As the original developer of Kubernetes and many associated open-source projects (e.g., the Istio service mesh and Knative for serverless), Google offers a rich solution suite for enterprises to consider when selecting an enterprise standard for container management. These container management services offerings (Integrated and supported by Google staff) include support for hybrid and multi-cloud environments. However, while Google makes extensive use of open source Kubernetes (and associated projects), the company’s container management portfolio is not environment-agnostic; it includes significant leverage of proprietary operational capabilities. Google, like other cloud service providers, offers its strongest functionality inside the GCP cloud.
In other words, Kubernetes-managed clusters are deployed and managed on top of, or as an extension to, the native Google Container Platform cloud services. The approach delivers the capability to deploy and operate Kubernetes clusters in the cloud, on premises and even multi cloud but continues to rely on the central GCP management platform – and managed service model – for central management, observability, security, application modernization and other value-added services.
Unlike some of its cloud service competitors, Google supports a multi-cloud architecture, and its approach to hybrid (on-premises) does not require specialized hardware. It also provides a common management approach including single-pane of glass visualization and cluster lifecycle management across cloud native and on-premises clusters. Service delivery is, however, not homogenous across cloud and on premises/multi-cloud. Container management services, i.e., Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) clusters running in the Google cloud native managed platform (GCP) enjoy a higher level of support, easier integration with cloud native services, and unique access to some newer cloud service offerings (e.g., the Artifact Registry).
Google Container Management Services Platform Product Brief Includes:
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