Unlocking Kubernetes: Explore Architecture & Key Components

Before we dive into the Kubernetes Architecture let us understand what Kubernetes is. what additional features does Kubernetes offer over Docker if both work on containerization? Or the reason for its evolution?

What is Kubernetes?

Although "Kubernetes is a Container Orchestration Platform" is the definition given in the textbook, this is not sufficient for us to fully comprehend Kubernetes. By using any containerization tool, such as Docker, we will attempt to understand the practical consequences of Kubernetes.

As is common knowledge, containers are transient and have a limited lifespan. Let's say 50 containers are built on a single host, which could be physical or virtual, and one of them uses up all the resources, causing the other containers to run out of resources and die.

Problem 1: As the nature of the container Platform is scoped to one single host, containers inside this single host impact on each other thus resulting in a short lifespan for another container.
Let us say one of the containers is killed for any reason we can't access the application until the user/DevOps engineer manually restarts the container.

Problem 2: Container Platform doesn't support Autohealing - the behavior where the container should restart by itself without the user's manual intervention.

Let us say If the peak usage of an application exceeds the capacity of the Docker environment, there are several steps you can take to address the situation: (1) manually increase the container count and configure the load balancer, and (2) scale-up of containers automatically.

Problem 3: Docker doesn't support Autoscaling. For example, it fails to act according to load variation.

Problem 4: Docker is a very minimalistic or very simple platform which means it doesn't support enterprise level standards like Loadbalancing, Firewall, Autoscaling, Autohealing, and API Gateway.

Kubernetes has evolved as a powerful container orchestration platform, offering numerous advantages compared to Docker. Its architecture tackles the limitations of container platforms by providing features like Autohealing, Autoscaling, Loadbalancing, and enterprise-level standards. With Kubernetes, companies can efficiently manage their containerized applications, ensure high availability, and achieve seamless scalability. As the demand for containerization continues to rise, Kubernetes proves to be an essential tool for modern infrastructure management.

by Sashi Akula