THE BEST KUBERNETES TOOLS FOR YOUR CLOUD NATIVE JOURNEY

Hi, navigating through more than 450 Kubernetes-certified service providers and numerous Kubernetes-certified distributions can be a daunting challenge in today's dynamic environment. This blog aims to simplify this process by presenting a curated list of the most used and popular Kubernetes tools in 2023.

Translated from The Best Kubernetes Tools for Your Cloud Native Journey by Mohamed Ben Hassine.

Modern software is increasingly running as a group of containers, sometimes referred to as microservices. A complete application may contain many containers, all of which need to work together in a specific way. Kubernetes is a piece of software that transforms a collection of physical or virtual hosts (servers) into a platform, the platform:

Host containerized workloads, provide them with compute, storage, and networking resources, and.

Automate the management of large volumes of containerized applications – keeping them healthy and available by adapting to changes and challenges.

One of the benefits of Kubernetes is that it makes it simpler to build and run complex applications. Here are just a few of the many features of Kubernetes:

Most applications require standard services, such as on-premises DNS and basic load balancing, and are easy to use.

Standard behaviors that are easy to invoke (for example, restart a container if it dies) and can do much of the work of keeping your application running, available, and productive.

A standard set of abstract "objects" (called "pods", "replicasets", and "deployments") that wrap around containers and make it easy to build configurations around container collections.

Standard APIs that applications can call to easily enable more complex behaviors, making it easier to create applications that manage other applications.

The simple answer to "what is Kubernetes used for" is that it saves developers and operators a lot of time and effort, allowing them to focus on building features for their applications, rather than figuring out and implementing ways to keep their applications running well at scale.

By keeping applications running in the face of challenges such as server failures, container crashes, traffic surges, and so on, Kubernetes can also reduce business impact, reduce the need for fire drills to bring broken applications back online, and prevent other liabilities, such as the cost of non-compliance with service-level agreements (SLAs).

Before we discuss container registries, we need to understand three related concepts:

Containers: Containers are a way to run programs in a sandbox environment. This means that the program is isolated from the rest of the system, so it doesn't affect other programs or the operating system itself.

Image: An image is a template for creating a container. It contains everything the container needs to run, such as programs, libraries, and system settings.

Repository: A repository is where images are stored. It can be a local directory on your computer or a remote repository on a server.

Registry: A registry is a repository of mirrors. It can be used to store a single project or a mirror image of all projects in an organization.

So a container registry is like a repository for containers. They store and provide container images that developers need to run their applications.

Containers are like small boxes that hold everything an application needs to run, including its libraries, libraries, and runtime environment. They are similar to virtual machines, but they are more lightweight and efficient because they share an operating system with other containers on the same host.

A container runtime is the software that starts and runs containers. It provides the resources needed for containers to run, such as memory, CPU, and storage. You can't run containers without a container runtime.

Cluster management for Kubernetes is the process of managing a set of Kubernetes clusters. This includes the following tasks:

Configure and deprovision clusters: Create and destroy clusters as needed.

Upgrade your cluster: Keep your cluster up-to-date with Kubernetes and other software.

Monitor clusters: Collect and analyze metrics and logs from clusters to identify and resolve issues.

Scale a cluster: Add or remove nodes from the cluster based on changing needs.

Protect the cluster: Configure and manage the security settings for the cluster.

Managed Kubernetes Service is a cloud-based service that provides a fully managed Kubernetes environment. This means that the cloud provider is responsible for all the tasks of setting up, managing, and maintaining a Kubernetes cluster, so you can focus on developing and running your applications.

Check out my blog post comparing the top three managed Kubernetes services: GKE, EKS, AKS

Automation and configuration tools make it faster to create and set up machine resources, such as virtual machines, networks, firewall rules, and load balancers. These tools can handle different parts of the configuration process or control the entire process from start to finish. Most of these tools can also be integrated with other projects and products in the cloud-native space.

Kubernetes secret management tools help you store and manage sensitive information, such as passwords, API keys, and certificates, in a secure manner. They can help you protect your secrets from unauthorized access and keep your applications running safely.

Package management for Kubernetes is the process of installing, deploying, and managing Kubernetes applications in a consistent and repeatable manner. The Kubernetes package manager provides a number of features that make this process easier, such as:

Versioning: The package manager allows you to track and manage different versions of your application. This is important to roll back to a previous version if needed.

Reusability: The package manager allows you to create reusable packages for your application. This can save you time when deploying new applications or updating existing ones.

Occasional energy. Community support: Package managers often have a large and active community that can provide support and help resolve issues.

