As applications scale across multiple containers and servers, Kubernetes helps simplify management. It orchestrates deployments using an open source API, grouping containers into pods for scaling based on demand and resource availability. Kubernetes also automates service discovery, load balancing, and resource allocation, and monitors health to enable self-healing by restarting or replicating containers.

For enterprise developers, here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how Kubernetes works:

• Define your application: Start by defining the desired state of your application using YAML files. These files specify the containers to run, the resources they need (CPU, memory), and how they should be exposed to the network.
• Send request to Kubernetes API: You submit these YAML files to the Kubernetes API, typically using the kubectl command-line tool.
• Scheduler assigns pods to nodes: The Kubernetes scheduler analyzes your application's requirements and finds the best nodes in the cluster to run your containers (packaged as pods).
• Kubelet launches containers: On each node, a Kubelet process receives instructions from the control plane and launches the containers.
• Services expose applications: Kubernetes Services provide a stable IP address and DNS name for your application, allowing other applications to access it, even as pods are created, destroyed, and rescheduled.
• Controllers ensure desired state: Kubernetes controllers continuously monitor the state of your application and take corrective action if needed. For example, if a pod crashes, the controller will automatically create a new one to replace it.
• Scaling and updates: You can easily scale your application by updating the number of replicas in your deployment configuration. Kubernetes will automatically create or remove pods to match the desired scale. Rolling updates allow you to deploy new versions of your application without downtime.

Kubernetes is used to create applications that are easy to manage and deploy anywhere. When available as a managed service, Kubernetes offers you a range of solutions to meet your needs. Here are some common use cases.

Kubernetes helps you to build cloud-native microservices-based apps. It also supports containerization of existing apps, thereby becoming the foundation of application modernization and letting you develop apps faster.

• Example: A financial services company uses Kubernetes to deploy microservices for its online banking platform, enabling faster development cycles and improved scalability.

Kubernetes is built to be used anywhere, allowing you to run your applications across on-site deployments and public clouds; as well as hybrid deployments in between. So you can run your applications where you need them.

• Example: A global ecommerce company uses Kubernetes to deploy its application across multiple cloud providers, ensuring high availability and avoiding vendor lock-in.

Kubernetes can automatically adjust the size of a cluster required to run a service. This enables you to automatically scale your applications, up and down, based on the demand and run them efficiently.

• Example: A media streaming service uses Kubernetes to automatically scale its video encoding infrastructure based on the number of users watching content, optimizing resource utilization, and reducing costs.