Understand Azure Kubernetes Service Architecture and Components

Summary

In this video series, the speaker introduces Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), a powerful tool for managing containerized applications. The series covers the basics of AKS, comparing it with Google's Kubernetes, and delving into its features like RBAC, scaling, and monitoring. Over eight videos, viewers will learn to deploy, troubleshoot, and optimize AKS clusters, with a focus on making applications scalable and cloud-agnostic. The series aims to provide hands-on experience with AKS, including integration with tools like Prometheus and Grafana, and managing multi-tenant environments.

Takeaways

• 🚀 Introduction to a new series on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), focusing on building and understanding AKS from scratch.
• 🔄 Kubernetes (K8s) is highlighted as a crucial technology for deploying scalable, cloud-agnostic applications, overcoming challenges of bare-metal dependencies.
• 🌐 The series will cover 8 videos, focusing on key topics like understanding AKS, setting up clusters, troubleshooting, and using Azure CLI for deployment.
• 🔧 Explanation of non-Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) clusters and how to manually create AKS clusters with different configurations.
• ⚙️ Troubleshooting techniques are discussed, including diagnosing issues like pod crashes and using Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, and Application Insights.
• 💻 The series will delve into interacting with RBAC-enabled clusters using CLI, exploring concepts like nodes, pods, namespaces, and containers.
• 📊 Monitoring multi-tenant AKS clusters with tools like Prometheus and Grafana to ensure data isolation and provide customer-specific insights.
• 🔍 Integration of Grafana dashboards with Azure Active Directory and the importance of application-specific monitoring for troubleshooting.
• 💰 Discussion on cost management in multi-tenant AKS clusters, using tools like Kubecost to calculate and allocate costs based on cluster usage.
• 🔒 Emphasis on security best practices, including the use of ingress controllers and app gateways to securely route traffic within AKS clusters.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the video series mentioned in the script?

The video series focuses on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), covering its features, differences from other Kubernetes services, and how to implement and troubleshoot AKS clusters.

Why did the speaker take a break before creating this new video series?

The speaker took a break to develop content that is useful and addresses real-life challenges in executing tasks, specifically related to AKS and Kubernetes.

What is Kubernetes, and how is it beneficial for application deployment?

Kubernetes is a platform for automating the deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications. It allows for easy deployment, scaling, and management of applications, which can run on various environments like virtual machines, on-premises, or in the cloud.

How does Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) differ from Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)?

AKS is managed by Azure and includes specific components like the control plane managed by Azure, while Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) is managed by Google. The video series will explore these differences and the advantages and limitations of using AKS over GKE.

What is the purpose of creating an RBAC-enabled AKS cluster?

An RBAC (Role-Based Access Control) enabled AKS cluster is created to manage permissions and access controls more effectively. It ensures that only authorized users can access and manage the Kubernetes resources within the cluster.

What is the significance of namespaces in Kubernetes?

Namespaces in Kubernetes are used to logically group and isolate resources within a cluster. They help in managing and organizing the deployment of different applications and resources within a Kubernetes cluster.

What are some of the key topics covered in the video series?

The series covers various topics, including understanding AKS, spinning up AKS clusters, troubleshooting issues, deploying clusters via the Azure portal and CLI, interacting with RBAC-enabled clusters, monitoring solutions, and cost management for multi-tenant AKS clusters.

What monitoring solutions are mentioned for AKS in the script?

The script mentions using Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Prometheus, and Grafana for monitoring AKS clusters. These tools help in tracking application-specific and customer-specific data, especially in multi-tenant environments.

Why is data isolation important in a multi-tenant AKS cluster?

Data isolation is crucial in a multi-tenant AKS cluster to ensure that each tenant's data is kept separate and secure, preventing one tenant's data from being accessed by another tenant. This is important for maintaining data privacy and security.

How does the script describe handling ingress traffic in AKS?

Ingress traffic in AKS is managed through an ingress controller, which maps DNS to the services running within the cluster. This setup ensures that external traffic is securely routed to the correct applications within the AKS cluster.

