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AWS OpsWorks vs Kubernetes: What are the differences?
Introduction
This markdown code provides a comparison between AWS OpsWorks and Kubernetes, highlighting their key differences.
Managed Service vs. Open Source Platform: AWS OpsWorks is a fully managed service provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS), while Kubernetes is an open source container orchestration platform. OpsWorks abstracts away many of the tasks involved in managing infrastructure and applications, making it easier to set up and deploy applications. On the other hand, Kubernetes provides a more customizable and flexible solution, allowing users to deploy and manage containers across different environments.
Infrastructure Setup: With OpsWorks, the infrastructure setup is simplified as it uses pre-configured stacks and layers. Users can choose from multiple stack configurations and set up instances with predefined roles. In contrast, Kubernetes requires manual setup of the infrastructure, including the configuration of nodes, networking, and storage.
Container Orchestration: Kubernetes excels in container orchestration capabilities. It provides advanced features for managing containers, scaling applications, and distributing workloads across a cluster of nodes. OpsWorks, on the other hand, focuses more on managing the overall infrastructure and automating application deployment and configuration.
Integrated Services: OpsWorks integrates well with other AWS services, such as Elastic Load Balancing, Amazon RDS, and Amazon S3. This allows users to leverage additional AWS features when building their applications. Kubernetes also offers integrations with various services, but the configurations need to be set up manually.
Scaling and Auto-Healing: Kubernetes provides built-in functionality for scaling and auto-healing applications. It can automatically adjust the number of replicas based on load or predefined rules. It also has advanced capabilities to detect and recover from failures. OpsWorks also supports auto-scaling and auto-healing, but it requires more manual configuration compared to Kubernetes.
Community Support and Ecosystem: Kubernetes has a large and active community, which contributes to its rapid development and innovation. It has a rich ecosystem of tools, plugins, and integrations that enhance its functionality. OpsWorks, being an AWS managed service, has limited community support and a narrower ecosystem compared to Kubernetes.
In summary, AWS OpsWorks is a managed service that simplifies infrastructure management and application deployment, while Kubernetes is an open source container orchestration platform that provides more customization and advanced container management capabilities.
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%.
Our whole DevOps stack consists of the following tools:
- GitHub (incl. GitHub Pages/Markdown for Documentation, GettingStarted and HowTo's) for collaborative review and code management tool
- Respectively Git as revision control system
- SourceTree as Git GUI
- Visual Studio Code as IDE
- CircleCI for continuous integration (automatize development process)
- Prettier / TSLint / ESLint as code linter
- SonarQube as quality gate
- Docker as container management (incl. Docker Compose for multi-container application management)
- VirtualBox for operating system simulation tests
- Kubernetes as cluster management for docker containers
- Heroku for deploying in test environments
- nginx as web server (preferably used as facade server in production environment)
- SSLMate (using OpenSSL) for certificate management
- Amazon EC2 (incl. Amazon S3) for deploying in stage (production-like) and production environments
- PostgreSQL as preferred database system
- Redis 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.
Pros of AWS OpsWorks
- Devops32
- Cloud management19
Pros of Kubernetes
- Leading docker container management solution164
- Simple and powerful128
- Open source106
- Backed by google76
- The right abstractions58
- Scale services25
- Replication controller20
- Permission managment11
- Supports autoscaling9
- Cheap8
- Simple8
- Self-healing6
- No cloud platform lock-in5
- Promotes modern/good infrascture practice5
- Open, powerful, stable5
- Reliable5
- Scalable4
- Quick cloud setup4
- Cloud Agnostic3
- Captain of Container Ship3
- A self healing environment with rich metadata3
- Runs on azure3
- Backed by Red Hat3
- Custom and extensibility3
- Sfg2
- Gke2
- Everything of CaaS2
- Golang2
- Easy setup2
- Expandable2
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Cons of AWS OpsWorks
Cons of Kubernetes
- Steep learning curve16
- Poor workflow for development15
- Orchestrates only infrastructure8
- High resource requirements for on-prem clusters4
- Too heavy for simple systems2
- Additional vendor lock-in (Docker)1
- More moving parts to secure1
- Additional Technology Overhead1
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What is AWS OpsWorks?
What is Kubernetes?
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