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  1. Stackups
  2. Application & Data
  3. Container Registry
  4. Container Tools
  5. Clair vs Kubernetes

Clair vs Kubernetes

OverviewDecisionsComparisonAlternatives

Overview

Kubernetes
Kubernetes
Stacks61.2K
Followers52.8K
Votes685
Clair
Clair
Stacks41
Followers57
Votes0

Clair vs Kubernetes: What are the differences?


1. Key differences between Clair and Kubernetes:

1. Security Focus: Clair is primarily a vulnerability scanner designed to identify security issues within container images, while Kubernetes is a container orchestration platform focused on managing and scaling applications. Clair's main goal is to ensure the security of container images, while Kubernetes focuses on deployment, scaling, and maintenance of containerized applications.

2. Scope of Usage: Clair is typically integrated into container registries and CI/CD pipelines to scan container images for vulnerabilities before deployment. On the other hand, Kubernetes manages the deployment, scaling, and operation of containerized applications in a cluster environment. While Clair focuses on image security, Kubernetes handles the lifecycle of containers and services.

3. Functionality: Clair provides detailed vulnerability reports for container images, enabling developers and operators to identify and address security issues. Kubernetes, on the other hand, provides features such as automated scaling, service discovery, and load balancing for running applications. Clair focuses on security scanning, while Kubernetes offers a broad range of container orchestration capabilities.

4. Integration with Security Tools: Clair can be integrated with various security tools and platforms to enhance vulnerability management and remediation processes. In contrast, Kubernetes offers integration with monitoring, logging, and networking tools to streamline application management and troubleshooting. While both tools support integrations, their focus areas differ based on security and orchestration requirements.

5. Customization and Extensibility: Clair's scanning capabilities can be extended and customized to meet specific security requirements within containerized environments. Kubernetes, on the other hand, supports the customization of resource definitions, scheduling policies, and networking configurations to optimize application performance and scalability. Both tools provide extensibility options, but with distinct focuses on security and orchestration aspects.

6. Community and Support Ecosystem: Clair is maintained by the CoreOS team and has a growing community of contributors focused on container security. Kubernetes is an open-source project supported by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) with a large community and ecosystem of tooling and plugins. While both tools have active communities, Kubernetes has a broader support ecosystem due to its widespread adoption in production environments.

In Summary, Clair and Kubernetes differ in their focus on security scanning (Clair) and container orchestration (Kubernetes), with variations in usage scope, functionality, integration capabilities, customization options, and community support.

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Advice on Kubernetes, Clair

Simon
Simon

Senior Fullstack Developer at QUANTUSflow Software GmbH

Apr 27, 2020

DecidedonGitHubGitHubGitHub PagesGitHub PagesMarkdownMarkdown

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
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
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
Kubernetes
Clair
Clair

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.

Clair is a container vulnerability analysis service by CoreOS. It provides the list of vulnerabilities that threaten each container and can sends notifications whenever new vulnerabilities that affect existing containers are released.

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
Api defines how users interact with Clair and exposes a documented HTTP API; Worker extracts useful informations from layers and store everything in the database; Updater periodically updates Clair's vulnerability database from known vulnerability sources; Notifier dispatches notifications about vulnerable containers when vulnerabilities are released or updated; Database persists layers informations and vulnerabilities in Cayley graph database; Health summarizes health checks of every Clair's services
Statistics
Stacks
61.2K
Stacks
41
Followers
52.8K
Followers
57
Votes
685
Votes
0
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
No community feedback yet
Integrations
Vagrant
Vagrant
Docker
Docker
Rackspace Cloud Servers
Rackspace Cloud Servers
Microsoft Azure
Microsoft Azure
Google Compute Engine
Google Compute Engine
Ansible
Ansible
Google Kubernetes Engine
Google Kubernetes Engine
No integrations available

What are some alternatives to Kubernetes, Clair?

Rancher

Rancher

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.

Docker Compose

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kitematic

Simple Docker App management for Mac OS X

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