Kubernetes as a Service: What Does it Actually Mean?
Published: 2020-03-15 15:25:32

Kubernetes (K8S) is an open-source platform that orchestrates container deployments. K8S was developed by Google engineers to orchestrate containers on an enterprise scale. Kubernetes is currently the most popular container orchestration platform. 

Kubernetes features include service discovery, automated rollbacks, secrets and configuration management, load balancing and more.  This article reviews the importance of Kubernetes as a Service (KaaS), and popular companies that provide KaaS. 

## What Is Kubernetes As a Service (KaaS)?
[KaaS](https://platform9.com/managed-kubernetes/) is a service offered by third-party providers that take over responsibility for some or all of the work involved in a successful set-up and operation of Kubernetes. KaaS can refer to anything from hosting and operations to dedicated support.

Kubernetes provides many benefits like scalability, self-recovery, detached credential configuration, progressive application deployment, workload management, and batch execution. However, these features usually require manual configuration. KaaS solutions can handle configuration for you, or at least guide you through the decision-making process. 

KaaS solutions provide the necessary tools to automate tasks like scaling, updates, monitoring and load-balancing. KaaS services that include Kubernetes hosting can also handle the configuration and maintenance of your infrastructure.

## Kubernetes As a Service: Features and Benefits
A small error during the implementation of in-house Kubernetes can remain undetected until production time. The result is often delayed deliveries due to troubleshooting. Delayed deliveries undermine the main reason for Kubernetes adoption—fast deliveries. 

**Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD)**
Organizations have to set up CI/CD pipelines in addition to a working Kubernetes platform. As a result, IT teams need to set up, implement, and manage many different services at the same time. KaaS services can take charge of your Kubernetes management and maintenance. Managed services constantly monitor K8S clusters and display metrics on a dashboard to ensure the health of clusters.

**Monitoring**
In-house Kubernetes requires the entire team to constantly ensure the security and availability of the platform. The natural solution for this situation is monitoring. However, setting up a [monitoring service](https://github.com/coreos/kube-prometheus) can be more daunting than the initial configuration of the platform. This is a huge time drain, even before the team can resolve their issues. KaaS services can efficiently monitor all your clusters and provide a real-time view of the clusters’ health. They can also try to resolve issues automatically.

**Troubleshooting**
Developers need the Kubernetes platform to be highly available. Any error can delay the delivery of a product. KaaS solutions help deliver higher quality services with real-time alerts for issues requiring developers' attention. Managed services should also update Kubernetes versions across all environments and try to resolve issues automatically.

**Kubernetes control plane**
The control plane is a central component of the cluster that is responsible for communication with other worker nodes. The control plane consists of a master node that controls the cluster, along with data about the cluster’s state and configuration. 

KaaS solutions should be responsible for the operation and management tasks of the control plane. Managed Kubernetes services should deploy a Kubernetes control panel quickly and enable developers to easily plug their different environments. 

## Top  Kubernetes as a Service Platforms
There is an increasing number of platforms available depending on your needs. The below list reviews the most popular KaaS vendors.

**Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)**
GKE is one of the most popular managed platforms since Kubernetes was created by Google engineers for in-house container orchestration. GKE is designed for use on Google Cloud, as well as on hybrid environments. GKE runs on the [Container-Optimized OS](https://cloud.google.com/container-optimized-os/) operating system.

GKE features include automatic repair of stopped applications, master nodes management, IP range reservation, the ability to configure private container registries, and integrated logging and monitoring via Stackdriver. GKE also offers high availability, auto-scaling, and automatic updates. 

The GKE platform enables you to create private image repositories via an integrated image builder, transfer microservices with minimal configuration changes, and manage access rights and authentication through an integrated console.

**AWS Elastic Container Service for Kubernetes (Amazon EKS)**
Amazon EKS is a Kubernetes specific expansion of Elastic Container Service (ECS). EKS is built to run containers on EC2 instances across multiple AWS availability zones.

EKS includes automatic updating, built-in security and encryption, and integration with CloudTrail for auditing, CloudWatch for logging, and AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) for access permissions. The service is highly-available, you just need to provision worker nodes and connect them to EKS endpoints. The drawback of EKS is that it currently cannot support hybrid cloud configurations.

**Platform9**
Platform9 is an enterprise-grade Kubernetes as a service provider. Platform9 can work on any public cloud platform, on VMware, and on-premises. The solution enables you to focus on developing applications, instead of wasting time on infrastructure upgrades, monitoring, and management.

Platform9 offers high-availability across multiple availability zones so you can operate without any downtime. Platform9 enables you to manage multiple clusters and their services with an easy to use dashboard.

**Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)**
Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) is a fully managed solution for running containers on the Azure cloud platform. You can provision a cluster on Azure using a command line, web console, Terraform or Azure resource manager. You can also leverage the Azure traffic manager to route application requests to the nearest data centers for a quick response.

**OpenShift**
OpenShift is an open-source platform that can run on any public cloud. OpeShift offers both lightweight and enterprise versions. You can run OpenShift entirely in the cloud with pre-designed container templates. You can host OpenShift on a public cloud as a managed private cluster, or as a private Platform as a Service (PaaS) in private clouds or data centers.

OpenShift includes a software-defined network with an image library of prepackaged applications, domain routing, built-in security, and built-in monitoring with Grafana and Prometheus. You can manage OpenShift through a CLI tool or a unified console and also connect it to different [Integrated Development Environments](https://www.zdnet.com/article/red-hat-introduces-first-kubernetes-native-ide/) (IDEs).

## Conclusion
Kubernetes provides many benefits, including batch processing, workload management, self-healing, scalability, and progressive application deployment. However, small companies or companies with insufficient technical expertise can have some difficulties when adopting Kubernetes. KaaS solutions can help you leverage Kubernetes benefits regardless of your expertise level or company size.