Kubernetes

What is Kubernetes?

Kubernetes (K8s) is an open-source platform for automating deployment, scaling and management of container applications. Originally developed by Google and now maintained by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation, Kubernetes is the standard for running production workloads in the cloud.

Why Kubernetes is useful

Modern applications consist of multiple services that need to scale and update independently:

• Auto-scaling: Automatically scale up and down based on load
• Self-healing: Automatically restart failed containers and distribute traffic
• Rolling updates: Deploy new versions without downtime
• Service discovery: Services find each other automatically via DNS and load balancing

Time savings with Kubernetes

Kubernetes automates the operational work that is normally done manually: scaling, deployment, failover and configuration management.

Hidden features that often go unused

Many teams only use Kubernetes for basic deployment, but the platform offers much more:

• CronJobs: Run scheduled tasks in containers without a separate scheduler.
• Network Policies: Micro-segmentation of network traffic between services.
• Pod Disruption Budgets: Guarantee availability during maintenance and updates.
• Custom Resource Definitions: Extend Kubernetes with your own resource types.
• Horizontal Pod Autoscaler: Scale based on CPU, memory or custom metrics.
• Service Mesh: Istio or Linkerd for observability, security and traffic management.

Integrations with other tools

Kubernetes integrates with many other tools and services:

• GitLab & GitHub: CI/CD pipelines that deploy directly to Kubernetes clusters.
• AWS, Google Cloud & Digital Ocean: Managed Kubernetes services (EKS, GKE, DOKS).
• Prometheus & Grafana: Monitoring and alerting for your Kubernetes workloads.