md) that enables you to scan Docker images both upon uploading them to the registry and later on a schedule, as well as flexibly manage scan results.

It allows you to manage the following objects:

* [Docker image](docker-image.md)
* [Docker volume](docker-volume.md)
* [Registry](registry.md)
* [Repository](repository.md)

To work with Container Registry, internet access is required.

Internet access can be provided through:

* Assigning a [public IP address](../../vpc/concepts/address.md#public-addresses) to a VM.
* [Configuring a VM as a NAT instance](../../tutorials/routing/nat-instance/index.md).
* [Setting up a NAT gateway](../../vpc/operations/create-nat-gateway.md).

Yandex Container Registry supports [Docker Registry HTTP API V2](https://docs.docker.com/registry/spec/api/), which means you can run the commands available in the Docker CLI.