what is kubernetes and what is a k8s cluster?
In: Engineering
Kubernetes is a tool that manages containers, typically run by a program called Docker. A container is a small mini operating system that contains only enough software to run a specific function such as Apache Tomcat webservers or other tools.
Ok, you ask, why would you want to do this? Because containers are small and lightweight and many can be produced on the fly, used for a purpose and then immediately discarded. Need to suddenly have more webservers during busy hours? Containers allow you to do that, then free up system resources when you don’t need them any more.
Kubernetes, or K8 as it’s called, is a way to manage these container images. One server, the K8 master, will connect to other computers, called nodes, and create the containers on there as needed. Then when the K8 software realizes it doesn’t need those containers any more it can shut them down and release the CPU/Memory for other tasks. K8 clustering software also will do things like load balance and control security of the clusters. It can also isolate different container types, such as one container for testing and another container used for production work.
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