Glossary · Hosting & DevOps
Kubernetes
Overview
What Kubernetes is
Kubernetes, often shortened to k8s, is the industry-standard system for orchestrating containers. Originally built at Google and now maintained by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation, it runs your containerized apps across a cluster of machines and keeps them healthy. You describe the desired state—how many copies, how much memory—and Kubernetes continuously works to match it.
How it works
Kubernetes groups containers into pods and schedules them onto nodes in a cluster. If a pod crashes or a node fails, it reschedules the workload elsewhere automatically. Built-in features handle load balancing, service discovery, rolling updates, and horizontal scaling based on demand. Configuration is written in declarative YAML, so the cluster's setup is version-controlled and repeatable.
When your business needs it
Kubernetes earns its complexity when you run many services, need high availability, or must scale elastically across clouds. For a single small app, it's usually overkill. In backend and app modernization projects, our team uses Kubernetes—typically on managed services like AKS or EKS—to run microservices reliably, paired with Docker for packaging and Terraform for provisioning.
Where we use it
Related Zen in Tech services
How our team puts Kubernetes to work in real projects.
FAQ
Kubernetes — common questions
What is the difference between Docker and Kubernetes?
Docker packages and runs individual containers; Kubernetes orchestrates many containers across many machines, handling scaling, networking, self-healing, and updates. Most teams use both—Docker to build images and Kubernetes to run them at scale.
Is Kubernetes hard to learn?
Kubernetes has a steep learning curve because it introduces many concepts—pods, services, deployments, ingress, and more. Managed offerings like Google GKE, Amazon EKS, and Azure AKS reduce the operational burden, but running it well still requires real expertise.
Do I need Kubernetes?
Only if your scale justifies it. If you run a handful of services or a single app, simpler options like a managed container service or a platform such as Vercel are easier. Kubernetes pays off with many services and demanding availability requirements.
Need Kubernetes done right?
Book a free consultation and we’ll map the fastest, most cost-effective path for your project.
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