In the dynamic world of business, agility is a key factor for success. Companies that efficiently manage their software development and delivery can respond more quickly to market changes and gain a competitive advantage. Kubernetes plays a central role here by significantly improving the scalability, automation and speed of DevOps processes. This synergy between Kubernetes and DevOps creates a solid foundation for continuous improvement and innovation in software delivery.
In the following explanation ‘The benefits of Kubernetes for your DevOps journey’, we will show why and how Kubernetes is able to support companies on their way to an optimised, future-proof IT landscape.
What is Kubernetes?
Kubernetes is a portable, extensible, open-source platform for managing containerised workloads and services that facilitates both declarative configuration and automation. It has a large, rapidly growing ecosystem. Kubernetes services, support and tools are widely available.
Kubernetes is a declarative system. This means that in Kubernetes, the desired state of an application is defined by configuration files, usually in YAML format. Kubernetes takes these configurations and orchestrates the deployment of the application so that it exactly matches the specified desired state. In addition, Kubernetes continuously monitors the application to ensure that this desired state is permanently maintained.
The advantages of Kubernetes in conjunction with DevOps
DevOps and Kubernetes go hand in hand. If you look at the individual DevOps steps, Kubernetes can greatly simplify deployment, operations and monitoring. The container orchestration system is particularly useful when an application and all its components must be available at all times without interruption. These are the most important advantages that companies gain by using Kubernetes in a DevOps context:
Advantage 1: Efficient administration thanks to high reliability and stability
As soon as the desired state has been transmitted to Kubernetes, the system independently ensures that it is maintained. For example, if the desired state is specified as always having three replicas in the form of pods for a particular service, Kubernetes ensures that this is always the case. If a pod fails for technical reasons or is accidentally damaged, Kubernetes immediately starts a replacement component to maintain the desired state.
For DevOps teams, Kubernetes’ automatic state maintenance makes infrastructure management more efficient. This feature reduces manual effort, increases reliability and supports continuous delivery of applications.
Advantage 2: Optimal resource utilisation through quick and easy scaling
As soon as an application grows and the number of requests to the individual services increases, scaling must be carried out on the software side. As already explained in the previous point, Kubernetes uses the concept of replicas. The number of replicas responsible for a particular service can be freely selected. So if a service needs more replicas, the desired state is simply adjusted. It is even possible to automatically scale the Kubernetes environment itself. This means that even the largest load peaks can be handled efficiently. This can even save money: when the load is low, the replicas and nodes can be scaled down. If more power is suddenly needed, everything is scaled up automatically.
For DevOps teams, Kubernetes’ automatic scalability means that they have a very high degree of flexibility to adjust resources as needed. This enables optimal resource utilisation, efficient management of peak loads and helps to minimise operating costs, while at the same time ensuring responsive and reliable application delivery.
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Advantage 3: Improved update processes (rolling updates)
Rolling updates are an update strategy that can be implemented by Kubernetes, in which all pods with old software versions are replaced one by one. This means that a service is always available to users, either in the old or the new version. As a result, availability rates of almost 100 per cent can be achieved, despite frequent software updates.
Such a high level of availability would have been inconceivable in the past. In a specific example, this means that if three pods are available for a particular service, one is updated while the other two continue to run. This also allows updates to be tested. The update is first rolled out to only one of three pods and after a test period it can then be rolled out to the other pods. For DevOps teams, the gradual replacement of pods allows the service to remain available during the update – in either the old or the new version. This high availability makes it easier for DevOps teams to implement regular software updates without affecting the quality of service for users. It also makes it easier for the team to test updates.
Advantage 4: Easy integration into automation processes
Kubernetes integrates seamlessly into CI/CD processes, making it easy to automate efficiently. The declarative approach, which uses YAML configuration files to define the desired state, allows developers to easily make changes. For example, updating application versions in the YAML files can be done within the pipeline. These updated configuration files are then submitted using the Kubernetes API, automatically adjusting the desired state and pushing through the update.
For DevOps teams, the easy integration of Kubernetes into CI/CD pipelines makes it possible to achieve a particularly fast flow. This way, as few manual steps as possible are required and applications can be improved and expanded extremely quickly.
Limits and requirements of Kubernetes
To operate a Kubernetes cluster, you need a certain amount of know-how. Kubernetes is a complex system in which it is often not so easy to find errors in the system itself. To take full advantage of Kubernetes, team members should have the right know-how and know the right settings to keep a cluster running smoothly. If this is not the case, unforeseen and difficult-to-solve problems can often arise. Developers also need to have knowledge of Kubernetes when deploying their services to ensure that everything works as intended.
Furthermore, Kubernetes is only really effective when used with containers and microservices. You could put software monoliths in a container, but that wouldn’t be in line with the design of Kubernetes. That’s why software in companies first has to be cloud-ready or modernised and an initial DevOps culture has to be in place before they can operate Kubernetes clusters themselves.
Kubernetes: a central element for your DevOps journey
Just as a conductor leads an orchestra of several musicians, Kubernetes also directs the operation of software containers. It offers many advantages to accelerate and simplify your DevOps journey. For example, there are ways to increase the flow of all processes by easily integrating them into CI/CD pipelines, while also receiving extensive feedback and experimenting easily, for example with partial rollouts of updates.
But Kubernetes also needs to be learned. To make optimal use of the system, it requires experienced developers and operators. q.beyond has this expertise. If company managers want to operate their software in Kubernetes clusters or have a Kubernetes set up, then please feel free to contact us. We can help you with any questions you may have and offer individual workshops for your teams and requirements.
