What Is Kubernetes Architecture - Working & Benefits

What is Kubernetes Architecture?

Kubernetes architecture also referred to as “Kube” or k8s, is an open-source container orchestration platform. It automates the manual processes included in managing, deploying, and scaling containerized applications. Kubernetes architecture is an ideal platform for hosting cloud-native software. These apps require rapid scaling, like real-time data streaming.  Kubernetes was created and designed by engineers at Google. Google, one of the early contributors to Linux container technology, has stated how they run everything in containers. 

The internal platform of Google, called Borg, generates more than two billion container deployments a week. Borg was the predecessor to Kubernetes It helped in learning various lessons which became the primary influence behind the technology of Kubernetes. The first company to work with Google on Kubernetes, even before its launch was Red Hat. It became the second leading contributor to the project of Kubernetes. The newly formed Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) was given the Kubernetes project by Google in 2015.

What Can You Do With Kubernetes Architecture?

The special attribute of Kubernetes architecture is that it gives you a platform to schedule and run containers on clusters of virtual machines (VMs). This advantage helps you even if you are optimizing app development for the cloud. Thus, Kubernetes architecture helps you to rely on a container-based infrastructure in a production environment. The developers can make use of the Kubernetes patterns to create cloud-native apps. Patterns are defined as the tools used by a Kubernetes developer to create container-based applications and services.

You can perform the following functions using Kubernetes architecture components-

1. Maximize the resources needed to run your apps by making better use of hardware.
2. Automate application deployments and updates.
3. Mount storage to run stateful apps.
4. Use the features of auto-placement, auto-scaling, auto replication, and auto restart to health check and self-heal your apps.

However, you should know that Kubernetes relies on different projects to provide orchestrated services. The addition of several open-source projects can help you to realize the power of Kubernetes. 

Language of Kubernetes Architecture 

The specific language of Kubernetes architecture can act as a barrier to entry. So, here are some common terms that can help you to better understand Kubernetes –

1. Control plane– Control plane is where all task assignments originate. It is the collection of processes that control Kubernetes nodes.

2. Nodes– The nodes are the machines, which perform the tasks assigned to them by the control plane.

3. Pod– A pod is a group of one or more containers that are deployed to a single node. The different containers in a pod have a common IP address, hostname, IPC, and other resources.

Working of Kubernetes Architecture 

A Kubernetes cluster has two parts, the control plane, and the nodes. A node can have either a physical or virtual machine. The pods are made up of containers and the node runs them. Kubernetes interacts with pods of containers running on the nodes. It also runs on top of an operating system like the Red Hat Enterprise Linux. An administrator like the DevOps team gives commands to the Kubernetes control plane. It then communicates the instructions to the computing machines.

This handoff works with different services to decide which node is best suited for the task. It then allocates the resources and assigns the pods in the node to complete the requested tasks. The state of a Kubernetes cluster defines the applications or workloads that should be running along with the images they use and the resources that should be made available to them. It also takes care of other such configuration details.

Hence, your work includes configuring Kubernetes and defining pods, nodes, and containers within them. You can determine where you run Kubernetes. It could be bare metal servers, public cloud providers, private clouds, virtual machines, and hybrid cloud environments. This is the advantage of Kubernetes it can work on different kinds of infrastructure.

Why do you Need Kubernetes Architecture?

Kubernetes can help you to manage and deliver legacy and cloud-native apps. Also, you can deliver the apps being refactored into microservices. The development team should be able to create new applications and services to meet the changed needs of its customers. Cloud-native development enables faster development and makes it easier to optimize existing applications. It starts with the microservices in containers. Production apps have multiple containers and these containers should be deployed across several server hosts. Kubernetes gives you the management capabilities required to deploy containers at a scale for such workloads.

The orchestration helps you to

1. Create application services that span multiple containers.
2. Schedule these containers across a cluster.
3. Scale the containers
4. Manage the health of these containers over time.

Thus, with Kubernetes architecture, you can take steps towards better IT security. Kubernetes also needs to integrate several services to provide a comprehensive container infrastructure. These services may relate to storage, networking, security, Telemetry, etc. With the help of the Linux containers, you can get an ideal application deployment unit and a self-contained execution environment for your microservice-based apps. The Microservices and containers facilitate orchestrate services, including networking, storage, and security. 

With this, the number of containers in your environment can significantly multiply because as the containers accumulate, the complexity grows. Kubernetes also sorts containers together into pods and thus, fixes a lot of common problems with container proliferation. A layer of abstraction added by the pods to the grouped containers helps to schedule workloads and provide necessary services like storage and networking to those containers. Other parts of Kubernetes help to ensure that you have the right number of containers running to support your workloads. The right implementation of Kubernetes, along with the help of other open-source projects can orchestrate projects and all parts of your container infrastructure.

Kubernetes Architecture Components

Thus, Kubernetes architecture is open-source but is not a formalized support structure around technology. Any issue with the implementation of Kubernetes architecture while running in production is likely to frustrate you and your customers. You can think of Kubernetes as a car engine. An engine can run on its own but is a functional part of the car when it is connected to wheels, transmission, and axles.

So, to have a production-grade platform, just the installation of Kubernetes is not enough. It requires additional components to become functional. You will need to integrate networking, authentication, security, monitoring, log management, and other tools with it.

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