Kubernetes Multi-Cluster Part 2: Managing the Cluster Lifecycle
By Elly Obare
This article is the second part of a series focused on Kubernetes multi-cluster. For an introduction and more about the goals and responsibilities of multi-cluster setups, please see part one.
Many teams want to deploy their applications in clusters that are feature-rich, reliable, and accessible from anywhere — tapping into the power of the multi-cluster.
As seen in the first article in this series, it’s paramount that cluster setups involve sound planning, design, and deployment. This brings us to managing the cluster lifecycle.
This article will explore what managing the lifecycle of clusters entails, going into detail on the various tools available for spinning clusters and identifying issues that need to be solved, such as software installation and patching.
Let’s get started!
Managing a Kubernetes cluster lifecycle revolves around design, deployment, operation, and deletion phases. For complete control over provisioned Kubernetes clusters, from creating, upgrading, or maintaining to deleting, you need management in both single cluster and multi-cluster deployment architectures.
The right lifecycle management approach gives you visibility into your clusters and helps you manage your workloads in any environment.
What is Kubernetes Multi-Cluster?
Kubernetes provisions clusters that run and manage our workloads. Depending on the needs of an organization, Kubernetes deployments can be replicated to have the same workloads accessible across multiple nodes and environments.
This concept is called Kubernetes multi-cluster orchestration. It’s simply provisioning your workloads in several Kubernetes clusters (going beyond a single cluster).
A Kubernetes multi-cluster defines deployment strategies to introduce scalability, availability, and isolation for your workloads and environments. A Kubernetes multi-cluster is fully embraced when an organization coordinates the planning, delivery, and management of several Kubernetes environments using appropriate tools and processes.
