The power of running Kubernetes on OpenStack (or not?)

Kubernetes has emerged as a leading container orchestration platform, empowering organizations to efficiently deploy, scale, and manage containerized applications. OpenStack, on the other hand, provides a robust cloud computing infrastructure, allowing businesses to create and control pools of compute, storage, and networking resources. Together, these two powerful open-source technologies offer a compelling solution for building and operating cloud-native environments. In this blog, we explore the combination of Kubernetes and OpenStack, delving into the benefits and the step-by-step process of running Kubernetes on OpenStack. By leveraging the container orchestration capabilities of Kubernetes and the infrastructure flexibility of OpenStack, businesses can unlock the true potential of cloud-native architectures, achieving scalability, resource efficiency, and security in their containerized deployments. Eventually, we will take a brief look at LOKI as LOKI can be deployed as part of the Kubernetes cluster or separately within the OpenStack environment. 

Let’s recap quickly on what is what again, to gain a clear understanding of the two services.  

So, Kubernetes is an open-source container orchestration platform that automates the deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications. It was originally developed by Google and is now maintained by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF). At its core, Kubernetes provides a way to manage and coordinate groups of containers, called pods, across a cluster of nodes (servers or virtual machines). It abstracts the underlying infrastructure and provides a consistent set of APIs and tools for deploying and managing applications. 

OpenStack is an open-source cloud computing platform that provides a set of software tools for building and managing private and public clouds. It allows organizations to create and control large pools of compute, storage, and networking resources, all managed through a centralized dashboard or APIs. 

OpenStack offers a flexible and scalable infrastructure platform that enables organizations to build and operate their own cloud environments. It supports a wide range of use cases, from private clouds within data centers to public cloud deployments, and provides APIs for integration with other tools and services. 

Kubernetes can be run on OpenStack (just as well as OpenStack can be run on Kubernetes). OpenStack provides the necessary infrastructure components, such as virtual machines (VMs), networking, and storage, that Kubernetes needs to operate. Kubernetes can utilize OpenStack as the underlying infrastructure to deploy and manage containerized applications. 

To run Kubernetes on OpenStack, you would typically follow these steps: 

By running Kubernetes on OpenStack, you can leverage the container orchestration capabilities of Kubernetes while benefiting from the infrastructure flexibility and resource management features provided by OpenStack.  

More specifically, running Kubernetes on OpenStack offers the following benefits: 

Taking it a step further, when running Kubernetes on OpenStack, organizations may choose to integrate LOKI into their logging infrastructure to enhance observability and manage log data generated by containerized applications. LOKI can be deployed as part of the Kubernetes cluster or separately within the OpenStack environment. 

Here’s how LOKI comes into play: 

Overall, running Kubernetes on OpenStack provides a powerful combination of container orchestration and infrastructure management, enabling organizations to build scalable, flexible, and highly available cloud-native environments. 

In conclusion, the combination of Kubernetes and OpenStack empowers businesses to embrace the agility and scalability of cloud-native architectures. By automating container deployment, scaling, and management, organizations can unlock the full potential of their applications, while OpenStack’s robust infrastructure provides the foundation for reliable and efficient operations. Together, Kubernetes and OpenStack pave the way for organizations to embrace the future of cloud computing and accelerate innovation in the ever-evolving digital landscape. The seamless integration of LOKI, further enhances observability in the Kubernetes-OpenStack environment, enabling organizations to efficiently collect, store, query, and analyze log data from containerized applications. This, in turn, contributes to improved monitoring, troubleshooting, and incident response, making LOKI a valuable addition to the overall setup. 

Are you curious about the basics of deploying Kubernetes? You can read all about it in our blog through the following link: https://fairbanks.nl/how-to-deploy-a-kubernetes-cluster/  

Do you have any additional questions or would you like to explore this topic further? Feel free to reach out to me anytime for a conversation and to delve deeper into the subject!