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Kubernetes vs OpenShift: What are the differences?
Introduction
In the realm of container orchestration, Kubernetes and OpenShift are two popular solutions that aid in managing containerized applications efficiently. However, they exhibit some key differences that set them apart in terms of features and capabilities.
Architecture: The fundamental difference lies in their architecture. Kubernetes is an open-source platform designed to automate the deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications. On the other hand, OpenShift is a more comprehensive enterprise-ready platform built on top of Kubernetes, offering additional features such as a web console, developer tools, and enhanced security controls.
Support and Maintenance: When it comes to support and maintenance, OpenShift offers commercial support options from Red Hat, the company behind OpenShift, ensuring enterprise-grade support for production environments. In contrast, Kubernetes relies heavily on its vibrant community for support, although commercial support options are also available through third-party vendors.
User Interface: Another notable difference is in the user interface. Kubernetes primarily relies on command-line tools for interacting with the cluster, whereas OpenShift provides a web-based console that simplifies cluster management, monitoring, and deployment tasks, making it more user-friendly for administrators and developers.
Security Features: OpenShift places a strong emphasis on security features, offering additional layers of security controls such as role-based access control (RBAC), network policies, and container image scanning out-of-the-box. While Kubernetes also provides security features, OpenShift's integrated security mechanisms make it a preferred choice for organizations with stringent security requirements.
Developer Experience: OpenShift distinguishes itself by providing a more streamlined developer experience through its developer tools and workflows. It simplifies the process of building, deploying, and scaling applications, offering features such as source-to-image (S2I) build process and built-in continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines, which Kubernetes lacks out of the box.
Cost Considerations: While both Kubernetes and OpenShift are open-source platforms, the cost considerations come into play when looking at the overall TCO (Total Cost of Ownership). OpenShift's enterprise features, support, and proprietary tools may result in higher operational costs compared to using vanilla Kubernetes, making it essential for organizations to evaluate their specific needs and budget constraints.
In Summary, Kubernetes and OpenShift differ in architecture, support, user interface, security features, developer experience, and cost considerations, catering to various requirements and preferences in the realm of container orchestration.
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 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
Pros of Red Hat OpenShift
- Good free plan99
- Open Source63
- Easy setup47
- Nodejs support43
- Well documented42
- Custom domains32
- Mongodb support28
- Clean and simple architecture27
- PHP support25
- Customizable environments21
- Ability to run CRON jobs11
- Easier than Heroku for a WordPress blog9
- Easy deployment8
- PostgreSQL support7
- Autoscaling7
- Good balance between Heroku and AWS for flexibility7
- Free, Easy Setup, Lot of Gear or D.I.Y Gear5
- Shell access to gears4
- Great Support3
- High Security3
- Logging & Metrics3
- Cloud Agnostic2
- Runs Anywhere - AWS, GCP, Azure2
- No credit card needed2
- Because it is easy to manage2
- Secure2
- Meteor support2
- Overly complicated and over engineered in majority of e2
- Golang support2
- Its free and offer custom domain usage2
- Autoscaling at a good price point1
- Easy setup and great customer support1
- MultiCloud1
- Great free plan with excellent support1
- This is the only free one among the three as of today1
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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
Cons of Red Hat OpenShift
- Decisions are made for you, limiting your options2
- License cost2
- Behind, sometimes severely, the upstreams1
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What is Kubernetes?
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