What awaits you before, after and during the transition to Kubernetes

In this article, we decided to speculate a little about when and why a business needs Kubernetes. How difficult it is to enter the technology, how quickly and how it will pay off. And if you do not want to waste your time, and want to get support for Kubernetes, please contact https://itoutposts.com/kubernetes-support-services/ .

Today, time to market - the speed of bringing updates to the market - is becoming a key factor in the effectiveness of an IT solution. The product needs to be improved every day: add new functions and modules to it, keep documentation and scripts in perfect condition. At the same time, online systems should work smoothly and be updated without affecting users.

Invisible continuous updates are guarded by microservices, containers and infrastructure for their orchestration - Kubernetes (or K8S, it is called in technical circles).

In this article, we decided to speculate a little about when and why a business needs Kubernetes. How difficult it is to enter the technology, how quickly and how it will pay off. Is it worth it and what does it all mean? We do not set ourselves the task of writing a deep technical review. Let's focus on whether the game is worth the candle and what we get as a result.

How Kubernetes keeps systems up to date
The main task when updating an IT solution is to ensure its correct operation after transferring from the development environment to the product platform. And also in the uninterrupted operation of the system at the time of the product update.

The problem lies in the fact that the settings of the development environment and production servers often do not match. Containers solve this problem by combining all software components into a single package isolated from the external environment. This allows you to quickly and reliably deploy applications on any infrastructure and makes it easy to update the system codebase.

 Updates go unnoticed by users by duplicating containers and sequentially redirecting users from one to another. We use Kuberenetes to manage containers (orchestration). Ultimately, it makes it easier to manage the solution, deploy and update, monitor performance, and troubleshoot.

When a company needs Kubernetes
It's time for a company to think about moving to the Kubernetes platform when:

 - The project or system is a significant tool for the business and therefore must be fault-tolerant and continue to work even if some part fails.
 - The system is highly loaded, while it must support quick updates or improvements.
 - The system needs additional power from time to time. And he needs them quickly.
 - And with all this, the speed of delivery of updates to the industrial environment is measured in weeks, months, years, but never hours or days.

You also need Kubernetes as a tool for automating and standardizing your solution if, in addition to the above:

 - There is no isolation between the company's IT systems and each can influence the other.
 - If you need to write a separate script each time to communicate with the parameters of the server on which the system is deployed, that is, you can scale this process only by hand.
 - There are key people in the development team - carriers of "secret knowledge" about the project or system, and they seem to be unique and irreplaceable.

In essence, migrating to Kubernetes is a must for companies that need to keep information systems online 24/7.

Why Kubernetes

Kubernetes is not the only alternative for continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD). But it is Kubernetes that has become the industry standard for managing systems that require high availability.

For us as a developer, the decisive arguments in favor of Kubernetes are the following:

 - The platform is focused on applications, not infrastructure.
 - Kubernetes is convenient both for working with one data center, and with several, distributed in different cities.
 - Easy solution support through clear documentation and an active community.
 - Flexible configuration of different applications, secure traffic distribution.
 - Support for Docker containers.

Summarizing our experience

You need Kubernetes if:

 - It is required to ensure high availability of the system.
 - The system is dynamically developing, and you need to deliver changes for the product environment with your eyes closed.
 - You want to work as a single team from code to production environment.
 - You are making a dynamic, developing system that you will use for years.

Kubernetes is "expensive", as entering the technology will require:

 - Study of related technologies by developers.
 - Revision of the design, development, deployment, testing, environment management processes.
 - Experience in the operation of Kubernetes itself: now you need to monitor not only your system, but also Kubernetes application services.

Pay back Kubernetes very quickly:

 - The procedure for updating the system is much simpler and faster. Developers are exempted from a whole block of labor costs.
 - Each new specialist will be included in the project already on rails.
 - The conveyor will be transparent and automated.
 - The experience will be repeatable by your command for other systems.
 - You will update the system without decommissioning it, which means without stopping the business.

P.S. Action Tip: Divide technology entry into two phases: designing a system with the right microservice architecture and transitioning it to Kubernetes management. Thus, the transition to Kubernetes will not turn into a global refactoring.