Outlines

00:00

🎥 Introduction to Kubernetes and the Series Overview

The speaker introduces a new video series focused on Kubernetes (often referred to as 'K8s'), particularly the Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS). They highlight the importance of creating practical solutions to real-world challenges, specifically in cloud computing and scalability. The speaker discusses the differences between AKS and Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), emphasizing the cloud-agnostic nature of AKS. The series will consist of at least eight videos, covering fundamental concepts like deploying applications on Kubernetes, understanding key terminologies, and exploring the advantages of AKS over other platforms.

05:01

🔧 Kubernetes Troubleshooting and Cluster Deployment

This paragraph delves into the series' content, specifically troubleshooting Kubernetes clusters and deploying AKS clusters using both the Azure portal and command-line interfaces (CLI). It discusses the role of clusters, nodes, namespaces, and other Kubernetes components. The speaker emphasizes the importance of understanding RBAC (Role-Based Access Control) for secure and efficient cluster management. Troubleshooting techniques will be explored, focusing on monitoring tools like Azure Monitor and Application Insights to diagnose and resolve issues within the cluster.

10:01

🚀 Advanced Kubernetes Deployment and Multi-Tenant Solutions

This section covers more advanced topics such as deploying Kubernetes clusters with multi-tenant support. It discusses the need for data isolation and customer-specific monitoring when using a shared cluster. The speaker mentions integrating Prometheus and Grafana for detailed monitoring and analysis, ensuring that each tenant's data remains secure and separate. The paragraph highlights the importance of cost management, particularly in a multi-tenant environment, and the role of tools like KubeCost in providing insights into resource usage and expenses.

15:05

🔒 Ingress Controllers and Secure Traffic Management in AKS

Here, the focus shifts to traffic management within AKS clusters, particularly the use of ingress controllers to route external traffic to the appropriate Kubernetes pods. The speaker explains how DNS mapping and secure communication protocols like SSL can be implemented to protect applications. They emphasize the need for careful management of public IPs and suggest using app gateways to enhance security. The concept of ingress controllers is further explored, including how they work with Kubernetes API servers and how admins can manage traffic flow effectively.

20:05

🛠️ Understanding the AKS Control Plane and Node Management

This final paragraph provides an in-depth explanation of the AKS control plane, managed by Azure, and how it interacts with nodes within the cluster. The speaker explains the responsibilities of cluster administrators in managing node size, scaling, and configuring autoscale settings. They describe the role of the Kubernetes API server, controller manager, and etcd storage in managing the cluster’s operations. The paragraph also touches on the billing implications of node management and how customers can optimize costs by adjusting their node configurations.

Keywords

💡AKS (Azure Kubernetes Service)

AKS is a managed Kubernetes service offered by Microsoft Azure, allowing users to deploy, manage, and scale containerized applications using Kubernetes. In the video, AKS is discussed as a tool to make applications more scalable and cloud-agnostic, with a focus on its differences from Kubernetes services provided by other platforms like Google.

💡Kubernetes

Kubernetes is an open-source platform designed to automate deploying, scaling, and operating application containers. The video explores how Kubernetes allows for the rapid deployment of applications and how Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) builds on this foundation to offer cloud-native benefits like easier scaling and management.

💡Containerization

Containerization involves encapsulating an application and its dependencies into a container, which can run consistently across different environments. The video highlights how Kubernetes and AKS use containerization to manage applications more efficiently, making them independent of underlying hardware or operating systems.

💡Pods

Pods are the smallest deployable units of computing that can be created and managed in Kubernetes. Each pod contains one or more containers. The video discusses how pods are grouped under namespaces and are critical for running applications within a Kubernetes or AKS cluster.

💡Namespaces

Namespaces in Kubernetes are used to logically separate resources within a cluster, providing a scope for names. This concept is emphasized in the video as a way to organize and manage resources such as pods and containers, particularly in multi-tenant environments.

💡Ingress Controllers

Ingress Controllers manage external access to the services in a Kubernetes cluster, typically through HTTP. The video details how ingress controllers are used in AKS to route traffic to the appropriate pods, making them essential for exposing applications to external users securely.

💡RBAC (Role-Based Access Control)

RBAC is a method of regulating access to computer or network resources based on the roles of individual users within an organization. The video explains the importance of RBAC in securing AKS clusters, particularly when setting up and managing permissions in a multi-tenant environment.

