Kubernetes (k8s)
- Automates deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications.
- Provides a consistent, reliable way to orchestrate containers for cloud or on‑premises environments.
- Can automatically scale replicas based on traffic and manage application availability across zones or regions.
Definition
Section titled “Definition”Kubernetes, also known as k8s, is an open-source platform that is used to automate the deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications.
Explanation
Section titled “Explanation”Kubernetes orchestrates the containers that make up an application, offering a consistent and reliable management layer. Users define deployment configurations that specify how many replicas of each container should run, and Kubernetes ensures the correct number of containers are running at all times. It can automatically scale replicas up or down in response to traffic changes. Kubernetes also supports deploying containers across multiple zones or regions and can detect failures in one region and move affected containers to another to restore availability.
Examples
Section titled “Examples”Automating deployment and scaling of a web application
Section titled “Automating deployment and scaling of a web application”If a web application is built using a microservices architecture and composed of multiple containers (for example, a front-end container, a back-end container, and a database container), you can define a deployment configuration specifying how many replicas of each container to run. Kubernetes will ensure the specified number of containers are running and can automatically scale the front-end and back-end replicas up when traffic increases and scale them down when traffic decreases.
Managing availability across multiple zones or regions
Section titled “Managing availability across multiple zones or regions”You can define a deployment configuration that specifies which regions your containers should be deployed to. Kubernetes will ensure containers are running and healthy in the specified regions and can automatically detect a failure or outage in one region and move the affected containers to another region to restore application availability.
Use cases
Section titled “Use cases”- Running and orchestrating containerized applications in cloud or on‑premises environments.
- Ensuring application availability across multiple zones or regions.
- Automating scaling of microservices-based applications based on traffic.
Related terms
Section titled “Related terms”- containerized applications
- containers
- microservices architecture
- deployment configuration
- replicas
- zones
- regions