Kubernetes' Alerting and Monitoring Tool is a tool that helps you track the performance and health of your Kubernetes clusters and applications. It can collect metrics such as CPU usage, memory usage, and network traffic, and generate alerts if there are any issues. This can help you identify and resolve issues quickly, before they cause an outage or a different outage.

Alerting and monitoring tools are especially important for Kubernetes because it is a complex platform with many moving parts. Keeping track of everything manually can be difficult, especially if you're running multiple clusters or applications. Alerting and monitoring tools can help you automate this process and make managing your Kubernetes environment easier.

Applications create log messages to tell us what they're doing and what's happening. Logging tools collect and store these messages so that we can see what's going on and troubleshoot if something goes wrong. Logging is one of the most important tools for monitoring and managing applications.

A microservices application is made up of many small, independent services that communicate with each other over a network. Tracking allows you to see how each service in your application handles a request, and how long it takes for it to complete.

Troubleshooting and debugging tools for Kubernetes are tools that can help you identify and resolve issues with your Kubernetes clusters and applications. Kubernetes is a complex platform with many moving parts, so troubleshooting manually can be difficult.

Troubleshooting and debugging tools can help you automate this process and make it easier to manage your Kubernetes environment.

CI CD tools help developers build, test, and deploy quickly and efficiently** with built-in quality assurance.

Continuous integration (CI) automates the process of building and testing every change. This helps to ensure that the ** is always in working order and that any errors can be caught early.

Continuous delivery (CD) takes CI a step further by automating the process of deploying ** to production. This helps shorten the time it takes to release new features and reduces the risk of human error.

A mature CI CD system can monitor changes to the source, automate builds and tests, and then deploy them to production. These systems typically include a variety of testing and validation steps to ensure that they work properly before being deployed to production.

Security & Compliance*** helps make your platform and apps more secure and compliant. They can be used to monitor containers and Kubernetes environments for vulnerabilities and misconfigurations, and enforce security policies. In other words, these tools can help you:

Identify and remediate security vulnerabilities in container and Kubernetes environments.

Prevent misconfigurations that can lead to security breaches.

Ensure that your container and Kubernetes environments are compliant with relevant regulations and standards.

Check out my blog about Trivy: Kubernetes Security: How to Scan Your Docker Images with Trivy.

A service mesh is a way to control and manage communication between microservices. They make it easier for platform teams to add features such as reliability, observability, and security to all microservices in the cluster without changing anything.

Service meshes are now one of the most important parts of cloud-native infrastructure, along with Kubernetes.

Here are some of the benefits of using a Kubernetes service mesh:

Improve reliability: A service mesh can help improve the reliability of distributed applications and quickly detect and resolve issues.

Enhance security: A service mesh can enhance the security of distributed applications by providing features such as encryption and authentication.

Reduce costs: Service meshes can reduce the cost of running distributed applications by optimizing traffic flow and reducing resource usage.

Increased visibility: A service mesh can give you a comprehensive view of your distributed applications so you can understand the performance of everything and identify any potential issues.

If you're running a distributed application on Kubernetes, I highly recommend using a service mesh. It can help you improve the reliability, security, cost-effectiveness, and visibility of your applications.

Check out my Getting Started Guide on Kubernetes Service Mesh: A Beginner's Guide.

A Kubernetes cost optimization tool is like a financial advisor to your Kubernetes cluster. It can help you make informed decisions about how to spend your money on Kubernetes so that you can maximize the value of your investment.

Here are some of the benefits of using a Kubernetes cost optimization tool:

Reduce costs: Kubernetes cost optimization tools can help you reduce the cost of running Kubernetes clusters and applications by up to 50%.

Increase efficiency: Kubernetes cost optimization tools can help you improve the efficiency of your Kubernetes clusters by eliminating wasted resources and optimizing pod scheduling.

Increased visibility: Kubernetes cost optimization tools can give you a comprehensive view of your Kubernetes costs so you can understand where your money is going and determine where to improve.

Peace of mind: Kubernetes cost optimization tools can give you peace of mind knowing that your Kubernetes clusters are being managed efficiently and that you're not overspending.

If you're running a Kubernetes cluster, I highly recommend using a cost optimization tool. It can help you save money, increase efficiency, and increase visibility into Kubernetes costs.

In conclusion, this curated list is a valuable resource for anyone navigating the complex Kubernetes ecosystem. As this field continues to evolve, it's critical to stay up-to-date with the latest tools and best practices.

You are always welcome to check back regularly for updates to this list as we continue to refine it to ensure it remains a reliable reference point.

In addition, we welcome your comments and suggestions on other indispensable tools that you have discovered in your daily Kubernetes journey. Let's work together to improve the Kubernetes experience for everyone!