💡Virtual Machine Scale Sets (VMSS)

VMSS in Azure allows you to create and manage a group of load-balanced VMs. The video covers how AKS uses VMSS to scale the underlying infrastructure of the Kubernetes clusters, providing the compute power needed to run the pods and containers.

💡Multi-Tenancy

Multi-tenancy refers to a software architecture where a single instance of software runs on a server and serves multiple tenants. The video discusses the challenges of implementing multi-tenancy in AKS, particularly in ensuring data isolation and secure access between different customers sharing the same cluster.

💡Cost Management

Cost Management in AKS involves tracking and optimizing the expenses associated with running Kubernetes clusters. The video highlights the importance of tools like KubeCost for monitoring resource usage and calculating costs in a multi-tenant AKS environment, allowing stakeholders to manage and reduce operational expenses effectively.

Highlights

Introduction to a new video series on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) that covers deploying and scaling applications with Kubernetes.

Explains the concept of AKS, focusing on how it differs from Kubernetes services provided by Google and other platforms.

The importance of AKS in making applications scalable and cloud-agnostic by removing dependencies on specific operating systems or hardware.

Discussion on the ease of deploying and scaling applications within seconds using Kubernetes, emphasizing its impact on modern IT operations.

Overview of the eight-video series, which will cover various aspects of Kubernetes, including terminology, cluster creation, and application deployment.

Details on creating a non-RBAC (Role-Based Access Control) enabled AKS cluster and understanding key parameters during the process.

Explanation of basic Kubernetes concepts like namespaces, pods, clusters, and how they relate to AKS.

Introduction to RBAC-enabled AKS clusters, including the need for Azure AD apps, API permissions, and other configurations.

Coverage of troubleshooting issues with AKS clusters, such as crash loopback errors, and using Azure monitoring tools like Azure Monitor and Application Insights.

Discussion on deploying AKS clusters via CLI using Cloud Shell and the advantages it offers over manual portal deployment.

The importance of monitoring solutions for AKS, especially in multi-tenant environments, and the introduction of Prometheus and Grafana for enhanced monitoring.

Detailed explanation of multi-tenant AKS clusters, including data isolation, monitoring customer-specific data, and integration with Prometheus and Grafana dashboards.

Introduction to cost management in multi-tenant AKS clusters using tools like KubeCost to calculate usage and billing for individual tenants.

Explanation of how Kubernetes masters are managed by Azure in AKS, focusing on the differences in control and billing compared to Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE).

Overview of the AKS control plane components like the API server, scheduler, and controller manager, and how they interact with nodes and pods.

