Cluster API and Declarative Kubernetes Management

Chapter 4. Use Cases, Benefits, and Limitations

Kubernetes brings agility and velocity to an organization’s development environment but adds complexity. Not only does Cluster API help tame the complexity of Kubernetes, it helps drive use cases on top of the Kubernetes platform and provides additional benefits.

Managing the Cluster Lifecycle

In the journey to adopting Kubernetes, an organization often starts by thinking about the initial design and development of a single cluster. Although it’s true that Cluster API makes it easy to stand up one cluster, its real goal is lifecycle management of multiple clusters from Day 0 (creation) through Day 2 (management until end of life). This means that Cluster API simplifies operations no matter where the organization is in its journey.

Day 2 operations include scaling clusters up and down in response to demand–including potential expansions to new environments, upgrading Kubernetes and others. Because Cluster API brings consistent, declarative control to Kubernetes clusters on different types of infrastructure, you can easily give both IT and development teams the ability to provision clusters themselves.

Cluster API makes it simple to deploy and manage multiple clusters, automating cluster lifecycle management in a repeatable manner and providing centralized visibility through the management cluster. Much of the Day 2 capability of Cluster API comes from the provider plug-in architecture, with which infrastructure hosts can provide ...