Docker Swarm vs k8s-sidecar-injector

Overview

Docker Swarm

Stacks779

Followers990

Votes282

k8s-sidecar-injector

Stacks3

Followers12

Votes0

GitHub Stars349

Forks71

Docker Swarm vs k8s-sidecar-injector: What are the differences?

Introduction:

In the world of container orchestration, two popular options are Docker Swarm and k8s-sidecar-injector. While both provide container orchestration capabilities, they have key differences that set them apart. In this article, we will explore these differences in detail.

1. Scalability and Flexibility:

One major difference between Docker Swarm and k8s-sidecar-injector is the scalability and flexibility they offer. Docker Swarm is more suited for smaller deployments and can handle a few hundred nodes efficiently. On the other hand, k8s-sidecar-injector, which is a part of Kubernetes, is designed to scale to thousands of nodes and offers more advanced features, making it a better choice for larger and more complex deployments.

2. Service Discovery and Load Balancing:

Docker Swarm and k8s-sidecar-injector differ in their approach to service discovery and load balancing. Docker Swarm uses its built-in DNS-based service discovery and load balancing mechanisms, while k8s-sidecar-injector relies on Kubernetes' robust service discovery and load balancing features, including DNS-based service discovery and a highly configurable load balancing system. This makes k8s-sidecar-injector more powerful and flexible in managing services in a Kubernetes environment.

3. Ecosystem and Community Support:

Another significant difference lies in the ecosystem and community support of Docker Swarm and k8s-sidecar-injector. Docker Swarm benefits from its tight integration with Docker and the large Docker community. It has a simpler learning curve and offers a more straightforward setup. On the other hand, k8s-sidecar-injector, being a part of Kubernetes, enjoys a much larger ecosystem and a vibrant community of contributors. Kubernetes offers a wide range of extensions, tools, and integrations, making it a more comprehensive and extensible platform.

4. High Availability and Fault Tolerance:

When it comes to high availability and fault tolerance, Docker Swarm and k8s-sidecar-injector have different approaches. Docker Swarm follows a simpler and more centralized design, where a leader node manages the cluster and handles failover in case of node failures. In contrast, k8s-sidecar-injector follows a more distributed design with multiple control plane nodes and built-in fault tolerance mechanisms. Kubernetes is known for its advanced fault tolerance capabilities, making it a better choice for mission-critical applications.

5. Networking and Storage Options:

Docker Swarm and k8s-sidecar-injector also vary in their networking and storage options. Docker Swarm supports both overlay and bridge networking, providing a simple and straightforward networking setup. It also offers built-in support for Docker volumes for storage. Kubernetes, on the other hand, offers a wide range of networking options, including Overlay Network, DNS-based service discovery, and Ingress controllers for external access. It also supports various storage plug-ins for dynamic provisioning and management.

6. Deployment and Configuration Management:

The deployment and configuration management capabilities of Docker Swarm and k8s-sidecar-injector differ significantly. Docker Swarm uses Docker Compose for defining and deploying multi-container applications, which offers a simple and declarative approach but lacks the advanced features provided by Kubernetes ConfigMaps and Secrets. Kubernetes, with its vast array of resources like Deployments, StatefulSets, and DaemonSets, provides fine-grained control over application deployments and can handle more complex scenarios involving rolling updates, scaling, and rollbacks.

In summary, Docker Swarm is more suitable for smaller deployments with its simplicity and ease of use, while k8s-sidecar-injector, being part of Kubernetes, offers advanced features, scalability, and a vibrant ecosystem for larger and more complex deployments. The choice between the two depends on the specific requirements and the scale of the container orchestration needs.

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Advice on Docker Swarm, k8s-sidecar-injector

Simon

Senior Fullstack Developer at QUANTUSflow Software GmbH

Apr 27, 2020

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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.

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Detailed Comparison

Docker Swarm	k8s-sidecar-injector
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.	It is a small service that runs in each Kubernetes cluster, and listens to the Kubernetes API via webhooks. For each pod creation, the injector gets a (mutating admission) webhook, asking whether or not to allow the pod launch, and if allowed, what changes we would like to make to it.
Statistics
GitHub Stars -	GitHub Stars 349
GitHub Forks -	GitHub Forks 71
Stacks 779	Stacks 3
Followers 990	Followers 12
Votes 282	Votes 0
Pros & Cons
Pros 55 Docker friendly 46 Easy to setup 40 Standard Docker API 38 Easy to use 23 Native Cons 9 Low adoption	No community feedback yet
Integrations
Docker	Kubernetes Docker

What are some alternatives to Docker Swarm, k8s-sidecar-injector?

Kubernetes

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

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

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.

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

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