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Envoy vs Kubernetes: What are the differences?
Introduction
In this article, we will compare and highlight the key differences between Envoy and Kubernetes, two popular technologies in the world of containerization and microservices.
Networking Model: Envoy is primarily a high-performance, extensible proxy server that enables efficient and secure communication between services within a network. It focuses on providing advanced traffic management capabilities, such as load balancing, circuit breaking, and observability. On the other hand, Kubernetes is a container orchestration platform that takes care of container deployments, scaling, and management across a cluster of nodes. While Kubernetes also offers built-in load balancing, it does not offer the same level of advanced networking features as Envoy.
Deployment Flexibility: Kubernetes allows you to deploy and manage various types of applications, not just microservices, making it a more versatile and general-purpose solution. It provides powerful deployment mechanisms such as rolling updates, canary deployments, and automatic scaling based on resource utilization. Envoy, on the other hand, is specifically designed for microservices architectures and excels at handling east-west traffic between services within a network. It is often used as a sidecar proxy alongside application containers, adding an extra layer of functionality and control.
Configuration Language: Envoy has its own declarative configuration language called Configuration Discovery Service (CDS). It allows you to define the behavior of the proxy server and its interaction with other services using a JSON or YAML-based syntax. Kubernetes, on the other hand, uses YAML files to define the desired state of applications, including containers, volumes, and networking. YAML is more widely adopted and easier to work with for developers familiar with Kubernetes.
Service Discovery: Kubernetes includes a built-in service discovery and DNS system that automatically assigns and resolves IP addresses to services within the cluster. This enables easy and dynamic inter-service communication. Envoy also supports service discovery, but it provides additional features like intelligent load balancing and health checking. Envoy can integrate with various service discovery mechanisms, including Kubernetes' own service discovery, to provide enhanced capabilities.
Observability and Monitoring: Envoy offers powerful built-in observability features, including detailed logging, distributed tracing, and metrics collection. It integrates seamlessly with popular observability tools like Prometheus, Grafana, and Jaeger. Kubernetes also provides monitoring capabilities through its built-in metrics server, but it may require additional tooling and configuration to achieve the same level of observability as Envoy.
Platform Maturity: Kubernetes is a mature platform with a large community and ecosystem. It has been widely adopted and is backed by major cloud providers, making it a reliable choice for production deployments. Envoy, although it has gained significant traction and popularity, is a relatively newer technology compared to Kubernetes. While it has a growing community and active development, it may not have the same level of maturity or industry support as Kubernetes.
In summary, Envoy is a high-performance proxy server with advanced networking capabilities, specifically designed for microservices architectures. Kubernetes, on the other hand, is a container orchestration platform that provides deployment and management features for various types of applications, with built-in networking capabilities. The choice between Envoy and Kubernetes depends on the specific requirements and nature of the applications or environments they are being used in.
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 Envoy
- GRPC-Web9
Pros of Kubernetes
- Leading docker container management solution166
- Simple and powerful129
- Open source107
- Backed by google76
- The right abstractions58
- Scale services25
- Replication controller20
- Permission managment11
- Supports autoscaling9
- Simple8
- Cheap8
- Self-healing6
- Open, powerful, stable5
- Reliable5
- No cloud platform lock-in5
- Promotes modern/good infrascture practice5
- Scalable4
- Quick cloud setup4
- Custom and extensibility3
- Captain of Container Ship3
- Cloud Agnostic3
- Backed by Red Hat3
- Runs on azure3
- A self healing environment with rich metadata3
- Everything of CaaS2
- Gke2
- Golang2
- Easy setup2
- Expandable2
- Sfg2
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Cons of Envoy
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