What is Kubernetes and What is it Used For?

Kubernetes, an open-source container orchestration platform that enables modern businesses to manage their applications more efficiently, securely, and in a scalable way, was developed by Google and later made available worldwide. Another answer to the question what is Kubernetes could be: It is an open-source platform that simplifies running and managing applications packaged as small and portable software units called containers. In today’s rapidly digitizing world, the ability for businesses to run applications securely, quickly, and in a scalable manner provides a significant competitive advantage. This is exactly where Kubernetes comes in, and everything you want to know about it is here!

Kubernetes, a container clustering tool, enables you to centrally manage, automatically deploy, scale, update, and perform similar operations on applications running across servers. Kubernetes, which allows businesses to run their software more efficiently, seamlessly, and flexibly, provides a high level of automation capabilities. For application modernization processes, you can explore agile, scalable, and feature-rich 100% open-source container infrastructures with the GlassHouse advantage.

Kubernetes helps businesses make their application infrastructures more flexible, reliable, and scalable. The functions of Kubernetes and the benefits it offers to businesses can be summarized as follows:

• Kubernetes breaks applications into components, i.e., containers, and automatically runs, distributes, and manages them. This means your IT team does not have to deal with servers one by one; the system manages itself.
• When demand increases, it automatically adds new resources; when demand decreases, it shuts down unnecessary resources. This way, your business maintains performance without incurring unnecessary costs.
• If any server fails, Kubernetes shifts the workload to other servers. As a result, applications continue running without the customer noticing.
• When you want to add a new feature or fix an issue, there is no need to shut down the system because Kubernetes performs updates in the background.
• Kubernetes can be easily used in your own data center (on-premises), in the cloud, or in hybrid environments.

Kubernetes can be considered as an “infrastructure manager” that enables businesses to run their applications in a more organized and controlled manner. The Kubernetes dashboard provides significant advantages, especially in large-scale environments that need to run numerous containers. Teams utilizing CI/CD and other DevOps processes can use Kubernetes to develop applications more efficiently, run the same application seamlessly in different environments, and more easily implement microservices architecture. The use of Kubernetes can be summarized in the following steps:

Containerizing Applications

In this preparation step, your applications are first packaged into small units called containers. These packages contain everything needed for the application to run (code, libraries, configurations). For example, you can break down an e-commerce application into containers such as “payment,” “search,” and “product listing.”

Setting Up a Kubernetes Cluster

Kubernetes manages multiple servers as a single system, and this structure is called a cluster. A Kubernetes cluster allows you to manage applications running across multiple servers from a central point. In short, it is like the brain that determines where, how, and at what capacity your applications will run. Setting up and using a Kubernetes cluster provides centralized management, flexibility, reliability, and scalability for businesses. You can deploy Kubernetes clustering either in your own data center or in the cloud. Click here to explore GlassHouse Cloud Services in more detail!

Deploying Applications

With Kubernetes deployment, you give Kubernetes instructions such as “run my application with this many replicas.” The system automatically distributes these applications across appropriate servers. For example: “Run 10 replicas of the payment system during peak demand and reduce it to 2 replicas at night when demand is low.”

Automatic Scaling and Management

Kubernetes monitors real-time traffic to scale applications up or down. In case of server failures, it transfers the workload to other servers. In other words, it acts as if your IT team is continuously working in the background.

Updates and Version Management

When you want to add a new feature to Kubernetes, it deploys the new version without shutting down the old one, enabling zero-downtime updates.

Kubernetes Use Cases

The use of Kubernetes means fewer manual tasks for IT teams, increased automation, uninterrupted services for customers, faster application development and time-to-market, and the ability to work flexibly without being locked into a single cloud provider. Additional examples of use cases include:

• Migration to a cloud platform like GlassHouse
• Auto-scaling payment and product listing services
• Deploying machine learning applications or IoT devices
• Simplifying microservices-based application management
• Securely managing CDN and streaming services
• Running big data analytics applications seamlessly across environments
• Scaling streaming services based on traffic demand
• Transferring workloads to other nodes during server failures

We have covered the details of Container as a Service (CaaS), which provides pre-configured IT infrastructure for rapid deployment and reduces DevOps costs, in our article “What is Container as a Service (CaaS)?”