Kubernetes The Data Center Operating System

Cloud computing has gained widespread popularity, leading to a multitude of technologies and tools for individuals to familiarize themselves with and manage. The situation is further complicated by the availability of several cloud providers, making the adoption journey additionally challenging. Nevertheless, businesses aim to run applications that cater to their clients, and Kubernetes provides a solution to simplify this process.

Kubernetes acts as a layer of abstraction over both public and private cloud environments, serving as a unified API to standardize interactions with these cloud providers. It functions as a data center operating system, providing building blocks, similar to “Lego pieces” to construct an application. For instance, to run an application, the necessities include compute, memory, networking, and storage. Kubernetes performs the same role as an operating system like Linux, but at a higher level of abstraction across distributed computers.

Kubernetes also offers a declarative interface for defining the intended state of an application. Behind the scenes, it triggers the necessary controllers to determine the steps to move from the current state (undeployed application) to the desired state (deployed application). This eliminates the need for developers to have an in-depth understanding of of the “how”, but can offload these responsibilities to Kubernetes, freeing them to concentrate on deploying applications to meet customer needs.