[aIf Kubernetes is a new term to you – and it might be if you are simply a computer user, not a computer programmer or network specialist – you might groan and say,
“Oh, no! Another crazy computer term?” But your boss has announced that your team will be using Kubernetes, so it becomes important to learn about it.
Kubernetes, an Open Source Container Management System
Kubernetes was created by Google. It’s an open-source container management system. Right away, if you are only moderately computer literate, we have some terms to define. “Open Source” goes all the way back to the beginnings of the Internet when scientists and educators had visions of being able to share knowledge openly. But even then, they foresaw a problem with copyright. If information was openly shared, how could people distinguish between their work and someone else’s work? How could they openly collaborate without copyright violations? Open source copyrighting allowed scientists, educators, and other creative people to share their work and declare it theirs without formal publication procedures.
A container management system is a little more complicated. Back in the bad old days (yes, during the infancy of the Internet), one way to control ownership of your code was to make it part of the hardware. For example, if you purchased a VIC 20 computer, you could then purchase game modules that are plugged into the machine. No programming, nothing to feed in. Just plug it in, and it’s all ready to play. But that meant that if you wanted to run two games, or if you wanted to use the VIC 20 as a word processor, you couldn’t run your game at the same time. So, if you wanted to work on your term paper and run digging or building operations on your favorite computer game at the same time, you were just out of luck. It wasn’t going to happen.
Virtual Machines, Containers, and Convenience
Gaming aside, having to install a new piece of hardware every time you want to add a new function to your computer is inconvenient and takes up a lot of space. So, along came VM or virtual machines that could handle a lot of the background stuff, like printing, connecting to the Internet, and similar functions. That was pretty cool. Then computer engineers added cloud computing, which meant you could access your email, your files, and maybe even your favorite game without having to log into your primary computer. Containers were and are part of this revolution. They allow certain functions to be portable and to work across multiple platforms and across distances. Now, that’s more than cool!
Still confused? You can do one of two things: you can sign up for classes with an online learning center that features real instructors from real universities, or you can point out to your boss that really, all he or she needs is a good Kubernetes expert or consulting agency, which will allow the staff to just use the human interface. For more information on Kubernetes consulting services, visit https://www.stackoverdrive.com/kubernetes-consulting/ Stackoverdrive.
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