UPDATED 14:07 EST / NOVEMBER 21 2019

INFRA

Rancher CEO on k3s: Kubernetes is the new Linux; you run it everywhere

Once, Kubernetes was just some geeky cloud-native project for orchestrating containers (a virtualized method for running distributed applications). Isn’t it funny how it’s worked its way into practically every tech conversation in just a few years? In fact, thanks to technologies that shrink and simplify it, Kubernetes is about to find its way into even more use cases.

With the technology and its uses expanding so rapidly, how do we even define it anymore? Sheng Liang (pictured), co-founder and chief executive officer of Rancher Labs Inc., has an idea: “Kubernetes is the new Linux, and you run it everywhere.”

Cloud, on-premises data center, bare metal, internet of things edge, Raspberry Pi, surveillance camera? Check. The developer ecosystem is invading more and more spaces through tweaks that make Kubernetes easier than ever to deploy.

Liang spoke with Stu Miniman (@stu), host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, and guest host John Troyer (@jtroyer), chief reckoner at TechReckoning, during the KubeCon + CloudNativeCon event in San Diego, California. They discussed the next wave of Kubernetes development and use cases (see the full interview with transcript here). (* Disclosure below.)

The edge requires an ultra light, “zero-touch” Kubernetes distribution that runs like an embedded Windows or Linux server, according to Liang. This is precisely what Rancher Labs’ k3s — inspired by the fiddling of some Ranchers at Chick-fil-A — brings to market.

“We were able to take away a lot of the baggage that came with having all the drivers that were necessary to run Kubernetes in the cloud. And we were also able to dramatically simplify what it takes to actually start Kubernetes and operate it,” Liang stated.

This is your complex, microservices-based app on k3s

The market reception for k3s has been “tremendous,” according to Liang. Customers include a manufacturer who bundled k3s with an appliance they sell in order to run a sophisticated application on it.

Kubernetes is not really managing a cluster, but it’s managing all the application components and microservices,” Liang explained. 

An ISV decided to re-platform its microservices-based software on Kubernetes. “They don’t just run the software themselves; they have to ship the software to the end users. … They took k3s and bundled it into their application as if it were an application server … then they shipped the whole thing to their customers,” Liang explained. 

Rancher is also trying to solve Kubernetes’ persistent-storage problem with ecosystem partners Portworx Inc., StorageOS Ltd. and OpenEBS — something that has historically choked enterprise adoption.

That could easily double, triple the amount of workload that could be onboarded into Kubernetes,” Liang concluded. 

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the KubeCon + CloudNativeCon event. (* Disclosure: Rancher Labs Inc. sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither Rancher Labs nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE

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