Going cloud-native with Kubernetes

and Pivotal

A guide to

Pivotal Container Service (PKS) by role

Going cloud-native with Kubernetes

and Pivotal

Fast, low-risk enterprise-grade Kubernetes has arrivedWith Pivotal Container Service (PKS), organizations can reliably deploy and run containerized workloads across private and public clouds, speeding application development and innovation. It’s an ideal path to Kubernetes and cloud-native practices for VMware-based infrastructure.

SELECT A ROLE TO EXPLORE

Business Leader

Platform Operator

Making It Happen About Redapt

Developer

Cloud is a practice not a place

Cloud-native IT organizations build and run applications within a cloud computing delivery model regardless of the underlying infrastructure. It’s all about how applications are created and deployed, not where.

Cloud-native gives IT organizations:

• Limitless computing power and infrastructure, on demand

• Faster time to market with new products

• Modern data and application services for developers

Business Leader

Automation oils the cloud-native machineAmong the takeaways highlighted in the 2017 State of DevOps Report from Puppet and DevOps Research and Assessment (DORA) is the fact that high-performing IT teams automate significantly more of their configuration management, testing, deployments, and change approval processes than lower-performing teams.

A key mode of automation in this context is container orchestration, for which Kubernetes has become the leading solution.

of U.S. companies use

containers*

of container adopters use Kubernetes*

52% 71%

*Source: “Hybrid Cloud Drives Growing Container Production Use and Disruption,” 451 Research, June 2017

Business Leader

Why PKS for enterprise-grade Kubernetes?If you’ve already made significant investments in VMware-based infrastructure, PKS is a fast, low-risk path to enterprise-grade Kubernetes on a supportable platform following best practices for containers.

PKS lets you:

• Leverage what is working now—VMware— to propel your infrastructure into the future

• Adopt Kubernetes on infrastructure your operations team knows and trusts

• Give Ops an application platform with scalability and reliability

• Give Devs choices and flexibility

Business Leader

This is Kubernetes for VMware shops

So, you know the time has come to bring Kubernetes to your environment and fulfill your roadmap objectives for cloud-native development and DevOps practices. But what solution makes the most sense for you?

If you’ve already made significant investments in VMware-based infrastructure, PKS is a fast, low-risk path to enterprise-grade Kubernetes.

PKS lets you:

• Bring Kubernetes into your existing VMware environment with “snap-in” ease and control

• Adopt Kubernetes while maintaining infrastructure stability, performance, and control

• Leverage your existing VMware investments, technology, and skills

• Focus on DevOps and application containerization, not learning how to build Kubernetes

This is Kubernetes for VMware shops

Platform Operator

PKS: A peek under

the hood

Here’s a closer look at the key features of PKS from an operations standpoint.

Production-ready and enterprise-grade— PKS is highly available up and down the stack, from apps to infrastructure

Multi-cloud—Deploy and consume Kubernetes on premises with vSphere, or in the public cloud

Network programmability and security out of the box—Programmatically manage virtual networks with NSX-T

On-demand provisioning—Deploy K8s clusters on demand through the command line and API using BOSH and Ops Manager

Easy integration with VMware tools—Integrate PKS with vRealize Operations Manager, vRealize Log Insights, and Wavefront

Includes Harbor, a registry for Docker images—Use built-in Harbor for vulnerability scanning and identity management for Docker images

Expose and consume services from your containers—Easily add application performance management (APM) tools, database services, and much more

Constant compatibility with GKE— Apps are cross-compatible between PKS and Google Container Engine (GKE)

Built on open source—PKS is built atop Cloud Foundry’s Container Runtime (the project formerly known as Kubo)

Platform Operator

A Kubernetes solution that makes Ops happy tooAs a developer you’re likely attracted to containerization and Kubernetes for the flexibility they bring to build and ship applications with whatever tools work best for you.

While giving IT operations all of the necessary assurances and VMware integration, PKS helps you take advantage of all the benefits of Kubernetes and containers. It makes practices like cloud-native, continuous delivery, and microservices a reality.

Put simply, PKS lets you innovate faster without having to worry about the underlying infrastructure supporting development.

Developer

Why PKS for enterprise-grade Kubernetes?

As a developer PKS gives you:

• Developer-ready infrastructure in a VMware environment

• Integration with familiar development and testing tools

• A Kubernetes “dial tone” without the burden of managing it

• A self-serve provisioning option for Kubernetes clusters that are fully managed on your behalf

• Task automation so you can focus on building and delivering cloud-native applications

• Native access to Google Cloud services

• Faster and easier app deployments, logging, and monitoring

Developer

A cloud-native case in point: DISH keeps its startup edgeFrom a tech startup in 1980 to a 16,000-employee giant today, DISH Network recently turned to cloud-native practices and agile development to keep its innovative edge as a player straddling three highly competitive worlds—technology, entertainment, and telecommunications.

With Pivotal Cloud Foundry, DISH was able to maintain a fast-iterating, agile approach to development at scale. As part of this cultural push, the company opened a new collaborative space in downtown Denver where its dev team is:

• Accelerating its release cycle from quarterly to biweekly

• Making decisions at the line of the code, not in a separate conference room

• Getting back hours and days, so it can turn more ideas into apps

The road to cloud-native starts here

For enterprises that have VMware environments and want to adopt Kubernetes, PKS offers a compelling, low-risk, and low-friction path forward. But understanding how to effectively design and deploy your PKS solution is a critical first step on the path to cloud-native.

Making It Happen

Do-It-Yourself vs. PKS Kubernetes

If you’re considering a DIY Kubernetes deployment, it’s important to understand common pitfalls in this approach, and how a solution like PKS avoids them.

Most common pitfalls to DIY:

• Support complexity—Building core infrastructure in unique configurations tends to increase future support complexity, Plus, open source technologies often outpace operational security and support requirements.

• Adding more layers—Adding Kubernetes outside of your VMware needlessly increases infrastructure complexity.

• Over-engineering—Building a Kubernetes environment from scratch often results in a more complicated solution than is necessary

• The learning curve—Understanding how to build and manage DIY Kubernetes takes time and resources upfront—both of which can be better spent on supporting the platform and building integrations

Making It Happen

Redapt is one of a very few cloud and container solution providers with the certifications, engineering capabilities, and expertise spanning the entire cloud-native ecosystem. We can deliver to your on-premises private cloud a PKS solution as a ready-to-use package and build or move cloud-native applications to accelerate the business.

• Assurance that industry best practices are followed

• Accelerated training of operational and development resources

• Navigation of PKS implications for networking and storage

• Faster time to production and ROI

We can start with a readiness assessment to understand your specific needs.

Making It Happen

We’re Redapt

In today’s market you need to disrupt the disruptors. That’s why Redapt helps large enterprises successfully accelerate the transition to cloud-native applications and platforms, enabling them to outperform the competition.

Our technology agnostic viewpoint allows us to be outcome focused. We only recommend what we think are the best solutions in the market to address our customers’ unique challenges.

Our experience with born-in-the-cloud upstarts sets us apart as a systems integrator. We embrace different and prefer projects that accelerate innovation alongside our customers’ teams. Together we share knowledge, develop new skills, and achieve better results.

Learn more at redapt.com.

About Redapt