It is safe to say that Kubernetes and DevOps are the most powerful team in the entire cloud technology landscape. The couple runs hand-in-hand for organizations opting to develop complex software and applications. Some might think that both Kubernetes and DevOps come with contrasting contexts, so how are the blend and mutual operability possible. Before learning how Kubernetes fundamental training helps modernized DevOps teams, let’s review the core concepts of each component.
What is DevOps?
As software delivery is getting shorter and the application sizes are growing through an inversely proportional relationship, developers are striving to craft simpler solutions. This is where the DevOps technology steps in to help specifically in supporting application building and delivery. The primary aim of DevOps is to unite the application development and operational processes on the same page throughout the software development life cycle (SDLC) from strategy, planning, coding, building, and testing through deployment, operating, and monitoring activities.
What are Containers and Kubernetes?
Before diving straight into the Kubernetes, it is important to understand the concept of containers. Containers make it simpler for hosting and management of web applications lifecycle within the portable environment. It merges the application code with other dependencies into building components and provides consistency, efficiency, and productivity. Containers are deployed through Docker, a program conducting OS-level virtualization, inside the cluster and consider it as a single unit. Even though DevOps and containers have different ideas and approaches but are spoken under the same conversation. Kubernetes is an open-source container orchestration system used to automate application deployment, scaling, and management. The concept is to allow many containers to work in a synchronized manner while reducing the workload on operations. Kubernetes is equipped with powerful features including auto-scaling, rolling deployment, computer resource, volume storage, and more.
How Kubernetes Helps Modern DevOps Teams?
As per the Cloud Native Computing Foundation survey, around 40% of enterprise businesses have incorporated Kubernetes in production. This indicates the level of preference that Kubernetes acquire and how readily modern DevOps teams plan to call the technology in their processes. Learners can pursue any official, informative DevOps training course and understand how Kubernetes works and complement the DevOps processes for organizational productivity and excellence through the below explained benefits.
Smooth information sharing and collaboration
At the hands of Kubernetes, developers can easily share their applications and dependencies with the operations personnel. This reduces the workload and also resolves the issues associated with various environments. The idea of container orchestration has always been to not only pull both the development and operations teams closer but also strengthen their collaboration and comprehension with each other.
A better response for customers
Developers can use Kubernetes tools to better respond to customers’ demands and queries without emphasizing the cloud for operating and handling applications. In doing so, the manual tasks associated with deploying and scaling containerized applications are eliminated to facilitate software in operating seamlessly at the time of shifting from one environment to the next one. For example, it is suitable to schedule and deploys containers, regardless of the numbers, onto a node (across public, private, or hybrid clouds). While Kubernetes will handle the workload allowing the user to do as planned. In other words, Kubernetes simplifies container tasks such as operations for rolling updates, horizontal auto-scaling, canary deployment, and more. Remember, the point of employing a Kubernetes workflow is to streamline the building, testing, and deployment pipelines in DevOps.
Reliable portability
One of the main strengths of Kubernetes is its portability feature, promoting flexibility for a platform-agnostic at any level, regardless of its language, technology, or the platform itself. Putting it simply, developers can build once, but can operate everywhere; QA testing in reliable and coordinated environments residing between the test and production; sys-admin can configure once, and run anything; and operations team enjoying a comprehensive, single solution to build, ship, and scale the application. Hence, empowering the IT personnel to invest their time and efforts on bugs, features, and provide powerful applications instead of setting up and maintaining the tools.
Time-efficient maintenance and QA practices
The container orchestration platform limits the configuration variables and lengthy setup and maintenance activities. Quite a relief not only for developers but also for sys-admins and other teams! While QA professionals and testers benefit from diminished risks and efficient tasks. Kubernetes intends to enhance the competencies by assuring that the test environment’s system configuration is similar to the production environment. Another major reason the Kubernetes technology is welcomed in the software development culture is due to the rising complexity of the modern software architecture, which comes with various technologies, operates on different platforms, and requires strict follow-ups after each iteration. This heavy responsibility is carried by consistency in the endless loop of environments and technologies. Just a reminder, Kubernetes is among the best container orchestration systems for accomplishing a genuine DevOps-centric culture.
Continuous integration/continuous delivery
CI and CD are often named in the same conversation when users talk about modern development tasks. Both can be referred to as vectors, moving in the same direction but with different sizes. They share the same goals for making the software deployment and release process more efficient and powerful than before. And the emergence of Kubernetes within the container system has considerably influenced the CI/CD process. Rather than moving the code between various virtual machines in different environments, Kubernetes can move the same code across container clusters with little fuss. The older versions worked with a static virtual machine, which is suitable for monolithic architecture, and the container orchestration platform needs a micro-service model. Hence, opening new doors of opportunities in terms of high availability, elasticity, and resource utilization. Undoubtedly, more refined CI/CD processes are out here to do wonders through Kubernetes.
Conclusion
Kubernetes offers numerous benefits related to DevOps workflows, while the above ones are enough to justify the power and impact of this container orchestration technology in the business. Besides acquiring DevOps certifications, learners and professionals can always acquire updated, practical-based information on IT tools and technologies and better understand how to revitalize their skillset and career opportunities.