What is Kubernetes?

The term containers has become popular in many companies that have understood the importance of digital transformation in their jobs. Containers help development teams move with greater agility, deploy software efficiently, and become increasingly scalable.

to give a introduction to Kubernetes, the container-centric management software, we can say that it is an open source system for deploy, scale and manage applications housed in containers anywhere.

What is Kubernetes?

Google Cloud is the basis of Kubernetes, which was originally developed at Google and released as open source in 2014. If we refer to the basic Kubernetes concept, it refers to the next step in application virtualization with Google CloudPlatform, and allows the automation, maintenance, portability and flexibility of the software executed in its containers.

Kubernetes is the main system of container orchestration, which manages container clusters across various infrastructures with built-in security, storage and network operations. By automating deployment and scaling, it enables work teams to continuously deliver code and get to market faster.
More and more organizations are making the decision to migrate to Google Kubernetes Engine to be more competitive, due to the speed, security and flexibility it provides.

Why do I need Kubernetes?

Among the main benefits it provides Google Kubernetes Engine, it is possible to highlight the resilience of the infrastructure, the possibility of scaling without changing the architecture, automation and the reduction of time, effort and human errors.

Reduced time-to-market. Kubernetes and containers enable consistent development, test environments, and real-time deployment, and help automate deployment. This translates into huge benefits in terms of convenience and speed when offering new deployments.

Multicloud capability and portability. Kubernetes and containers ensure that applications work largely independently of the environment. In this way, applications can be moved to different cloud platforms without affecting their functionality.

Better stability and availability. Kubernetes ensures a higher degree of automation and therefore greater robustness and less effort in incident management and easier problem solving. Kubernetes also offers built-in self-healing capabilities.

Optimized costs and reduced effort. Kubernetes enables optimal packaging of different container-based applications and thus ensures more efficient utilization and consumption of resources. This reduces infrastructure costs. In addition, infrastructure components can be reused, so operating costs are significantly reduced.

How does Kubernetes work?

To understand how Kubernetes works we must know its main components and the roles they perform within the GKE environment (Google Kubernetes Engine). There are multiple links in the chain, and it all starts with containers being pods, pods being nodes, nodes being clustered, and then Kubernetes.

containers
Containers are software packages that contain all the necessary elements to run in any environment. In this way, containers virtualize the operating system and run anywhere from a private data center to the public cloud or even a developer's personal laptop.

pods
A Pod (as in a whale pod or pea pod) is a group of one or more containers (such as Docker containers), with shared storage/network, and specifications for how to run the containers. The contents of a Pod are always co-located, co-scheduled, and executed in a shared context.

nodes
A node is a worker machine in Kubernetes, previously known as a minion. A node can be a virtual or physical machine, depending on the cluster type. Each node is managed by the master component and contains the services required to run pods.

The process begins with the deployment of the applications in the infrastructure, dedicated to a specific task or process, which once completed disappear freeing up resources. Under this architecture, microservices can be deployed that have a single purpose and that transmit the results to the next application layer, which generates a fail-safe, scalable and flexible solution.

This is how, using this work scheme, it is possible increase the number of concurrent users without compromising the customer experience and without having to perform manual operations to support the workload.

What are Kubernetes clusters?

A Kubernetes cluster is a set of nodes (machines running applications) running in the cloud and giving you help manage multiple containers. One of the main advantages of using the Kubernetes cluster is that it allows you to deploy applications with high availability, autoscalability, and strong consistency guarantees. You can manage multiple clusters from a single interface or from different cloud providers.

When we talk about Kubernetes multi-cluster we are referring to when the same instance of an application (same data and same users) is deployed in several “clusters”/groups of servers for its proper functioning. This serves to:

• Prevent loss of service
• Improve application updateability
• Improve the Operation of the application.

What makes Kubernetes a platform?

Kubernetes It is a super complete tool and offers many functionalities, even so there are always new features that provide greater benefit. For example, application workflows can be optimized to speed up development time.

A proprietary orchestration solution may be sufficient at first, but over time you will likely require significant automation when you need to scale. For this reason, Kubernetes was designed as a platform orchestrator in order to build an ecosystem of components and tools that make it easier deploying, scaling and managing applications.

What can you do with Kubernetes?

As we have seen, Kubernetes allows us to deploy, manage and scale containerized applications, powered by Google Cloud Platform. Among its main features are: the ability to keep all applications in the cloud, its fail-safe, scalable and flexible architecture, and the greatest optimization of operations.

• Cloud applications: Google Kubernetes Engine has a multicloud platform that allows developers to focus on generating value instead of focusing on infrastructure optimization and maintenance.
• Scalable, flexible and fail-safe architecture: Kubernetes deploys applications in infrastructures dedicated to specific tasks or processes that disappear once they are finished, freeing up resources.
• Greater optimization of operations: With the Kubernetes working model, it is possible to increase the number of concurrent users without compromising the customer experience and without having to perform manual operations to support the workload.

What does Kubernetes mean? 

The name Kubernetes comes from the Greek and means helmsman or pilot. It is the root of the governor and of cybernetics. K8s is an abbreviation obtained by replacing the eight letters “ubernete” with the number 8.

What are the benefits of using Kubernetes?

Kubernetes allows to create applications easy to manage and deploy anywhere. When available as a managed service, Kubernetes offers you a variety of solutions depending on your needs.

  Update credentials and application settings without rebuilding your image.
  CI and batch workload management, replacing failing containers.
  Application scaling up and down based on rules or manually.
  Integration with deployment tools for DEVOPS.
  Digital transformation.
  Reduction of Time and Efforts.
  Elimination of human errors.

Main differences between GKE, AKS and EKS