Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS): Features, Benefits & Pricing

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Do you know that companies rapidly migrate from on-premises to the cloud while developing and managing modern and cloud-native applications? Azure Kubernetes service aks is a free and open-source platform for developing and delivering cloud-native apps with full orchestration. Azure Kubernetes Solution is a high-performance, low-cost container orchestration service that lets you launch and manage containerized applications in seconds.

The topics covered in this blog are:

What is Azure Kubernetes Service?
Azure Kubernetes Service Features
Azure Kubernetes Service Benefits
Azure Kubernetes Service Use Cases
Azure AKS Pricing
FAQs
Conclusion

What is Azure Kubernetes Service?

Azure Kubernetes Service (Azure AKS) is a Kubernetes-managed service in which Azure manages the master node, and end-users manage the worker nodes. Azure AKS is a tool for deploying, scaling, and managing Docker containers and container-based applications over a cluster of container hosts. One of the most appealing aspects of AKS is that you only have to pay for the worker nodes in your clusters, not the masters. You can use the Azure portal, the Azure CLI, or template-driven deployment tools like Resource Manager templates and Terraform to create a cluster.

Handling Kubernetes components like deployments and Kubernetes pods, one can access the AKS cluster from a local machine’s terminal. It’s even possible to utilize it to set up a Kubernetes cluster.

Azure Kubernetes Service Features

Azure Kubernetes Service is a Microsoft Azure service that simplifies the deployment of managed Kubernetes clusters in the public cloud and also handles the health and monitoring of managed Kubernetes services. Customers can manage the agent nodes and create AKS clusters using the Azure interface or Azure CLI.

The Azure AKS cluster, which supervises the auto-configuration of master and worker nodes in the Kubernetes cluster, may also be deployed through a template-based deployment using Terraform and Resource Manager templates. We will look into more features:

1. Clusters and Nodes

Apps and supporting services are operated on Kubernetes nodes in AKS, and the cluster is made up of one or more nodes. Virtual machines run these Azure Kubernetes service aks nodes. The term “node pool” refers to a collection of nodes with the same configuration. The Kubernetes cluster’s nodes are scaled up and down depending on the cluster’s resource requirements. The major components of your Azure Kubernetes installation are nodes, clusters, and node pools.

2. Role-based Access Control (RBAC)

On the basis of identity and group membership, Azure AKS seamlessly connects with Azure Active Directory (AD) to enable role-based access, security, and monitoring of Kubernetes architecture. You may also track how well your AKS and apps perform.

3. One Source Environment with Enterprise Commitment

Microsoft has added a significant number of employees in the last few years to make Kubernetes easier for businesses and developers to use and participate in open-source projects. Microsoft has become the third major contributor to making Kubernetes more business-oriented, cloud-native, and accessible by bringing best practices and advanced learning from diverse customers and users to the Kubernetes community.

4. Running any Type of Workload in Azure Kubernetes Service

In the azure aks environment, you may manage any form of task. You can use Azure Kubernetes Service to move .NET apps to Windows Server containers, modernize Java apps in Linux containers, and operate microservices. In a cluster setting, AKS can run any form of workload.

5. Takes Away the Complexities

AKS simplifies Azure cloud architecture’s implementation, installation, maintenance, and security. It also saves you a lot of money because you won’t have to pay per-cluster fees.

6. Integration of Development Tools

The development tools like Helm and Draft are seamlessly integrated with AKS, allowing Azure Dev Spaces to give developers a faster and more iterative Kubernetes development experience. Containers may be operated and debugged directly in the Azure Kubernetes environment, reducing configuration load.

Azure Kubernetes service aks now supports Docker image formats and can interface with Azure Container Registry (ACR) to allow private Docker image storage. Azure AKS is also more trustworthy across diverse businesses due to constant compliance with industry standards such as System and Organization Controls (SOC), Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), ISO, and (HIPAA).

Check Out: Our blog post on Microsoft Azure Certification Path 2023

Azure Kubernetes Service Benefits

Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS) and Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) are now competing with Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS). It has a lot of useful capabilities for Microsoft Azure customers, such as creating, managing, scaling, and monitoring Azure Kubernetes Clusters. The following are some of the advantages provided by AKS:

1. Efficient Resource Utilization

The fully managed Azure Kubernetes service AKS makes containerized application deployment and management simple. The efficient resource utilization that elastically provisioned extra resources without the hassle of managing Kubernetes infrastructure makes it easy.

