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Container Tools

Kubernetes Cluster

  • EKS: great, but always behind
  • ECS Fargate: strange
  • AKS: great
  • GKE: the best
  • GKE Autopilot: fully managed GKE solution
  • Linode LKE: cheap
  • Digital Ocean DOKS: cheap
  • Civo CK: new comer, cheap. Based on K3S

Kubernetes Dashboards

  • K9S: Terminal graphical interface
  • Kubeapps: collection of other tools
  • Kubesphere: integrate different tools
  • K8slens: most polished dashboard
  • Octant: bad
  • Rancher: complete dashboard for multiple clusters

Development Environment

  • Dev Environment
  • Gitpod: spin a code from a git repo as a container in a remote infrastructure
  • Github Codespaces: like gitpod, but done by microsoft
  • Okteto
  • Devspace
  • Tilt
  • Codezero

  • Skaffold

  • Local Environment

  • Kind: kubernetes cluster running in a container
  • K3D: kubernetes cluster running in a container (K3S lightweight K8S distribution)
  • Minikube: kubernetes cluster running in a container or via a standalone application
  • Docker Desktop: Build container images and run kubernetes clusters
  • Rancher Desktop: Build container images and run kubernetes clusters (k3s) - Full replacement for docker
  • Microk8s: runs in a Linux VM and uses snap to install its components
  • Capsule: create namespace with steroids
  • Vcluster: create virtual k8s cluster inside of a real k8s cluster

Application Management

  • Manifests
  • Helm
  • Kustomize
  • Carvel ytt: yamls with functions. Complex
  • Jsonnet Tanka: complex

  • cdk8s: allows manifests in any language

  • Self Managed

  • Knative: self managed serverless solution
  • Kubevela: create new simpler CRDs
  • Shipa: wrapper around other tool (bad)

  • Ketch: wrapper around other tool (bad)

  • Cloud Managed

  • Fly: think about the code only. Very simple
  • Google Cloud Run: based on knative
  • Azure Container Instances: simple
  • Azure Container Apps: newer container instances
  • AWS Lightsail: aws alternative. Very simple
  • AWS ECS: AWS ECS (with or without Fargate). Competitor of Kubernetes
  • AWS Lambda: function runner (also runs container images)

Infrastructure & Service Management

  • Cluster API: control plane to manage kubernetes resources
  • Eksctl: for kubernetes clusters in AWS EKS only

Image Build

  • Kaniko: build container images remotely in a cluster as a container
  • Shipwright: wrapper around other tools to build container images