Provisioning a Kubernetes Cluster

Choosing how and where to run containers

When choosing a container orchestration platform to run containers, we'll discover many options in the Kubernetes space. There are various distributions of Kubernetes to address a variety of scenarios, which are provided through different channels.

Running Kubernetes in the cloud

The complexity of establishing a Kubernetes cluster leads many organizations to choose a managed Kubernetes service made available by a cloud provider. These services allow clusters to be quickly provisioned with preconfigured security, networking, and monitoring. When provisioning these clusters, organizations may choose the size and number of worker nodes underlying the cluster that fit their requirements. Conveniently, the worker node configurations can later be adjusted and scaled as teams learn more about the workloads they operate on the cluster. All major cloud providers offer some form of managed Kubernetes service. For example, Azure provides the AKS for organizations looking to quickly get started with a cluster.

Running Kubernetes on-premise

Other organizations may choose to host their Kubernetes cluster on-premise. In this model, the organization is responsible for provisioning the cluster and configuring it for concerns such as security and ...