A container is a group of stages and links. Containers allow you to simplify and modularize your job design by replacing complex areas of your diagram with single container stages.  These containers are available for both - parallel and server jobs.  IBM DataStage tool offers two types of containers.  Local container. They are created within a job and can only be accessed within that job. Local containers are edited on tabs in the job's graph window. Local containers can be used in server jobs or parallel jobs. Their primary use is to "clean up" the job design.  Shared containers. They are created separately and stored in repository-like jobs. These can be inserted into your job design.