Transcripts

hey guys so after a long time that you

guys back with some more excitement

series so this time we're gonna talk

about a case from scratch so I took a

time a while a break before making many

videos I've talked to you know they make

something useful because basically we

require to you know always make

solutions around the challenges which we

face day to day life and executing

executing your particular tasks so a

case is a the booming consul booming

concept which has come up so a case is

nothing but I should Cuban at his

service so what is that you community

service does so and how it is different

from different you know the Cuban IT

service from the Google itself okay so

and this particular series we're gonna

talk a lot about a kiss and we'll have a

lot of hands-on on integration like if

your organization is selecting or

picking up a solution for picking up a

solution to build a case or a security

service why you would require as your

community service because I would

trigger a required because you know I

have applications which are running on a

virtual machine or which are running on

on-premise and I want to make it more

scalable and more cloud agnostic okay

sorry to make cloud agnostic you need to

cut out the bare metal dependency which

your application would be having but you

know it can be your application can only

run on Windows your application can only

run on a Linux machine open to further

are any other machines or which has been

tightly coupled or the even you know it

can be run on VM a VMware like that so

so the Kuban it is came like worried

like a few years back and it had made

lot of impact because the ease of

deploying applications within cycle

within seconds and spinning of

applications and people

you can you can say in a scaling of

applications are also so easy so so my

this particular area cities will have

many of the things like you know so it

will be the cities would be constituting

of at least eight videos as of now and

each of these videos will try to get

into some objectives which would clear

many of the Cuban it is terminologies

which are bit hard to understand of the

Cuban it is or the application how does

actually you can deploy an application

to the Cuban itis cluster what is

replica where the namespaces what are

parts what are class in the world

exactly there is cluster and there are

lot more things about it and how exactly

you know like or why did the Microsoft

had gone to you know get this particular

product donation platform so there are a

lot of things which comes hand in hand

with Cuban artists and which other

particular services like the Dhaka swamp

which was initially I can say it's a pre

you know pretty concept of Cuban artists

but it couldn't click and that's a

product from Microsoft but why did Cuban

it is has clicked so good so you will

understand the you know occur with the

entire sales going on going on like will

be having lot of videos not these eight

videos so let's pick up like what

particular you know videos or what

particular concepts we gonna cover so

the first video would are in the series

word which is today they'll be covering

up understanding as your Cuba needed

service and how exactly differs from the

version that Google publishes the Cuban

itis and we'll see also the limitations

of using a case not Cuban it is from the

Google and and advantages obviously and

then we will go through words you know

the second video would cover spinning on

a case cluster basically an on our back

enabled a case cluster we will be gonna

create manually

but I understand all the parameters

which we will be king in into the portal

so so we will go and be create resource

and we sell it something is Cuban it is

service and you know whatever these key

parameters which you can see will be

trying to explain and after that like

basically keep a note this would be non

are back cluster which means the non

role based access control particular

cluster which will not work or the

cluster users cannot login or cannot

take advantage of our back feature which

is provided by Azure Active Directory

but yes we will discuss upon few

terminologies clusters nodes namespaces

sports containers applications sorry you

deploying to continuous and we will

define how how about you know English

control and English is booked and the

third video would be having you know

more of troubleshooting issues with the

cluster so if your part is not running

if your pod collapses and like things

like if you deploy something and your

pod goes into the crash loopback and

there are a lot of parameters which are

pasted you know daily day to day basis

by many of the engineers so and we will

try to debug with the default monitoring

which are given by I shot like if you

take an example that is your monitor the

log and analytics or the OEMs in a built

on it or you know that we have few

features of application in sites which

have been enabled on top of it but it

won't be enough visible directly to you

so those things we're gonna discuss on

video 3 and video for would be more of

spinning on a case cluster on Azure

portal but why are the CLI which means

we're gonna use are either cloud shell

to deploy us a cluster but this would be

an our back and a blue cluster so the

are by cannibal questions would require

lot of changes you know you need 80 apps

