A container orchestration system initially developed by Google, Kubernetes is one of the top-rated management softwares that runs on an open-source platform. Kubernetes’ (also referred to as K8s or Kube) primary functions include deploying, managing, and scaling containerized applications across the board.

This article will closely examine how K8s works and, more importantly, why it’s the best and go-to choice for modern software development worldwide.

Container orchestration and the benefits of Kubernetes

It’s crucial to understand what containers and container orchestration entail to ascertain the reach and scope of Kubernetes as a foundational building block of software development.

Container orchestration involves the management of applications that are built primarily on self-reliant runtimes known as containers. Having found increased popularity since the Docker project that began in 2013, containerized apps soon ran into issues when it came to scalability.

Enter Kubernetes: the open-source system for automating deployment proved to be successful at handling large volumes at a massive scale, making it a key player in what has now been dubbed the ‘container revolution.’

Currently maintained by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), Kubernetes statistics from ContainIQ suggest that 96% of respondents in a 2021 survey reported evaluating or using the software, while 3.9 million developers utilized Kubernetes regularly.

Moreover, a Red Hat survey from 2021 revealed that over 80% of leaders in the IT industry agreed that Kubernetes was “extremely important” to cloud provider integrations and cloud-native application strategies.

How the Kubernetes architecture works

As mentioned earlier, Kubernetes’ allows for large-scale deployment and management of multi-container apps. Kubernetes for app development is often used with Docker, the most popular containerization platform. However, most Open Container Initiative (OCI) systems are also compatible with Kubernetes.

Thanks to the platform being on the open-source model, accessibility is not restricted, allowing developers to run and maintain containerized systems in a public cloud or on-premises format.

What is Kubernetes cluster and the cluster API model?

As the name suggests, a Kubernetes cluster refers to a group of machines that run the tool or software, along with the containers that are managed by it. The Kubernetes cluster is the ultimate form of abstraction in which the master (a system with command and control over all other Kubernetes machines within the cluster) takes on the role of control management and job scheduling.

Kubernetes clusters contain nodes, either in the form of physical machines or virtual ones. Abstraction and efficacy, once again, are the name of the game. Kubernetes handles deployment on appropriate substrates, ensuring containers run only on virtual machines when required, lessening the overall load on the system.

Advantages of using Kubernetes

Popular amongst ops devs and software developers alike, despite the high learning curve that comes with Kubernetes, it’s crucial to look at what makes the tool check all the right boxes. Here’s why:

1. Effective app management and load bearing

Kubernetes helps regulate the health of your app while balancing loads, replication, and efficiently allocating hardware resources. Developers have it much easier thanks to Kubernetes doing most of the legwork to keep an app up and running while catering to user demands. Moreover, Kubernetes maximizes attributes like apt utilization of network bandwidth, memory, storage I/O, and managing infrastructure as code. Automating updates and rolling back to previous versions across the cluster is a cinch, thanks to Kubernetes.

2. Deployment made easy with Helm charts

Applications with multiple external dependencies are tackled easily with package managers like Python’s Pip and Debian Linux’s APT. This means users do not have to install and configure an app manually. Helm is one package manager that provides a roadmap or chart that extrapolates how an app or service can be executed as a batch of containers with the Kubernetes system.

3. Simplified secret and storage management

Applications and containers may interact with storage in the same decoupled manner as other resources, thanks to Kubernetes’ abstractions. Containers frequently need ‘secrets’, credentials like service passwords or API keys that shouldn’t be hardcoded into a container or stored locally on a disc drive. Kubernetes has its system for managing secrets natively, but it requires careful configuration.

4. Hybrid-cloud and multi-cloud friendliness

Whether the cloud involved is public or private, the end goal is to be able to run apps from within the cloud itself while avoiding any vendor lock-in, a feat Kubernetes achieves with excellent results.

The final word

To wrap things up, Kubernetes allows applications to be managed in a simple, effective manner with little to no effort required for deployment. Kubernetes provides devs with a wide range of options to suit their needs when made accessible as a managed service, making it one of the most sought-after development tools. Do you need skilled DevOps engineers with Kubernetes expertise to manage your growing business? Contact our experienced team of developers to get the job done. We are available at +1.408.621.8481. Alternatively, drop us an email at team@sdi.la.