Over the last few years, and here in 2022, it has become clear that Kubernetes is here to stay and only becoming more popular. Initially, it was thought that only the largest of companies could benefit from using Kubernetes. However, in recent years, it has become clear that companies large and small stand to benefit from migrating legacy workloads to K8s and to use it early and often with new projects.
In this article, we explore nine core benefits of using Kubernetes and explain why your organization should prioritize it this year. For kubectl apply you need to know more.
Kubernetes automates containerized environments
Containerization is the future and it comes with many benefits. Containerization is the notion of packaging code with only the OS or operating system, and the required dependencies to create a single executable, the container, which can run on infrastructure.
Because containers do not need a full OS and instead run with a shared OS kernel, containers are smaller, faster, and more portable versus traditional virtual machines, or VMs.
For companies using a microservices architecture, containers are the go-to choice. Kubernetes makes containerized environments possible by acting as the orchestration system. Kubernetes automates the operational requirements of running containerized workloads.
Scaling up and down
Autoscaling is one of Kubernetes’ most talked about and important features. With Kubernetes, companies are able to efficiently scale up and down based on actual demand. Kubernetes has three different autoscaling capabilities:
Autoscaling is important for both end-user performance and the accounting department. Autoscaling is an efficient way to run workloads and can lead to meaningful cost efficiencies which we explore below.
Strong open source communities
Kubernetes was created by Google and donated to the CNCF in 2014. Since the v1.0 release in 2015, the open-source community has rallied around the project with over 100,000 commits by over 3,000 contributors.
Each year, the CNCF hosts Kubecon, the premier conference for the Kubernetes community. At Kubecon, attendees are treated to expert sessions from the industry, opportunities for networking, and of course, a large number of sponsors. It is this vibrant community that has defined Kubernetes and has led to continued innovation and improvements to the core platform.
Cost efficiencies and savings
One of the earliest and most popular reasons to migrate to Kubernetes was due to the cost efficiencies and savings that are possible. Organizations with varying degrees of demand and scalability challenges have found meaningful cost savings with Kubernetes.
As mentioned above, Kubernetes has autoscaling capabilities that allow companies to scale up and down the number of resources they are using in real-time. When paired with a flexible cloud provider, Kubernetes is able to efficiently use exactly the right amount of resources based on demand at given points in time.
Conclusion
With Kubernetes, you are able to use nearly every container runtime with nearly any type of infrastructure. Whether you are running your workloads on-prem or using a public cloud, you are able to use Kubernetes as long as the host operating system is using a recent, typically 2016 or newer, version of Linux or Windows.
