Overview

Kubernetes

Stacks61.2K

Followers52.8K

Votes685

Rancher

Stacks970

Followers1.5K

Votes644

Kubernetes vs Rancher: What are the differences?

Introduction

In this article, we will compare the key differences between Kubernetes and Rancher. Both Kubernetes and Rancher are popular tools used in container orchestration, but they have some distinct characteristics that set them apart. Let's explore these differences in detail.

Deployment Flexibility: Kubernetes is a container orchestration platform that can be used to deploy and manage applications across multiple hosts or clusters. It provides a highly flexible and scalable environment for managing containerized workloads. On the other hand, Rancher is an open-source platform that simplifies the management and deployment of Kubernetes clusters. It provides a user-friendly interface and additional features that make it easier to manage and monitor Kubernetes deployments.
Community Support: Kubernetes has a large and vibrant community of developers, contributors, and users. It has become the de facto standard for container orchestration and is backed by major industry players like Google, Microsoft, and Red Hat. Rancher, although it has a growing community, does not have the same level of support as Kubernetes. However, Rancher benefits from the advancements and contributions made to Kubernetes.
Architecture: Kubernetes follows a master-worker architecture, where a central control plane (master) oversees multiple worker nodes. Each worker node runs containerized applications. Rancher, on the other hand, is a management platform that sits on top of Kubernetes. It provides an additional layer of abstraction and simplifies the management of Kubernetes clusters.
Ease of Use and User Interface: Rancher shines in terms of ease of use and user interface. It provides a web-based graphical user interface (GUI) that makes it easy to manage and monitor Kubernetes clusters. Rancher's GUI simplifies tasks like deploying new applications, managing cluster resources, and monitoring performance. Kubernetes, on the other hand, primarily relies on command-line tools for management and can have a steeper learning curve for new users.
Additional Features: Rancher offers additional features and tools that enhance the capabilities of Kubernetes. These include built-in monitoring, logging, and alerting functionalities. Rancher also provides a marketplace for easily installing and managing third-party applications and tools. Kubernetes, on the other hand, focuses more on core orchestration functionality and provides extensibility through its API and ecosystem of third-party tools.
Commercial Support: Kubernetes has commercial backing from various vendors, which provides enterprises with support options and services tailored to their needs. Rancher, being an open-source platform, offers community support and also provides a commercial option called Rancher Support Services for organizations seeking enhanced support and SLAs.

In summary, Kubernetes is a powerful and widely adopted container orchestration platform with a vibrant community and extensive ecosystem. While Rancher simplifies Kubernetes management and adds extra features, it may be more suitable for users seeking an easier-to-use interface and additional capabilities out of the box.

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Advice on Kubernetes, Rancher

Simon

Senior Fullstack Developer at QUANTUSflow Software GmbH

Apr 27, 2020

Decidedon

GitHub

GitHub Pages

Markdown

Our whole DevOps stack consists of the following tools:

@{GitHub}|tool:27| (incl. @{GitHub Pages}|tool:683|/@{Markdown}|tool:1147| for Documentation, GettingStarted and HowTo's) for collaborative review and code management tool
Respectively @{Git}|tool:1046| as revision control system
@{SourceTree}|tool:1599| as @{Git}|tool:1046| GUI
@{Visual Studio Code}|tool:4202| as IDE
@{CircleCI}|tool:190| for continuous integration (automatize development process)
@{Prettier}|tool:7035| / @{TSLint}|tool:5561| / @{ESLint}|tool:3337| as code linter
@{SonarQube}|tool:2638| as quality gate
@{Docker}|tool:586| as container management (incl. @{Docker Compose}|tool:3136| for multi-container application management)
@{VirtualBox}|tool:774| for operating system simulation tests
@{Kubernetes}|tool:1885| as cluster management for docker containers
@{Heroku}|tool:133| for deploying in test environments
@{nginx}|tool:1052| as web server (preferably used as facade server in production environment)
@{SSLMate}|tool:2752| (using @{OpenSSL}|tool:3091|) for certificate management
@{Amazon EC2}|tool:18| (incl. @{Amazon S3}|tool:25|) for deploying in stage (production-like) and production environments
@{PostgreSQL}|tool:1028| as preferred database system
@{Redis}|tool:1031| as preferred in-memory database/store (great for caching)

The main reason we have chosen Kubernetes over Docker Swarm is related to the following artifacts:

Key features: Easy and flexible installation, Clear dashboard, Great scaling operations, Monitoring is an integral part, Great load balancing concepts, Monitors the condition and ensures compensation in the event of failure.
Applications: An application can be deployed using a combination of pods, deployments, and services (or micro-services).
Functionality: Kubernetes as a complex installation and setup process, but it not as limited as Docker Swarm.
Monitoring: It supports multiple versions of logging and monitoring when the services are deployed within the cluster (Elasticsearch/Kibana (ELK), Heapster/Grafana, Sysdig cloud integration).
Scalability: All-in-one framework for distributed systems.
Other Benefits: Kubernetes is backed by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), huge community among container orchestration tools, it is an open source and modular tool that works with any OS.

