What is Kubernetes (K8s)?

2 minute read

Kubernetes is an open-source container orchestration platform designed to automate the deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications. It provides a framework for managing containerized workloads and services across a cluster of machines.

Here are some key concepts and components of Kubernetes:

  1. Containers: Containers are lightweight, isolated environments that package an application and its dependencies, allowing it to run consistently across different environments.

  2. Pods: A pod is the smallest and most basic unit in the Kubernetes ecosystem. It represents a group of one or more containers that are scheduled together on the same host machine and share the same network namespace and storage resources.

  3. Nodes: A node is a physical or virtual machine that serves as a worker in the Kubernetes cluster. Nodes run the applications and services inside containers and communicate with the master to manage and orchestrate the cluster.

  4. Cluster: A Kubernetes cluster consists of multiple nodes that work together to run containerized applications. It includes a master node that manages and controls the cluster, and multiple worker nodes that run the application workloads.

  5. Master: The master node is responsible for managing the cluster, including scheduling applications, maintaining desired state, scaling, and monitoring. It coordinates the communication between different components of the cluster.

  6. Services: A Kubernetes service is an abstraction that provides a stable endpoint for accessing a group of pods. It enables load balancing and automatic service discovery within the cluster.

  7. ReplicaSets: A ReplicaSet is a Kubernetes resource that ensures a specified number of pod replicas are running at all times. It helps with scaling and maintaining the desired number of pod instances.

  8. Deployments: A Deployment is a higher-level abstraction that manages ReplicaSets and provides declarative updates to the pods. It allows you to define the desired state of your application and handles rolling updates and rollbacks.

Kubernetes offers many features and benefits, such as horizontal scaling, automatic load balancing, self-healing capabilities, and the ability to run applications consistently across different environments. It has become the de facto standard for container orchestration and is widely used in both cloud and on-premises environments.