Kubernetes
Also known as: K8s
Kubernetes distributes containers across available servers automatically, restarts failed ones and adjusts their number to the load.
Kubernetes is an orchestration layer above containers. What is described is not which server should do what, but which state should hold: how many instances of a service run, how much compute they get, how their health is checked. Kubernetes continuously reconciles the actual state with that description.
In practice that means a failed container is replaced without anyone intervening at night. When load rises, instances are added; when it falls, they disappear again. Updates roll out step by step so that part of the service always stays reachable.
The price is complexity, and the most common mistake is buying it without need: for a single application on one server, Kubernetes is effort without return. It becomes worthwhile when several services must stay permanently available and nobody sits next to them around the clock. And it replaces no operations — network rules, permissions, updates and monitoring remain tasks somebody has to own.
What it means in practice
We use Kubernetes where a group of services has to run permanently without anyone tending each instance — at BVCC Holding, for example, for the group's containerised applications. Where a single application is enough, we explicitly advise against it.
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