Overview

Managed Kubernetes facilitates the fully automated setup of Kubernetes clusters. Using Managed Kubernetes, several clusters can be quickly and easily deployed. For example, you can use it on the go to set up staging environments and then delete them if required. Managed Kubernetes simplifies and supports the automation of Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines that help in testing and deployment.

IONOS Managed Kubernetes offers the following:

• Automatic updates and security fixes.

• Version and upgrade provisioning.

• Highly available and geo-redundant control plane.

• Full cluster administrator level access to Kubernetes API.

Supported Versions

Both Public and Private Node Pools support the same Kubernetes versions.

Note:

• You can explore the available releases for Kubernetes. For more information, see Release History.

• You can visit the changelog to explore the information related to your Kubernetes version. For more information, see Changelog.

Components of Managed Kubernetes

The architecture of Managed Kubernetes includes the following main components that collectively provide a streamlined and efficient environment for deploying, managing, and scaling containerized applications.

• Control Plane: The control plane runs several key components, including the API server, scheduler, and controller manager. It is responsible for managing the cluster and its components, coordinates the scheduling and deployment of applications, monitors the health of the cluster, and enforces desired state management.

• Cluster: A cluster is a group of computing resources that are connected and managed as a single entity. It is the foundation of the Kubernetes platform and provides the environment for deploying, running, and managing containerized applications. Clusters can span multiple node pools that may be provisioned in different virtual data centers and across locations. For example, you can create a cluster consisting of multiple node pools where each pool is in a different location and achieve geo-redundancy. Each cluster consists of a control plane and a set of worker nodes.

• Node: A single (physical or virtual) machine in a cluster is part of the larger Kubernetes ecosystem. Each node is responsible for running containers, which are the encapsulated application units in Kubernetes. These nodes work together to manage and run containerized applications.

• Node Pool: A node pool is a group of nodes within a cluster with the same configuration. Nodes are the compute resources where applications run. All Kubernetes worker nodes are organized in node pools. All nodes within a node pool are identical in setup. The nodes of a pool are provisioned into virtual data centers at a location of your choice, and you can freely specify the properties of all the nodes at once before creation.

• kubectl: The command-line tool for interacting with Kubernetes clusters that serves as a powerful and versatile interface for managing and deploying applications on Kubernetes. With kubectl, you can perform various operations such as creating, updating, and deleting resources in a Kubernetes cluster.

• Kubeconfig: The kubeconfig file is a configuration file used by the Kubernetes command-line tool (kubectl) to authenticate and access a Kubernetes cluster. It contains information about the cluster, user credentials, and other settings.

• etcd: etcd is a distributed key-value store that is used as the primary data store for Kubernetes. It is responsible for storing the configuration data that represents the state of the cluster. This includes information about nodes in the cluster, configurations, and the current status of various resources.

The illustration shows the key components of the Managed Kubernetes.

The components of Managed Kubernetes