server app ad app and client ad hab and

you would need certain API permissions

and in order to allow API permissions

you would require admin

okay and so this particular cannibal

cluster would provide boost you with a

lot of different features which you're

gonna have and for your kind information

so CLM provides a lot of different

beaches which you can enable which you

can't actually do with the portal and

the manual way right now as of today on

20th March 2008 and going forward we

will be looking onto the video 5 so it

would see about more interacting with

our back and I will enable aqueous

cluster there are a few of the

differences which you will find with the

normal without or non-arabic you know

you can say like as an on our back

cannibal clusters and our back and

edible clusters how they differ you will

be coming to know we'll be using large

cute little cute little commands for

provisioning deep provisioning part

spinning up of containers draining nodes

and will understand replica sex how

exactly they're gonna work probably we

will go more into availability zones and

lot of different concepts and the video

six will have the monitoring solutions

you know since the native default

solutions modeling solutions which are

provided by sure are not enough if you

are going for your a case clusters which

is multi-tenant support which means you

will be using a single cluster but

you'll be sharing with various different

customers various different applications

so when you do that you need to take

care of a data isolation you do not mix

up our customers data with another

customer strata or you do not reveal the

secrets all the certificates which have

been installed for one particular

customer with that other particular

customer because at the end of the day

when you say it's a single cluster so

the beam the metal which is underneath

you know the drives can be accessed by

the other particular users in the class

right so how we gonna tackle or how we

gonna build a system a multi-tenant a

case cluster so and monitoring solutions

we gonna talk about

and you know like when we built

multi-tenant systems obviously you know

the demotic solutions also need to be

very impact you know impact Oh or should

get the analysis of the application

specific customer specific data or it

should only monitor the customer

specific data not others

so for that only be have integration

have integrated Prometheus which ease us

like Prometheus is a different

installation but in order to make our

life easy I just made it as a container

image and I use that image and then I

spin up on the same cluster where we

have this aqueous cluster be running and

we will use at Ravenna which is a

beautiful which produces beautiful

charts and he'll be very interested and

then like it would give very application

or you know customer specific data which

with which you can also use to you know

troubleshoot the issues with your

cluster or the pods usage or the

namespace usage or the containers usage

and going forward like we will go on the

video seven which will have integration

of graph on the dashboards with Azure

Active Directory I'll show this how it

gonna look exactly in the next next

portion and the video eight would be

having you know the cost is main for

every particular tenant admins or

stakeholders because they need to

calculate and when you go with a multi

tenant a case clusters you need to

calculate his per specific individuals

or per customer calculation so much they

are using how much the load they are

putting on the cluster basing upon then

you would be calculating the cost and

producing a bill for them so for that

we'll be integrating with queue cost has

a basic preliminary thing and then we

will you know while we make all of these

particular pcs and hands-on will be pro

and we'll be putting up more of the

videos going forward so let's go and try

to understand what exactly is

I should Cuban it service so so you must

be knowing about Cuban artists so Cuban

artists provides what you can do with

Cuban a disease like you have an

application then you can take your

application and you continue nice its

containerize it or make an image make a

docker image out of it and then you

deploy on to any of the services like

like you can push on to the Dorcas form

or you can have something known as your

Cuban Air Service or Cuban at ease or

directly ok so what happens so when he

use our Cuban it is a key s it is

community service so so this is a plane

this is a particular portion which a

case I can say which would have your

pots and you have which will have a

component like Cuban at this API okay

and then you have certain components

which dumps your particular logs into or

interact with the ERM for the hie see

and what happens you know when you spin

up an aqueous cluster it provisions a

few things like the cluster can be

provisioned with the help of nodes like

the cluster can have notes or the

cluster can have the virtual machine

scales it's so the virtual machine skill

sets will internally will have nodes

okay and note when I say it's it's and

the background is just virtual machines

so the virtual machines who are the

nodes so you can see the ek is cluster

will have a cluster will have nodes

nodes are like virtual machines it can

be under be emesis so via mrs.

