Container orchestration is booming
Companies worldwide are now using a variety of microservices for their IT infrastructure. This is because more and more processes are running based on these complex applications. However, often on different clusters or hosts. To maintain an overview of such complex IT constructs, microservices can be combined in so-called containers, which then provide a structured setup.
“Container orchestration is one of the fastest-growing trends in the IT industry,” says Jerome Evans, founder and CEO of firstcolo GmbH. This is also shown by an analysis from Gartner: The market research institute predicts that by 2024, around 75 percent of large companies will use container orchestration – with a continuing upward trend.
Kubernetes can also be user-friendly
Kubernetes is now considered the most widely used container solution, which has become indispensable for many businesses. “Many entrepreneurs are following the ever-advancing containerization of the IT level by the major providers, but followed by the desire for simple implementation,” says Evans. However, a representative survey by the market research institute CCS showed: About 56 percent of respondents prefer full container integration through third-party providers or a mix of external and internal expertise due to the complexity of a container architecture.
Cloud service providers like firstcolo have recognized this and therefore focus on user-friendliness for the end-user. They offer solutions that simplify the handling of Kubernetes via open-source systems. For example, the open-source solution firstkube. Here, users no longer need to demonstrate comprehensive know-how to manage containers. “This is made possible by a user-friendly interface and competent advice from an expert,” explains Evans.
Ensuring secure use of containers
Security vulnerabilities can be costly for corporate IT. A topic not to be neglected in view of increasing cybercrime. “The quality of a container implementation determines stability and security: starting with the authentication configuration to avoiding highly vulnerable applications that pose a security risk on the cluster,” explains Evans. Especially the frequent use of containers in a hybrid cloud environment in companies presents major challenges to the security concept.
At this point, containerization using open-source programs provides a remedy. “With Kubernetes, applications can be accessed in parallel on multiple clouds, which in turn enables unbound work. In case of failures, resources and traffic are retained: they are simply taken over by the next cloud,” explains the expert. This abstract structure thus allows for building a secure cloud environment. Software like firstkube allows every user easy operation – with or without extensive prior knowledge.
Containers are software packages that contain all the elements necessary for execution in any environment. Containers thus virtualize the operating system. They can be executed anywhere, whether in a private data center, in the public cloud, or on a developer's private laptop.
Kubernetes (also known as K8s or "kube") is an open-source container orchestration platform that can automate many manual processes related to the deployment, management, and scaling of containerized applications.
