How many levels

Baremetal to VM to Container

Baremetal is fastest, VM's are nice for throwaway environments w/ customability and well containers do it all with high degrees of accuracy but takes some time to "ENV Var" it up

Docker to Kubernetes to IAAS

I can spinup anything in a docker container, Kubernetes can spin up anything across multiple hosts and IAAS will take my money very easily but I don't have to deal with shit!

Know your Levels

It's great to abstract away, do it as it will save you time. Just know your Levels of abstraction like you would have opened up the Doors of Perception