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Critical Stack vs Kubernetes: What are the differences?
Architecture: Critical Stack is a security orchestration platform that focuses on automating the deployment and management of security tools, while Kubernetes is a container orchestration system that automates the management of containerized applications. Critical Stack provides a framework for deploying specific security tools in a consistent manner across an organization, whereas Kubernetes manages the deployment, scaling, and operation of application containers.
Focus: Critical Stack is tailored towards security professionals and DevSecOps teams, offering a platform specifically designed to automate and streamline security tool management. On the other hand, Kubernetes is more focused on managing and orchestrating containerized applications, providing features for scalability, self-healing, and resource management.
Community Support: Kubernetes has a larger and more extensive community support compared to Critical Stack. This community helps in providing resources, troubleshooting tips, and continuous improvement of the platform. Critical Stack, being more niche, may have a smaller community and resource pool available for users.
Use Case: Critical Stack is primarily used for security automation and compliance in environments where security is crucial, such as in regulated industries or high-security environments. Kubernetes, on the other hand, is used for deploying, scaling, and managing containerized applications in cloud-native environments where scalability, resilience, and automation are key requirements.
Management Complexity: Critical Stack simplifies the management of security tools by automating deployment processes and ensuring consistency. Kubernetes, while offering scalability and automation for containerized applications, can be complex to manage due to its extensive feature set and configuration options.
Resource Allocation: Critical Stack focuses on optimizing resource allocation for security tools, ensuring they have the necessary resources to function effectively without impacting the overall system performance. Kubernetes, on the other hand, optimizes resource allocation for containerized applications based on resource requests and limits defined in the deployment specifications.
In Summary, Critical Stack is an automated security orchestration platform with a focus on security tool management, while Kubernetes is a container orchestration system designed for managing containerized applications in scalable and automated environments.
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 Critical Stack
Pros of Kubernetes
- Leading docker container management solution166
- Simple and powerful130
- Open source108
- Backed by google76
- The right abstractions58
- Scale services26
- Replication controller20
- Permission managment11
- Supports autoscaling9
- Cheap8
- Simple8
- Self-healing7
- Open, powerful, stable5
- Promotes modern/good infrascture practice5
- Reliable5
- No cloud platform lock-in5
- Scalable4
- Quick cloud setup4
- Cloud Agnostic3
- Custom and extensibility3
- A self healing environment with rich metadata3
- Captain of Container Ship3
- Backed by Red Hat3
- Runs on azure3
- Expandable2
- Sfg2
- Everything of CaaS2
- Gke2
- Golang2
- Easy setup2
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Cons of Critical Stack
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