12.8M views12.8M

Comments

Anis

Founder at Odix

Nov 7, 2020

Review

I recommend this : -Spring reactive for back end : the fact it's reactive (async) it consumes half of the resources that a sync platform needs (so less CPU -> less money). -Angular : Web Front end ; it's gives you the possibility to use PWA which is a cheap replacement for a mobile app (but more less popular). -Docker images. -Kubernetes to orchestrate all the containers. -I Use Jenkins / blueocean, ansible for my CI/CD (with Github of course) -AWS of course : u can run a K8S cluster there, make it multi AZ (availability zones) to be highly available, use a load balancer and an auto scaler and ur good to go. -You can store data by taking any managed DB or u can deploy ur own (cheap but risky).

You pay less money, but u need some technical 2 - 3 guys to make that done.

Good luck

115k views115k

Comments

Michael

CEO at asencis Ltd

Jan 5, 2021

Needs advice

We develop rapidly with docker-compose orchestrated services, however, for production - we utilise the very best ideas that Kubernetes has to offer: SCALE! We can scale when needed, setting a maximum and minimum level of nodes for each application layer - scaling only when the load balancer needs it. This allowed us to reduce our devops costs by 40% whilst also maintaining an SLA of 99.87%.

272k views272k

Comments

Detailed Comparison

Kubernetes	Rancher
Kubernetes is an open source orchestration system for Docker containers. It handles scheduling onto nodes in a compute cluster and actively manages workloads to ensure that their state matches the users declared intentions.	Rancher is an open source container management platform that includes full distributions of Kubernetes, Apache Mesos and Docker Swarm, and makes it simple to operate container clusters on any cloud or infrastructure platform.
Lightweight, simple and accessible;Built for a multi-cloud world, public, private or hybrid;Highly modular, designed so that all of its components are easily swappable	Manage Hosts, Deploy Containers, Monitor Resources;User Management & Collaboration;Native Docker APIs & Tools;Monitoring and Logging;Connect Containers, Manage Disks, Deploy Load Balancers;Docker App Catalog; Included Kubernetes Distribution;Included Docker Swarm Distribution; Included Mesos Distribution;Infrastructure Management
Statistics
Stacks 61.2K	Stacks 970
Followers 52.8K	Followers 1.5K
Votes 685	Votes 644
Pros & Cons
Pros 166 Leading docker container management solution 130 Simple and powerful 108 Open source 76 Backed by google 58 The right abstractions Cons 16 Steep learning curve 15 Poor workflow for development 8 Orchestrates only infrastructure 4 High resource requirements for on-prem clusters 2 Too heavy for simple systems	Pros 103 Easy to use 79 Open source and totally free 63 Multi-host docker-compose support 58 Simple 58 Load balancing and health check included Cons 10 Hosting Rancher can be complicated
Integrations
Vagrant Docker Rackspace Cloud Servers Microsoft Azure Google Compute Engine Ansible Google Kubernetes Engine	Jenkins Datadog Google Compute Engine Docker Compose Amazon EC2 DigitalOcean GitHub Docker Drone.io Apache Mesos

What are some alternatives to Kubernetes, Rancher?

Docker Compose

With Compose, you define a multi-container application in a single file, then spin your application up in a single command which does everything that needs to be done to get it running.

Docker Swarm

Swarm serves the standard Docker API, so any tool which already communicates with a Docker daemon can use Swarm to transparently scale to multiple hosts: Dokku, Compose, Krane, Deis, DockerUI, Shipyard, Drone, Jenkins... and, of course, the Docker client itself.

Tutum

Tutum lets developers easily manage and run lightweight, portable, self-sufficient containers from any application. AWS-like control, Heroku-like ease. The same container that a developer builds and tests on a laptop can run at scale in Tutum.

Portainer

It is a universal container management tool. It works with Kubernetes, Docker, Docker Swarm and Azure ACI. It allows you to manage containers without needing to know platform-specific code.

Codefresh

Automate and parallelize testing. Codefresh allows teams to spin up on-demand compositions to run unit and integration tests as part of the continuous integration process. Jenkins integration allows more complex pipelines.

CAST.AI

It is an AI-driven cloud optimization platform for Kubernetes. Instantly cut your cloud bill, prevent downtime, and 10X the power of DevOps.

k3s

Certified Kubernetes distribution designed for production workloads in unattended, resource-constrained, remote locations or inside IoT appliances. Supports something as small as a Raspberry Pi or as large as an AWS a1.4xlarge 32GiB server.

Flocker

Flocker is a data volume manager and multi-host Docker cluster management tool. With it you can control your data using the same tools you use for your stateless applications. This means that you can run your databases, queues and key-value stores in Docker and move them around as easily as the rest of your app.

Kitematic

Simple Docker App management for Mac OS X

Docker Machine

Machine lets you create Docker hosts on your computer, on cloud providers, and inside your own data center. It creates servers, installs Docker on them, then configures the Docker client to talk to them.