XenonStack Recommends

Kubernetes

Google Kubernetes Engine: Transforming Your Management Strategy

Gursimran Singh | 23 September 2024

Google Kubernetes Engine: Transforming Your Management Strategy
8:29
Google Kubernetes Engine and Anthos Platform

What is Google Kubernetes Engine?

Google Kubernetes Engine offers a managed environment for deploying, managing and scaling containerized applications on Google infrastructure. Kubernetes was released as an open source in 2014; till now, it has become the most popular answer to handle containerized workloads anywhere. It provides automated container orchestration and efficient machine management and also improves reliability, and decreases the time and resources attributed to DevOps.

While deploying the containerized  applications at scale, Software teams require a system to fulfill automatically:

  1. Containers and images deployment to the environment.
  2. Manage the scale of containers and node clusters based on demand.
  3. Balancing of resources in containers and node clusters.
  4. Communication across the cluster.
  5. Traffic management for services.

Kubernetes builds on 15 years of running Google's containerized workloads and the valuable contributions from the big open-source community. Google donated it as the founding project to the Cloud Native Computing Foundation(CNCF) from the evolution of the open-source community. This article will overview deploying containerized applications with Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE).

Serverless Framework is serverless computing to build and run applications and services without thinking about the servers. Click to explore about, Kubeless - Kubernetes Native Serverless Framework

What are the Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) Platforms?

There are two services or products of google that are currently ruling the market -

Google Kubernetes Engine (Managed Kubernetes in the cloud)

GKE is a managed and production-ready environment for deploying containerized applications. It brings the latest innovations of google in Developer productivity, resource efficiency, automated operations, and open-source flexibility to accelerate time to market. Google's Kubernetes engine was launched in the year of 2015. It is built on Google's experience of running services like Gmail and YouTube in a container for over 12 years. It allows us to get up and run with Kubernetes in no time by illuminating the need to install, manage, and operate our own Kubernetes cluster. It has many features as:

1. Deploy a Wide Variety of Applications

Google's Kubernetes Engine enables rapid application development and iteration by making it easy to deploy, update, and manage users' applications and services. Kubernetes Engine isn't just for stateless applications either; we can also attach persistent storage and also can run a database in the cluster.

It is also a provision and manages the underlying cloud resources automatically. The support of hardware accelerators also makes it easier to run Machine Learning, General Purpose GPU, High-Performance Computing, and other workloads that benefit from specialized hardware accelerators.

2. Operate Seamlessly with High Availability

We can also control our environment from the built-in Kubernetes Engine dashboard in Google Cloud console. It also has routine health checks to detect and replace hung or crashed applications inside your deployments. Container replication strategies, monitoring, and automated repairs help ensure that your services are highly available and offer a seamless experience.

3. Scale Effortlessly to Meet Demand

Kubernetes Engine autoscaling allows handling increased user demand for your services, keeping them available when it matters most.

4. Migrate existing VMs directly into containers

Use Migrate for Anthos to convert and move workloads directly into the containers in Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE). Target workloads can include physical servers and VMs running on-premises, in Compute Engine, or in other clouds, giving the user the flexibility to transform your existing infrastructure with ease.

5. Run Securely on Google's Network

With the help of Google's Kubernetes Engine, users can Connect to and isolate clusters. It didn't depend on the user's location, providing fine-grained network policies using Global Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) in Google Cloud.

Running Anthos on-premises (Manage and Build a modern hybrid

Applications on existing VMware environments) Anthos deployed on VMware lets the user take advantage of cloud technology and Kubernetes in our data center. We can get Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) experience with quick, managed, and installs as well as upgrades validated by Google. Google Cloud Console gives a single pane of glass view for managing clusters across cloud environments and on-premises.

Enabling Big Data on Kubernetes is a good practice for the transition of smooth data. Click to explore about, Enabling Big Data Applications on Kubernetes

What is Anthos?

Anthos helps to build and manage modern hybrid applications on existing public clouds or in the existing on-premises investments. Anthos is built on open-source technologies pioneered by Google-including Kubernetes, Istio, and Knative. Anthos accelerate application development and enables businesses with transformational technologies.

What are the benefits of the Anthos platform?

1. Drive Innovation and Efficiency

One of the key advantages of using Anthos is the ability to modernize your applications either in the cloud or on-premises. This allows businesses to increase agility, accelerate time to market, and optimize resource utilization through the use of Google-managed Kubernetes services.

2. Seamless Migration and Transformation

With Anthos, you can seamlessly migrate your workloads and convert them directly into containers using the Migrate for Anthos feature. This includes physical servers and VMs running on-premises, in Compute Engine, or even on other cloud platforms. This flexibility enables you to modernize your infrastructure without any disruptions.

3. Enhanced Policy and Security Automation

Anthos provides a service-centric view of your infrastructure, allowing you to automate policies and enhance security at scale. By managing your applications through Anthos, you can reduce the time spent on manual management tasks and gain greater control, consistency, and awareness of your system.

4. Take your business to the next level with Anthos

Anthos offers a comprehensive approach to modernizing and managing your applications. Whether you choose to modernize in place or migrate to containers, Anthos empowers your business with increased efficiency, agility, and control. Discover the full potential of Google Cloud offerings and unlock new possibilities for innovation and growth.

An open-source container orchestration engine and also an abstraction layer for managing full-stack operations of hosts and containers. Click to explore about, Kubernetes Architecture and its Components

What are the benefits of On-premises Containers?

1. Consistent Experience

Maintain consistent environments by ensuring the same version, operating system, runtime, and add-ons are in sync between Anthos deployed on VMware in the cloud environment or on-premises.

2. Secured Clusters

Always stay up to date with the latest version and security patches that are thoroughly tested and validated by Google. Upgrade seamlessly and without any downtime.

3. Centralized Multi-Cluster Management

Effortlessly monitor, manage, and enforce policies across all Kubernetes Engine clusters, whether they are in the cloud or on-premises, using the Google Cloud Console. Achieve greater agility, scalability, and control in your microservices architecture.

A Comprehensive Approach to Google Anthos

GKE Enterprises can enable increased elasticity and scalable performance for their Kubernetes clusters and Manage Kubernetes in the cloud. To learn more about Google Cloud Offerings, we recommend taking the following steps -