What is Kubernetes and why is it so important?

About the last 10 years, behind the scenes, Kubernetes It has become central to the way modern computing is organized. You won’t see it, but these days there is very little you can do with any sophisticated website or cloud service that doesn’t have Kubernetes manage background work. So what is it and why is it so important?

The story began when Docker did it Easy to run applications in containers. Before that, companies ran most of their applications on Virtual machines (VM) on servers, data centers and the cloud.

Also: Kubernetes turns 10: How it led cloud-native computing over the last decade

Containers meant that companies could run programs with many fewer resources, making them much cheaper. Containers also allowed companies to easily move their applications from one platform to another. Before this change, programs were generally locked into their original foundations. With containers, they suddenly became portable.

But this portability, as useful as it was, created another problem: managing all those containers and the services they needed. The solution was an orchestration program.

There were many orchestration programs and there are still a few left. But Kubernetes turned out to be so successful and popular that everyone cloud native computing It is now essentially based on Kubernetes.

What is Kubernetes?

Kubernetes coordinates the operation of all parts of an application for maximum efficiency and smooth performance. In cloud-native computing, these parts are typically widely distributed across multiple locations. An orchestrator brings together all the resources that applications need to function.

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That definition might make you think that Kubernetes is an extended operating system. It’s not. Kubernetes is software that monitors infrastructure resources dispersed across servers. It ensures that applications get the processing power, memory, storage, and network facilities to perform their tasks.

The main technological features of Kubernetes

Kubernetes provides the following four key features:

1. Automated scaling: Kubernetes can automatically adjust the number of running containers based on demand, ensuring optimal resource utilization.

2. Self-healing capabilities: The platform can automatically restart failed containers, replace or reschedule containers when nodes die, and remove containers that do not respond to health checks.

3. Service discovery and load balancing.: Kubernetes can expose containers using Domain Name System (DNS) names or Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and distribute network traffic across multiple containers.

4. Storage choice: Orchestration allows you to automatically mount the storage systems of your choice, such as local storage, public cloud providers, or network storage systems.

Why is Kubernetes important?

Kubernetes is vital for business. More than half (56%) of companies have more than 10 Kubernetes clusters, according to Spectral cloud‘s 2023 Kubernetes Production Status report, and 69% run Kubernetes in multiple clouds or other environments. Up to 80% of enterprises expect their Kubernetes clusters to continue scaling and 85% of organizations surveyed are migrating existing VM workloads to Kubernetes. Here are six reasons why Kubernetes is so important:

1. Cloud Native Enabler: Kubernetes is designed to support cloud-native applications, which are designed to exploit the advantages of the cloud computing delivery model. Kubernetes provides the tools and abstractions to build scalable, resilient, loosely coupled systems.

2. Portability: Kubernetes can run on multiple platforms, including public clouds, private clouds, and on-premises infrastructure. This flexibility allows organizations to avoid vendor lock-in and move workloads between different environments.

3. Ecosystem and community: The vibrant Kubernetes ecosystem has spawned many tools, extensions, and integrations. This rich ecosystem is combined with a strong open source community and ensures continuous innovation and support.

4. Resource efficiency: By efficiently managing container placement and scaling, Kubernetes helps organizations optimize the use of their infrastructure, potentially resulting in significant cost savings.

5. DevOps Enabler: Kubernetes makes it easy DevOps practices by providing a consistent platform for development, testing, and production. Kubernetes supports continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) workflows, enabling faster and more reliable software releases.

6. Hybrid cloud: Kubernetes helps companies avoid dependence on cloud providers by allowing them to build Hybrid clouds based on Kubernetes. This approach can be a real money saver for companies that use more than one cloud.

The future of Kubernetes

As cloud-native technologies evolve, Kubernetes is poised to play an even more important role. In the years to come, Kubernetes will continue to be at the center of software creation and management.

The platform is already expanding beyond its initial focus on container orchestration. Kubernetes is becoming the foundation for emerging technologies, such as serverless computing, edge computingand machine learning operations (MLOps).

Also: Lock down container security once and for all with Rust-based Edera

But Kubernetes is not without its problems. As the Spectro report suggests, Kubernetes is powerful and flexible to a fault. As one IT manager surveyed puts it: “Kubernetes is the most frustrating, painful, and beautiful thing I’ve ever worked with in my tech career.” This is because the platform is very complex and managing it in a secure and scalable way is hard work.

There is a reason why ZipRecruiter reports that a A Kubernetes engineer in the United States takes home an average annual salary of $156,773 per year. And that’s when you can find a Kubernetes engineer. I’ve never met a company of any size that uses Kubernetes and isn’t always hiring more engineers.

Kubernetes will undoubtedly continue to play a critical role in shaping the future of software development and deployment. That being said, to remain such a dominant actor, he will need to evolve. But with him Cloud Native Computing Foundation and so many companies behind the platform, I hope the open source project will overcome the challenge.