2. Faster Application Development

Developers spent most of their time resolving bugs, resulting in faster program development. Azure aks simplifies container orchestration and decreases debugging time by handling patching, auto-upgrades, and self-healing. It will undoubtedly save significant time, allowing developers to concentrate on developing their products while remaining more productive.

3. Cybersecurity and Compliance

Cybersecurity is one of the most significant features of modern applications and enterprises. AKS interfaces with Azure Active Directory (AD) and provides users with on-demand access, reducing threats and risks significantly. System and Organization Controls (SOC), HIPAA, ISO, and PCI DSS are just a few standards and regulatory criteria that AKS complies with.

4. Faster Development and Integration

Azure Kubernetes Service (Azure AKS) allows auto-upgrades, monitoring, and scaling, as well as reducing infrastructure maintenance, resulting in significantly faster development and integration. It also allows you to provision more compute resources in Serverless Kubernetes in a matter of seconds without having to worry about the Kubernetes infrastructure.

Also Check: Top 60+ Azure Interview Questions

Azure Kubernetes Service Use Cases

1. Existing Application Migration

You may quickly transfer existing apps to containers and operate them on Azure Kubernetes Service. You may also use Open Service Broker for Azure to regulate access via Azure AD integration and SLA-based Azure Services like Azure Database (OSBA).

2. Facilitating the Configuration and Management of Microservices-based Apps

You can also facilitate the development and management of microservices-based apps. With AKS, you can easily streamline load balance, horizontal scale, self-heal, and secret management.

3. DevOps and Kubernetes Together

For secure DevOps deployment with Kubernetes, AKS is also a trusted resource for bringing Kubernetes and DevOps together. Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) with dynamic policy controls increase the security and speed of the development process by combining the two.

4. Data Streaming

Azure aks may also be used to ingest and analyze real-time data streams containing data points from sensors and perform fast analysis.

5. Easy Scaling

You can also use AKS in a variety of other scenarios, such as scalability using Azure Container Instances (ACI) with AKS. You can utilize an AKS virtual node to create pods inside an Azure Container Instance (ACI) that start in a matter of seconds, allowing AKS to run with the resources it needs. If your AKS cluster runs out of resources, it will automatically scale out more pods without requiring any additional Kubernetes machines to manage.

Azure AKS Pricing

AKS is a free container service that does not charge for Kubernetes cluster management. It’s the most cost-effective container orchestration service on the market since you only pay for the cloud resources you use, such as VMs, storage, and network resources. Microsoft Azure created the Container Services calculator to calculate the expected cost of utilized or required resources.

You need a free account to build microservices apps, deploy Kubernetes clusters, and monitor, and manage your Kubernetes environment.

FAQs About Azure AKS

1. What is Azure Kubernetes Service?

Azure Kubernetes service (Azure aks) is a free and open-source platform for developing and delivering cloud-native apps with full orchestration. it is a Kubernetes-managed service in which Azure manages the master node, and end-users manage the worker nodes.

2. Is Azure Kubernetes service IaaS or PaaS?

Kubernetes is a free and powerful open-source container orchestration engine, which is used to setup PaaS. Many Organizations provide an IaaS version of Kubernetes by adding a layer of IaaS below K8. So, Kubernetes is neither IaaS nor PaaS.

3. Is AKS better than EKS?

The quota system of Amazon EKS’s is slightly better because of the Amazon’s better data center infrastructure. Amazon EKS provides 3,000 nodes for each cluster, whereas AKS only provides developers 1,000 nodes per cluster, So EKS is better then AKS.

4. Is Azure Kubernetes Service Serverless?

Azure Kubernetes service aks is a free and open-source platform for developing and delivering cloud-native apps with full orchestration. AKS offers serverless Kubernetes, integrated CI/CD, and enterprise-grade security and governance. AKS provides elastic provisioning without the requirement for infrastructure management.

5. Does AKS use Docker?

Yes, AKS supports the Docker image format.

6. What is difference between AKS and ACI?

Azure ACI offers container logs and alert diagrams for your hosted VMs, while AKS offers fully control over the VMs. In case of ACI, you can’t see the problems that are happening with your VMs because of the insufficient data but with AKS you can because Aks gives you remote control or a lot of tools like Kudu to connect and look what is happening with your VMs.

Conclusion

One of the most popular managed Kubernetes services is Azure Kubernetes service (Azure aks), a Kubernetes cluster developed on Microsoft’s Azure Kubernetes Platform. Kubernetes now dominates all containerization approaches available in today’s market and has no competition. Even though Kubernetes has a lot of cool capabilities, it takes a lot of manual configuration, which is where third-party services come in handy.

Introduction to Azure Kubernetes Service (Azure AKS)