advantages are different so which we are

going to speak about it and the nodes

will have something called as thoughts

and the parts are categorized or you

know grouped under namespaces so when we

talk many many things about cuba cuban

it is we have a logical grouping or in

cuban at a service like namespaces so

and namespaces are sort of you know

resource groups and isha and you can

take advantage of the namespaces and our

to segregate you resources segregate

your pots segregate what if the

resources you're going to spin on that

particular pots and the respective pots

you can segregate the ingresses so

basically the increases are nothing

because if you have a acres cluster or a

single cluster the single cluster may be

having lot of namespaces and lot of

namespaces may have parts and each part

will be having containers running so in

the container you have your application

okay so how does that traffic you know

the user are sitting outside the world

but know exactly re-routed exactly into

the application which is running inside

the container which is running inside

the pot and which is running inside a

purse pacific cluster so this is where

you know you have for the concept of

ingress controller English which

actually maps of with your dns DNS

mapping like if you use a certificate or

you need to do end dienes mapping where

in the dns you know for the dns

providers like gue dairy or any of the

or you can use ISO DNS itself to map

your particular service which is running

inside your container which is inside a

pot expose outside to the world okay so

so I want to make it more secure and you

don't you will not be an oak we don't

suggest to create your own public IP to

expose outside to the world rather use

an app gateway for your enterprise and

tag your particular ap in your

particular ipace and the half gateway

and and and then tag that particular IP

intent externally to the DNS provider so

whenever you use the type something

called as X Y Z dot my Cuban it service

it would resolute back to the hop

gateway and that gateway knows where

exactly your application is sitting okay

and then it would follow that particular

traffic to here and then if you use SSL

or has TTP s lot of traffic then you can

cut off the extra traffic and just read

out your has to TP calls to your

particular very particular to your

container so that you

like there's a concept something called

is a termination which you can use and

and you can also mention like the

traffic if it is coming they are the

English controller you can mention how

much data of you know UK you you were

try to allow or you know you would allow

to come inside your application because

if you are sharing your cluster in that

in that cases you can split the request

you know see the applications to split

the request into chance and Allah only a

specific size of data to come and and

you can mention HTTP requests for word

is everything and those things will come

up you will come to know slowly and this

is how you know like the requests so if

I want to in if if as an admin I guess

admin if I want to communicate to what

tube shuttle commands so the cue cuddle

commands always interact with Cuba near

sapa ok you do not interact with ports

or containers directly but it would it

would always delegate your command the

cuticle come out like you know you will

say in cucuta come on like spinner pods

so the EBS over inside the eks would

listen to you first and you can interact

with the clout clumps and you can

interact the bash or anything but for

that you are your admin the cluster

admin should give you a cube config file

and i'll train track to with the

specific cluster so what is the cube

config file ham so the cube config file

have very specific information about you

know which particular cluster you have

access to and which particular resource

ities which particular resource group or

subscription it is and you can you know

that gives you context or in a set of

context to you know start a session with

your cabinet is a PS over so that's

that's one way bare admins order you

know or the developers would interact

with cluster but yes if once you have

applications installed on thorn but on

your rake is cluster so the traffic need

to come it comes with a different way it

comes from the Erb gateway or any of the

Kuipers you expose with an external load

balancer so you when you do that and

that in the traffic's and you know the

applications are exposed to add this way

so your external users will not come the

request will not come any at any point

with the API so rather the admin the

developers will have four can the

traffix would come them a piece of but

the external traffic comes always from

the outside world

deadly to the pause and to the

continuous not to where the episode and

if you go the same thing like the

terminators have something called as

masters and the nodes concept so in as

you accumulate a service if we speak

about the differences how what how it

differs from the cumulative service from

the Google so the Cuban it is master

which we have in Asia Cuba in the

service is maintained by I shop there

are a few of the things which they want

to make in control and it's not on the

Cuban notice master how frequently or

have load it's taking up it or not

matters because I sure gives as a

service to you and it's it's not

billable the only available things with

the ICCA's cluster is your nodes so what

sort of or what size of nodes and you

know that you are running would be the

only you know for particular particular

parameter which would reduce you a lot

of billing ok so if you if you spin up a

node with you know basic size or that

acquired size only that would be great

you can save a lot of cars and for that

for those you know for how to cut cause

this particular particular course and

other other consents we have something

called as you know the cube cost and

other monitoring solutions or cost

monitoring solutions which we have which

would be discussing in in video 7 and 8

which would really help you in cutting

out chlorophyll costs and so the

cumulative master bits which we talked

which we're talking about so the

developer admins of the operators would

interact with the API server and API

server will have something called as

controller controller manager scheduler

and it would have in at City storage so

where the context we know about the

developer information who is interacting

with the cluster would be stored in here

for for future purposes like you know

like setting up the session

frequent sessions and other stuff and

this particular particular portion is

called as a control plane and because

you do lot of control control of your

nodes and pawns by this particular

control plane and the users aren't

directly as I said they integrate and

they come with the app gateway or the

extra load balances so this is how the

users are coming to your queue proxy and

then and the queue proxy or the ingress

proxy or the ingress is what you define

they would come and come through that so

increases would also tackle with you

your proxy the the request which come

would come to the queue proxy and then

would be redirected to the pots with the

use of ingresses so in our series we

would be using engines which is widely

used to configure our ingress

controllers and ingresses and reroute

the traffic if we go ahead and try to

understand a bit more about the control

plane and so this is the control and as

I said like I sure manage that

particular control plane it Marisol

let's see let's see

yet City City Stories the API server and

the scheduler if something if we are

defining like the nodes when they should

start and stop

so the that that would be you know - by

shot and the controller manager is

managed by a short you just need to

interact with cubicle thematts so the

customer what the manage is the nodes

the size of the nodes the number of

nodes in the number of replicas of nodes

they want to scale up scale down you can

set auto scale on top of it if you're

using something called as via missus

okay and your custom or custom