How Kubernetes lowers costs and automates IT department work

75% of global companies will have started using container applications in their production environments by 2022

Advertorial One of the key factors to consider when evaluating an IT solution is concerned with how fast updates are brought to the market. Releasing an application is not enough. You need to work on it every day, add new features and services and simultaneously keep it running. Yet you can't just turn off the app, update it, and turn it on again. Your online store should be up and running while the guys wearing shabby knit sweaters are deploying your latest updates.

To make sure that the update implementation process remains unnoticed by users, you need to resort to special microservices, containers and the orchestration infrastructure. This is the definition of Kubernetes. With this solution, manual management of different versions, subversions, and parts of an application becomes unnecessary. This makes the system more powerful, reliable, stable, and expandable. Overall, it becomes easier to use.

How Kubernetes helps businesses:

1. Automating maintenance and infrastructure configurations

Businesses profit from using Kubernetes as it helps them automate their work. Using Kubernetes significantly reduces the amount of money spent on hardware and human resources. It allows the project team to focus on their main task of website development rather than website administration. Here's how it works:

• The developers write an update code for your product, e.g., for an online store.
• The ready-made code and all the necessary libraries get automatically containerized.
• The updates are tested in a production-like environment and then proceed to the next stages.

Kubernetes uses a virtual machine by G-Core Labs combined with a DevOps approach, thus helping businesses automate routine tasks. In this case, the application is launched and works at any stage in the same way as if it were launched and would work on the developer's local host.

2. Increased multicloud flexibility and IT ROI

"The economic, organizational and social consequences of the pandemic will continue stimulating digital innovations and cloud services", - believes Henrique Cecci, Senior Research Director at Gartner. This consulting company expects end users to spend more than $480 billion on public cloud services next year.

Public clouds simplify the work with Kubernetes significantly as they use modern infrastructure solutions such as API. This synergetic system makes it possible to distribute the workload within the cloud efficiently, thus enhancing the profit you get from your IT investments.

Here is how it works: imagine that you run a service with users in ten countries working with two clouds, with the main cloud being located in America and the backup - in Europe. In the past this was enough, but as new legal requirements have been introduced to one of the markets, you now need to store user data on the territory of the respective country.

In this case, you will most likely address one of the cloud providers - for example, G-Core Labs. As a result, you will get access to a virtual machine featuring a powerful CDN and other resources, which will allow you to deploy and manage containers most efficiently using Kubernetes. Thanks to a content delivery network with over 140 points of presence in 100 cities around the world, your servers with all the users' personal data will be located on the territory required by law.

Usually, businesses connect with a provider because they have to, yet it brings a positive effect in the end. After migration, the service clients in the desired region download files 2–2.5 times faster, while storage and download fees make up about the same sum that you previously paid for storage alone.

3. Reduced infrastructure costs

Kubernetes allows businesses to reduce their infrastructure costs and helps companies get the most of their IT investments. Migrating to a public cloud also brings businesses further bonuses. For example, in G-Core Labs, outbound traffic and the configuration of cluster nodes through the cloud control panel or via API are free of charge. You pay only for virtual machines, disks and load balancers.

Therefore, you will pay due attention to the four main sectors allowing you to save money - the cloud, the cluster, the main tools, and the company's culture. At the same time, you will also be able to reduce the amount of money spent on Kubernetes itself, while taking the full advantage of using this technology.

4. Easy horizontal and vertical scaling

Automatic scaling provided by Kubernetes results in high availability and maximum application performance, which are both important for businesses. Now, when you need a new container for some service, you contact the provider and connect the new server to the cluster. Kubernetes automates this process. It uses an API request to order a virtual machine from a cloud provider, connects it to the cluster, and adds the required pod (container) with the required parameters.

This platform turns out to be very helpful in many other cases as well. Let's imagine that you've launched an application in Kubernetes and that its containers are already receiving some traffic. When the CPU load increases, the platform will notice this and will automatically increase the number of machines used in order to distribute the requests properly.

Using special metrics and tests allows the system to quickly identify damaged or unresponsive containers. Failed containers are created anew and get restarted on the same pod. This allows programmers to focus on development instead of doing routine administrative tasks.

5. Painless "canary" testing

Kubernetes allows developers to create production-like environments for automated testing. General application logs and Kubernetes app logs will help you detect problems and errors even faster.

Imagine that you've decided to completely redesign your cybersports video streaming app. The new layouts have already been internally tested by the team and have been sent to focus groups for trial. Everything seems to be fine. In your own cloud, everything works well. But what is it going to look like on production? To answer this question, you can resort to the so-called canary testing which implies a partial release of a certain service. While the overall check is still in progress, small amounts of live traffic are sent to the released application parts. The results are tracked and compared with the ideal, allowing you to make decisions concerning the app launch.

Such "traffic injections" remain unnoticed by the users because the containers are duplicated, and the users get redirected from one container to another. For orchestration purposes, you can use Kubernetes provided by G-Core Labs. The provider's virtual machines work with high-performance servers that have Intel Xeon Scalable processors (Ice Lake) of the 3rd generation. In April 2021, G-Core Labs became one of the world's first companies that started integrating such processors into their infrastructure.

When does a company need to use Kubernetes?

Businesses should consider migrating to the Kubernetes platform in quite several cases:

• You need to create a highly accessible system
• Your system is developing dynamically, and you need to deliver changes to the production environment quickly and safely
• You want to work as an integrated team on all levels from coding to production environment
• You are creating a dynamic and rapidly developing system and you plan on running it for years
• Some members of your development team play the key role in your company as they "know all the secrets" about your project or system, and these people seem to be unique and indispensable

Migrating to Kubernetes is necessary for companies that need to maintain their information systems online 24/7. This is exactly why using Kubernetes together with the cloud technologies offered by G-Core Labs is the ideal solution.

Sponsored by G-Core Labs