IT professionals are well aware that Kubernetes is an excellent open-source container orchestration tool for smooth management in containerized applications. Originally designed by Google in 2014 to help scale apps in the cloud, Kubernetes can simplify the management of containers and make the management process more effective and cost-efficient.
Kubernetes can handle the lifecycle of containers, establish and destruct them depending on the application’s requirements, and provide a range of other features. In a few words, Kubernetes delivers essential tools to build and deploy reliable and scalable distributed applications. If you are interested in finding out more about Kubernetes and the benefits Kubernetes can bring to your app, we suggest you keep reading.
What Is Kubernetes And How Does It Work?
By definition, Kubernetes is a container management system that was initially released as an open-source project by Google. A couple of months later, Kubernetes was donated by Google to the Cloud Native Computing Foundation, which in close cooperation with the nonprofit Linux Foundation targets to promote a healthy container technology.
Kubernetes is created by a cluster of servers (nodes), each of which is running Kubernetes agent processes while communicating with one another at the same time. A collection of processes creates the master node called the control plane that helps perform and sustain the coveted state of the Kubernetes cluster of servers. In contrast, the worker nodes are accountable for operating the containers that form your applications and services. In a nutshell, the aim is to achieve good load balancing and profound horizontal scalability.
These days, many services are delivered through the network via application programming interfaces (APIs). The APIs are usually provided through distribution systems running on manifold servers and configurations in different locations, coordinating their deeds across network communication.
These APIs are used regularly each day, so they always need to be reliable and accessible, and they must never fail and shouldn’t have any downtime. Besides, these services are accessed continuously from different locations worldwide, so they should be scalable without a considerable redesign of the existing system.
The primary purpose of Kubernetes is to provide appropriate and stable services to achieve all this for your organization’s application through the potential of container technology and operational processes by automating and simplifying the daily container workflow.
Why Do You Need Kubernetes For Your App?
Now that you are familiar with what Kubernetes is and how it works, we can move on to the next chapter, where we’ll speak about why you need it for the smooth operation of your system applications. And while organizations of all sizes are massively utilizing Kubernetes and container technology, it certainly doesn’t mean that you should adopt it too at all costs.
First and foremost, make sure that the implementation of Kubernetes within your organization’s applications supports your business, operational, and strategic goals in the long run. In the following paragraphs, you will read about the most remarkable features and benefits of Kubernetes and how it can help your business thrive.
Speed
In the past, app developers used to face many downtimes when pushing a particular update. For that reason, updates were usually done after midnight or over the weekend when the overall traffic was lower.
Nowadays, these things go a lot quicker, as you can’t even compare the speed at which you can update your application and deploy its fresh features to the speed using vintage platforms.
Nevertheless, you should be aware that you won’t increase velocity if you begin to deploy new app features with downtime continually. Make sure to update the app without any downtime as clients and users expect your application to be continuously up and running. Besides, make sure to measure velocity through the number of features you can ship per hour while maintaining a fully available service.
This ultra high speed is accomplished thanks to some of the core concepts of Kubernetes, including declarative configuration, immutability, and self-healing systems.
Portable And Entirely Open-Source
Kubernetes can practically be deployed on any type of infrastructure. With Kubernetes, you will be able to run your containers on one or more public cloud environments. You can use the same orchestration tool for all diverse environments because Kubernetes is compatible across numerous platforms.
Besides, Kubernetes makes a multi-cloud strategy and set-up not only possible but also highly usable and flexible. Kubernetes is entirely open-source, which provides its users with even more flexibility.