Kubernetes
Definition
Kubernetes (K8s) is an open-source container orchestration platform that automates the deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications. Originally developed by Google and now maintained by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), Kubernetes has become the de facto standard for running containerized workloads in production.
Kubernetes manages clusters of machines (nodes) and schedules container workloads across them based on resource requirements, health checks, and user-defined policies. It provides service discovery, load balancing, storage orchestration, automated rollouts and rollbacks, and self-healing capabilities.
Why It Matters
Before Kubernetes, deploying and scaling applications required manual server provisioning, custom deployment scripts, and ad-hoc monitoring. Each application was a snowflake, and scaling meant buying bigger servers or writing custom orchestration.
Kubernetes standardized how applications are deployed and managed. A single YAML manifest describes the desired state -- how many replicas, what resources, what health checks -- and Kubernetes continuously reconciles actual state with desired state. If a container crashes, Kubernetes restarts it. If a node fails, workloads are rescheduled to healthy nodes.
For enterprises, Kubernetes provides portability (run on any cloud or on-premises), consistency (same deployment model everywhere), and efficiency (bin-packing workloads onto shared infrastructure reduces waste).
Key Components
- Pods -- The smallest deployable unit, containing one or more containers
- Deployments -- Declarative updates for pods, managing rolling updates and rollbacks
- Services -- Stable network endpoints for accessing pods
- Ingress -- External access management with routing rules
- Namespaces -- Logical isolation for multi-tenant or multi-environment clusters
- ConfigMaps/Secrets -- Configuration and sensitive data management
How BAG Uses It
We run our production AI platform on MicroK8s with 10+ pods handling AI services, web applications, and infrastructure tooling. We architect Kubernetes-based platforms for clients across financial services, insurance, and technology sectors. Our approach favors simplicity: the right Kubernetes configuration for your workload, not the most complex one possible.
Related Terms
Cloud-Native | Microservices | DevOps | CI/CD | Infrastructure as Code