Several years ago, Google introduced Kubernetes (K8s). It wasn’t long after that the open-source container-orchestration tool gained traction. Kubernetes became so popular that large companies are using it now. So, what is Kubernetes? Can it help startups? Read on to learn more.

Kubernetes enabled many companies to develop businesses on open-source projects. The platform is scalable and flexible, so it is easy to see why it is popular. In addition, K8s streamlines the management of containers.

Now the big question is: should startups use Kubernetes? Let’s discuss.

What is Kubernetes?

First off, Kubernetes or K8s is not a cloud platform. K8s is an open-source orchestration platform. It automates the management of containerized workload and services. Initially designed by Google, K8s is now under the Cloud Native Computing Foundation. Because it is open-source, it has a growing ecosystem. As a result, its services, tools, and community support are widely available.

Red Hat’s Gordan Haff describes Kubernetes as an open-source platform that automates Linux container operations. He added that K8s remove the deployment and scaling manual processes of containerized applications. Therefore, one can easily manage clustered hosts running in the containers. In this context, containers are packaged software that can run in any environment.

It is important to note that containers are essential for DevOps. For time-pressed developers, containers greatly simplify the development and deployment of cloud-native applications. And, Kubernetes efficiently helps in allocating resources. As a result, containers are a better and improved way of running applications.

Being a container orchestrator, Kubernetes will automatically inform how many front-end containers are needed. Plus, what these containers served and how the number of resources required.

What K8s can do during the application development process:

• Service discovery
• Load balancing
• Orchestration of storage
• Automate rollouts and rollbacks
• Automate bin packing
• Manages sensitive information and configurations
• Self-repair/healing

Therefore, Kubernetes helps to safely and quickly deploy applications. It will also allow for the smooth release of new features and app scaling. In addition, K8s will limit the hardware usage to resources you set.

Since Kubernetes operates at container level instead of hardware, it is not an all-inclusive Platform as a Service (PaaS) system. However, it still allows features common to PaaS systems as pluggable and optional ones. Thus, Kubernetes provides developer platform building blocks but keeps flexibility and user choice.

Now, the question arises. Should startups use Kubernetes? What benefits can K8s give?

Advantages of Using Kubernetes

More companies, whether in the tech industry or not, are embracing digital transformation. Therefore, the ability to adapt is the key to competent and continued growth. With this, the development of Kubernetes changed how developers deploy software on a scale. And, many companies adapted K8s, especially when doing open-source projects. Listed below are the ways businesses can benefit from using Kubernetes.

Community Support

Among all the container solutions available, K8s has the best support in the community and industry. Its growth is also fast due to many businesses adopting K8s in their DevOps. Many developers and enterprises are contributing to the development of Kubernetes.

Application Support and Features

Compared to other container management systems, K8s is rich when it comes to features. This technology is also capable of supporting a wide range of programming frameworks and languages. Flexibility is one of the reasons why many developers prefer K8s over any other system.

Scalability

Kubernetes also has many scalability features. Since K8s works at the individual server level, removing and adding servers is easy. In addition, changing the numbers of running containers is automatic with K8s auto-scaling features.

Portability

The technology also avoids being locked in with any cloud provider or infrastructure. Hence, Kubernetes is also compatible with various platforms.

Deployment

One of the strong points of K8s is its deployment capabilities. Kubernetes features automated rollouts and rollbacks. This feature also maintains container health. And, in case of a failure, K8s automatically remedy it with its auto-rollback. Aside from these, K8s also offer DNS management, storage, and logging orchestration while monitoring resources. Lastly, K8s also has security features such as Role-Based Access Control, audit logging, and more.

These are just a few advantages that startups and other businesses can get when using Kubernetes.

On the other hand, there are use cases where Kubernetes is not advised to use. If you are running a WordPress site, investing in K8s will be a waste of time. Similarly, a CMS (Content Management System) that gets deployed once in a while doesn’t need Kubernetes. It is also true for businesses writing low-level embedded systems. Lastly, the container management systems are also not a good fit for developing software to interface with any operating system.

Conclusion

Kubernetes is a perfect tool for projects that need or will scale up over a more extended period. Hence, startups perfectly fit the profile of which business needs Kubernetes. As your company grows, you will need to hire more developers and acquire more resources. However, as a startup, you want to build your growing system with less cost and friction.

With all the advantages, it makes sense that e-commerce, a Software-as-a-Service, or similar business will invest in Kubernetes. Also, planning for the future is vital for any startup and means building your infrastructure carefully. So as your business grows, your team will scale up with the help of Kubernetes.

We at Full Scale are experts in assisting startups and other businesses with their tech needs. We can help you form your dream team of software developers, quality analysts, content marketers, and other specialists. Whether you are developing your software or marketing your application, we will help you achieve your business goals.

Ready to scale up your business? Contact us and let’s take the first step towards your success!