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Kubernetes vs Portainer: What are the differences?
Kubernetes and Portainer are distinct containerization and container management tools. They facilitate container deployment and management, they have significant differences in terms of their scope, architecture, scalability, learning curve, and community support. Here are the key differences between them:
Scope and Purpose: Kubernetes is a robust container orchestration platform designed to automate the deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications across clusters of machines. It offers advanced features such as load balancing, auto-scaling, and container scheduling. Portainer, on the other hand, is a lightweight container management tool that provides a simplified interface for managing Docker containers.
Architecture: Kubernetes follows a complex architecture consisting of multiple components, including master and worker nodes. It leverages a declarative model for defining the desired state of the containerized application infrastructure. In contrast, Portainer has a simpler architecture and focuses on providing a user-friendly graphical interface for managing Docker containers.
Scalability: Kubernetes is specifically designed to handle large-scale deployments and can efficiently manage thousands of containers across multiple nodes. It offers robust scaling capabilities to accommodate high workloads and complex application architectures. While Portainer can handle smaller deployments, its scalability may not be as extensive as Kubernetes.
Learning Curve: Kubernetes has a steep learning curve as it requires a solid understanding of container orchestration concepts and Kubernetes-specific configurations. Administrators and operators need to be familiar with its command-line tools and configuration files. Portainer, on the other hand, has a shallower learning curve and provides a more intuitive and user-friendly experience, making it easier for beginners to get started with container management.
Community and Ecosystem: Kubernetes has a sizable and active community, as well as rich documentation, resources, and a broad ecosystem of third-party tools and connectors. It benefits from continuous development and improvement due to its widespread adoption. Portainer also has an active community, but its ecosystem may be relatively smaller compared to Kubernetes.
In summary, Kubernetes is a powerful container orchestration platform suited for complex, large-scale deployments, while Portainer offers simplicity and ease of use for managing Docker containers in smaller environments.
Hello, we have a bunch of local hosts (Linux and Windows) where Docker containers are running with bamboo agents on them. Currently, each container is installed as a system service. Each host is set up manually. I want to improve the system by adding some sort of orchestration software that should install, update and check for consistency in my docker containers. I don't need any clouds, all hosts are local. I'd prefer simple solutions. What orchestration system should I choose?
If you just want the basic orchestration between a set of defined hosts, go with Docker Swarm. If you want more advanced orchestration + flexibility in terms of resource management and load balancing go with Kubernetes. In both cases, you can make it even more complex while making the whole architecture more understandable and replicable by using Terraform.
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 Kubernetes
- Leading docker container management solution164
- Simple and powerful128
- Open source106
- Backed by google76
- The right abstractions58
- Scale services25
- Replication controller20
- Permission managment11
- Cheap8
- Supports autoscaling8
- Simple8
- No cloud platform lock-in5
- Reliable5
- Self-healing5
- Quick cloud setup4
- Promotes modern/good infrascture practice4
- Scalable4
- Open, powerful, stable4
- Runs on azure3
- Captain of Container Ship3
- Cloud Agnostic3
- Custom and extensibility3
- Backed by Red Hat3
- A self healing environment with rich metadata3
- Gke2
- Everything of CaaS2
- Sfg2
- Expandable2
- Golang2
- Easy setup2
Pros of Portainer
- Simple35
- Great UI26
- Friendly19
- Easy to setup, gives a practical interface for Docker12
- Because it just works, super simple yet powerful11
- Fully featured11
- A must for Docker DevOps9
- Free and opensource7
- It's simple, fast and the support is great5
- API5
- Template Support4
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Cons of Kubernetes
- Poor workflow for development15
- Steep learning curve15
- 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
Cons of Portainer
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