Jun 02, 2021
Alex Hisaka
D2iQ
3 min read
In a relatively short amount of time, Kubernetes has evolved from an internal container orchestration tool at Google to the most important cloud-native technology across the world. Its rise in popularity has made Kubernetes the preferred way to build new software experiences and modernize existing applications at scale and across clouds. With Kubernetes, companies can host workloads running on a single cloud, as well as workloads across multiple clouds. This capability lends itself well to the public cloud, hybrid-cloud, and multi-cloud strategies that enterprises are pursuing today.
Kubernetes delivers great promise for automating deployment tasks, scaling application resources, and operating containers. However, many organizations don’t have a clear picture of how Kubernetes fits into a hybrid or multi-cloud architecture or their managed services. To use them all effectively, organizations need to be able to unify Kubernetes on a single cloud platform so they can onboard, manage, and operate multiple cloud clusters, cloud native applications, and high value workloads with Day 2 consistency, regardless of cloud provider.
Below are the key capabilities you should be looking for in a Kubernetes solution that fits into a hybrid or multi-cloud environment or managed service:
- Observability - centralized visibility of Kubernetes workloads and infrastructure metrics to manage service availability.
- Financial visibility and workload optimization - granular real-time visibility of Kubernetes costs (and the ability to use it for chargeback or showback) and infrastructure insights to optimize cloud infrastructure spend and improve workload utilization.
- Governance - centralized governance and policy administration to create consistency across cluster deployment, manageability, accessibility, and security updates.
- Application management - built-in cloud-native application deployment tools to facilitate ongoing zero downtime deployments.
- Centralized authorization and authentication - single sign-on and Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) to identify users, configure access, and perform compliance checks.
- Cluster lifecycle operations - automation needed to consistently deploy, scale, upgrade, and manage multiple clusters.
- A complete and open platform - integration with other upstream and open source services for Day 2 production, such as security, storage, networking, with end-to-end automation out-of-the-box.
- Portability - ability to build, deploy, and manage Kubernetes and your cloud-native applications on any infrastructure, including the cloud, on-premise, at the edge, or any combination consistently.
- Broad workload coverage - run complex, mission-critical business services, data-rich applications, streaming analytics, and machine learning use cases with the enterprise-grade requirements of scale, security, and resilience.
- Cloud native expertise - knowledge required to advise, activate, and drive adoption of Kubernetes.
- Certified Kubernetes training - training and certification to meet the company’s Kubernetes adoption objectives, which may include hybrid, edge, or multi-cloud Kubernetes.
- Expert support - full stack support for Kubernetes, Day 2 operational components, and a low Total Cost of Ownership.
To stay ahead of the curve, organizations need solutions that are built to keep up with the continued innovation of the open source ecosystem and cloud-native market. Kubernetes on the public cloud has a lot to offer, but can leave a ton of value on the table for the enterprise. How can Kubernetes and the public cloud be made more efficient so you can reap the benefits of both tools? And how do you unify that experience so you can build, deploy, and manage Kubernetes and cloud native applications seamlessly across different infrastructures?
As the leading independent platform for enterprise Kubernetes, the D2iQ Kubernetes Platform (DKP) provides a differentiated approach and unique set of technologies, expert services, training, and support to adopt Kubernetes and the entire cloud native ecosystem to achieve digital agility. For enterprises, using DKP together with EKS, AKS, or GKE can radically simplify the development and operations of Kubernetes in the public cloud for a successful Day 2. When combined, they provide enhanced automation, control, flexibility, and portability to deliver production applications at the speed and scale of the cloud.
DKP with EKS, AKS, or GKE includes:
- A vetted, integrated stack of upstream open source Kubernetes and the supporting add-ons needed for production
- A single pane of glass for multi-cluster visibility
- Critical capabilities to enable consistent multi-cluster, multi-cloud, and multi-tenant management
- Granular financial management to effectively minimize and control the costs associated with cluster sprawl
- Operators for Kafka, Cassandra, and Spark to enable advanced streaming and fast data applications
- An enterprise-ready distribution of open-source Kubeflow to run entire ML and AI workloads in production at scale
- Innovation across across any infrastructure, whether it’s in the cloud, on prem, at the edge, or any combination of them
- A foundation of training, professional services, and full stack support to ensure success with Kubernetes
The combined benefits of both tools include:
- A consistent, unified devops experience
- Faster time to benefit
- Increased productivity and operational efficiency
- Lower total cost of ownership
All of which makes DKP with EKS, AKS, or GKE a winning combination for Kubernetes in the public cloud.
Read the rest of the report on how DKP fits into your hybrid or multi-cloud architecture or managed services.
