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Google Kubernetes v1.0 released – it just got real

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by Alan Shimel

Today the good folks at Google Cloud Platform announced the release of Kubernetes v1.0. While acknowledging that there is still much work to be done, this milestone means Kubernetes is ready for production environments! This could be a huge catalyst and major turning point in the evolution and adoption of container-based computing and cloud-native, microservice-based applications

Releasing version 1.0 of Kubernetes today was not done in some arbitrary fashion dictated by Google or anyone else. Actually this release is the result of a Kubernetes contributor meeting last February where it was decided what features would be required for Kubernetes to be production ready.  Kubernetes now meets those goals. 

From the Google blog post, Kubernetes v1.0 includes:

App Services, Network, Storage
  • Includes core functionality critical for deploying and managing workloads in production, including DNS, load balancing, scaling, application-level health checking, and service accounts
  • Stateful application support with a wide variety of local and network based volumes, such as Google Compute Engine persistent disk, AWS Elastic Block Store, and NFS
  • Deploy your containers in pods, a grouping of closely related containers, which allow for easy updates and rollback
  • Inspect and debug your application with command execution, port forwarding, log collection, and resource monitoring via CLI and UI.
Cluster Management
  • Upgrade and dynamically scale a live cluster
  • Partition a cluster via namespaces for deeper control over resources.  For example, you can segment a cluster into different applications, or test and production environments.
Performance and Stability
  • Fast API responses, with containers scheduled < 5s on average
  • Scale tested to 1000s of containers per cluster, and 100s of nodes
  • A stable API with a formal deprecation policy

Another important fact pointing to the success and widespread support for Kubernetes is that over 14,000 commits have been made by over 400 different contributors including contributions from some of the biggest names in the tech industry.  Companies like Red Hat, CoreOS, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, VMware and many others have contributed.

Additionally, more than a few household named companies have  already started using various parts of Kubernetes in production environments. You can read exactly which and how these companies are using Kubernetes at the Google blog post. Some of those mentioned though are Box, ebay, Red Hat and Shippable.

Going forward Google has joined with the Linux Foundation and many top names in the container world to form something called the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF). Google plans to seed Kubernetes to the CNCF which will govern and guide the future open source development of Kubernetes. With so many large players in the mix it should mean that no one company dictates future direction.

Plans for the CNCF go beyond just Kubernetes though, again according to Google. The idea is that the CNCF will be the guiding light in developing a more robust toolset for container-based computing. As part of this mandate they may addd other projects and software to their charter.

Kubernetes already runs in Google Compute Engine (of course), but also on AWS, Azure, Rackspace, Mesos, Fedora, VSphere and others. Public, private or hybrid cloud deployments are all included.

Production environment container based enterprise computing is now possible. With the release of Kubernetes v1.0, it just got real.

Alan Shimel

Alan Shimel is founder, CEO and editor-in-chief of Techstrong Group, a Futurum company, and a member of Futurum's executive leadership team. A technology entrepreneur, media executive and industry commentator, Shimel has spent more than three decades building businesses, communities and media platforms serving enterprise technology professionals, including co-founding StillSecure, a network security company, and the DevOps Institute, a DevOps certification and training body. At Techstrong, he leads a portfolio of media brands including DevOps.com, Security Boulevard, Cloud Native Now, Techstrong AI, Techstrong IT, Digital CxO, Platform Engineering, Techstrong Semi and Techstrong TV, along with a growing portfolio of events, educational programs and digital communities. With more than 25 years of experience in cybersecurity, Shimel is a familiar voice in the space and was an early advocate of the DevOps movement, helping bring DevOps practices into mainstream enterprise technology. His work today spans cybersecurity, DevOps, cloud-native technologies, artificial intelligence, semiconductors and digital transformation, and he hosts popular programs including Techstrong Gang, Shimmy Says and Still Cyber, After All These Years. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Government and Politics from St. John's University and a Juris Doctor from New York Law School.

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