Alibaba Cloud Container Service For Kubernetes (ACK)

Container Service for Kubernetes (CSK) is a cloud-native platform designed to harness the power of Kubernetes technology. It empowers enterprises to streamline their operations by seamlessly running containerized applications in the cloud environment.

As a leading Container Service for Kubernetes provider, Alibaba Cloud offers numerous benefits and features. In this article, we will delve into the key advantages and capabilities of Alibaba Cloud CSK.

WHAT IS ALIBABA CLOUD CONTAINER SERVICE FOR KUBERNETES?

Alibaba Cloud Container Service for Kubernetes (ACK) seamlessly integrates virtualization, storage, networking, and security functionalities, empowering users to deploy applications within high-performance and scalable containers. With comprehensive lifecycle management, ACK ensures the smooth operation of enterprise-grade containerized applications.

Additionally, Alibaba Cloud boasts the distinction of being among the pioneering vendors to successfully undergo Kubernetes conformance certification tests on a global scale, underscoring its commitment to industry standards and best practices. Furthermore, Alibaba Cloud provides professional support and a suite of services tailored to meet diverse customer needs.

Improves your efficiency in deploying Kubernetes resources. You do not have to explore and develop Kubernetes by yourself.

BENEFITS OF ALIBABA CONTAINER SERVICE FOR KUBERNETES

Security and Management Alibaba Cloud leverages its robust account management system, incorporating both Alibaba Cloud accounts and RAM (Resource Access Management) users, to guarantee comprehensive security measures for applications across the enterprise. This framework not only ensures end-to-end security but also facilitates efficient permission management within the cloud environment.

Ease of Use Helps creation of containers and clusters, offering all-in-one lifecycle management for containerized applications in a unified platform.

High Efficiency and Reliability Alibaba Cloud has verified the effectiveness of this solution in large-scale scenarios, allowing users to launch a significant number of containers within a matter of seconds.

FEATURES OF ALIBABA CLOUD ACK – CONTAINER SERVICE FOR KUBERNETES

Networking – Storage – Logging Networking: Facilitates inter-container communication across diverse computing nodes. Equipped with Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) functionality to enhance network performance. Storage: Administers storage volumes and establishes connections to cloud-based disks and Network Attached Storage (NAS) file systems as accessible storage entities. Logging: Automates log collection processes and integrates them with Log Service for streamlined log management.

Monitoring – Scheduling – Routing Monitoring: Facilitates both container and virtual machine (VM) monitoring functionalities. Scheduling: Empowers users to efficiently distribute workloads across zones, ensuring optimal availability. Additionally, it enables seamless rescheduling of workloads from failed nodes. Routing: Provides the capability to route layer 4 and layer 7 requests effectively, while also binding these requests to backend containers for streamlined processing.

Permission – Authorization – Cluster Management Permission: Support the authorization of RAM (Resource Access Management) users for efficient cluster management. Authorization: Support a robust Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) system for streamlined authorization management. Cluster Management: Allows to effortlessly create or delete clusters across various regions, tailored to specific business needs.

Resource Management – Integration – High Availability Resource Management: Enables the authorization of ACK (Alibaba Cloud Kubernetes) to create new ECS (Elastic Compute Service) instances within specific clusters. Allows you to add existing ECS instances to specific clusters. Integration: Integrates with VPCs (Virtual Private Clouds) for secure and high-performance cloud solutions suitable for hybrid cloud environments. Supports integration with SLBs (Server Load Balancers) empowers container accessibility. High Availability: Supports affinity policies and horizontal scaling of services. Provides high availability and disaster recovery by using multiple zones in the same region.

CLASSIFICATION OF ALIBABA CLOUD ACK CLUSTERS

CONTAINER SERVICE FOR KUBERNETES SERVICE USAGE SCENARIO

DevOps

An optimized continuous delivery pipeline

ACK (Kubernetes as a Managed Service) collaborates with Jenkins to establish a robust DevOps pipeline. This automated pipeline streamlines the entire software delivery process, encompassing code commits, rigorous testing phases, and efficient application deployment. By enforcing strict quality control through automated testing, ACK guarantees only production-ready code reaches your environments, significantly reducing manual intervention and streamlining release cycles.

• Automated DevOps: Automates the entire DevOps pipeline, from code updates to application deployments.
• Consistent Environment: Ensures that code is delivered with its runtime environments based on a stable and unchangeable architecture.
• Continuous Feedback: Provides immediate feedback after each integration and delivery, enabling quick identification and resolution of issues.

Machine Learning

This solution helps enable the development of machine learning applications. It provides data engineers with convenient tools for deploying these applications within HPC clusters.

Benefits:

• Simplified deployment and maintenance
• Real-time model publishing
• Centralized storage in distributed systems
• These features empower data engineers to focus on machine learning development, eliminating the complexities of application deployment and maintenance.
• Quick Start and Auto Scaling; Ease of Use; Deep Integration.

Microservice Architecture

Agile Development and Deployment. Accelerate the evolution of business models with agile development.

Microservices Architecture and Containerization. Store microservice images in Alibaba Cloud’s Container Registry repositories to facilitate deployment. Leverage Alibaba Cloud’s capabilities to schedule, orchestrate, deploy, and roll out canary releases for microservices. Focus on feature enhancements while we handle the deployment process.

ACK Key Features:

Load Balancing and Service Discovery:

• Distributes requests across multiple (layer 4 and layer 7 requests and binds) for backend containers.
• Directs requests to specific containers based on rules.

Scheduling and Disaster Recovery:

• Schedules containers based on performance requirements.
• Deploys containers across different availability zones for resilience

Microservice Monitoring and Auto Scaling:

• Tracks performance and health of microservices and Automatically scales microservices based on demand.

Hybrid Cloud

A unified O&M of cloud resources

Centralized management of cloud and on-premises resources through the ACK console. Deployment of containers across any infrastructure. Utilization of identical images and orchestration templates for application deployment on both cloud and on-premises environments.

ACK enables the following features

• Cloud-Enabled Application Scaling
• ACK can scale-out applications, distributing traffic to additional resources.

Cloud-Based Disaster Recovery

Deploys business systems both on-premises and in the cloud, enabling seamless recovery in the event of a disaster.

On-Premises Development and Testing

Allows for seamless transition of applications developed and tested on-premises to the cloud.

Auto Scaling

ACK can automatically scale workloads up or down based on traffic. Prevent system downtime during traffic spikes and reduce resource usage during periods of low traffic.

ACK enables the following features:

• Quick Response: Automates scale-out events within seconds upon reaching traffic thresholds.
• Full Automation: Eliminates manual intervention during scaling operations.
• Low-Cost.
• Cost Optimization: Automates scale-in containers, reducing resource consumption during reduced traffic loads.

CONTACT PARTNERS PROVIDING ACK SERVICES IN VIETNAM

In early 2021, VinaHost Co., Ltd. became an official partner of Alibaba cloud ECS, providing Cloud Based Services. VinaHost joins Alibaba Cloud Partner Network in order to provide individuals, organizations and businesses with high quality services with higher scalability, resilience, efficiency and innovation.

For support, please contact us:

• Hotline: 1900 6046
• Email: support@vinahost.vn
• Livechat: https://livechat.vinahost.vn/chat.php

Learn more about Alibaba Cloud services: