Managed Kubernetes Services

A Managed Kubernetes service is a cloud-based platform designed to streamline the deployment, operation and scaling of Kubernetes clusters. Consider a company developing a microservices-based application. Instead of spending resources managing Kubernetes clusters, it could use a managed Kubernetes service such as Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) or Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS).

The cloud provider automates routine tasks such as scaling clusters during peak loads or applying security patches, keeping the application highly available and secure. This allows the company's developers to focus on innovation and application development instead of infrastructure management, which significantly speeds up the development process.

With a managed service, the cloud provider automatically takes care of tasks such as setting up the servers (nodes), keeping everything up to date, scaling up and down the cluster based on demand and making sure your applications stay secure and running smoothly.

Benefits include:

• Improved security position: You benefit from built-in security features such as automated patching, compliance certifications and integration with advanced security tools, reducing the risk of vulnerabilities.

• Automatic scalability: The service can dynamically adjust resources based on demand for your application, ensuring optimal performance without manual intervention.

• Simplified management of multiple clusters: You can manage multiple Kubernetes clusters in different regions or environments, reducing operational complexity and enabling centralization.

• Optimized cost management: Features such as autoscaling and pay-to-use prevent over-provisioning, which can lead to lower infrastructure costs.

• Streamlined DevOps integration: Many managed Kubernetes services offer seamless integration with CI/CD pipelines and DevOps tools, allowing you to achieve faster deployment cycles and greater efficiency.

• Access to advanced features: Cloud providers often introduce new Kubernetes functionality faster, so you can take advantage of the latest features without having to perform manual upgrades.

• Global availability and redundancy: Thanks to global data centers, you can count on high availability, disaster recovery options and lower latency for users around the world.

• Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)

• Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS)

• Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)

• IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service

• Oracle Container Engine for Kubernetes (OKE)

• Red Hat OpenShift Kubernetes Service

• DigitalOcean Kubernetes

• VMware Tanzu Kubernetes Grid

• Alibaba Cloud Container Service for Kubernetes (ACK)

• Huawei Cloud Container Engine (CCE)

• Linode Kubernetes Engine (LKE)

• Scaleway Kubernetes Capsule

• Tencent Kubernetes Engine (TKE)

• OVHcloud Managed Kubernetes

• Civo Kubernetes

Pricing for Managed Kubernetes services typically follow a pay-as-you-go model, where costs are calculated based on the actual resources used, including compute (CPU and memory), storage and networking.

For example, services like GKE and EKS charge a management fee of about $0.10 per hour per cluster for control plane management, on top of the cost of the underlying infrastructure. AKS, on the other hand, offers a free tier for cluster management, but charges for the underlying compute and storage resources.

Premium features such as higher availability, support and advanced security can also increase costs.

These services typically offer built-in identity and access management (IAM), which integrates with existing tools from your cloud provider, such as Azure Active Directory or AWS IAM. It allows you to manage who can access and modify your Kubernetes resources.

In addition encryption of data at rest and in transit included, so that sensitive information remains protected while it moves within your cluster. Managed services often also support secret data management (secrets management), which allows you to securely store and access sensitive data such as passwords and API keys.

Container image registration and scanning are also often available, allowing you to scan container images for vulnerabilities before deployment.

Finally, tools for logging, monitoring and threat detection you to keep an eye on the security and performance of your clusters, and be alerted to potential problems.