What are the Benefits of Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS)?

If you already use Kubernetes you know how great it is. You have the scalability to adjust to sudden changes in traffic seamlessly. Your container workflow is automated and simplified, as Kubernetes takes care of container-orchestration and workflow for all your containers—including storage, logs, and networking—every day.

Kubernetes gets even better at supporting your business goals when running on Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS). Running on Amazon EKS enables Kubernetes to provide even greater benefits in terms of managing, deploying, and scaling containerized applications. EKS offers vast amounts of flexibility and a rich ecosystem as well as represents the best way to run containers on Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Running Kubernetes on Amazon EKS makes working with existing container infrastructure or migrations easier. It gives you customizable container or node management with more granular control. This expands your ability to leverage the broader Kubernetes ecosystem. If you don’t run Kubernetes on Amazon EKS, it may be time to consider migrating, as it can help you expand availability while maximizing the cost benefits and overall value of your Kubernetes investment.

Explore the Benefits of Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service

When it comes to running Kubernetes on Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service, there’s a host of enriching benefits to explore. Amazon EKS is a fully managed service, meaning you can receive all of Kubernetes’ advantages without having to keep an expert in-house or going through the trouble of maintaining your own infrastructure. Instead, EKS removes the need to architect high availability and scalability for your master nodes, so administrators can focus on their cluster and workloads. No matter what workloads you run—from web applications to databases—EKS automates load distribution and parallel processing faster and more efficiently than any human being could.

With Amazon EKS there’s no need to install, operate, or maintain your own Kubernetes control plane. Instead, you can manage the applications running on your cluster or adjust individual resources using the Kubernetes Dashboard. EKS is a certified Kubernetes conformant, making it easy to run tooling and plugins developed by the Kubernetes open-source community. And while Kubernetes is often challenging to learn, scale, secure and manage, Amazon EKS simplifies the process of building a cloud-native architecture in AWS.

The many benefits and uses of Amazon EKS continue. Your current Kubernetes assets can integrate seamlessly with AWS services using EKS, as it leverages VPC networking (though please refer to the IP addresses per ENI type when sizing your networks, as EKS worker nodes allocate the maximum per worker node). Moreover, any application running on Amazon EKS is compatible with those running on your existing Kubernetes environment, meaning you can migrate to EKS without making any code changes! This is great news for your budget, as you won’t need to hire a single developer. Tools like KIAM and ALB Ingress Controller enhance EKS’ functionality by allowing pods to assume IAM roles, and extend the native kubernetes load balancer support to include ALB, as EKS natively supports both internal/public classic and NLB annotations.

Are you still not convinced that Kubernetes is better when running on EKS? What if we told you EKS ensures availability by running Kubernetes with three masters on three AWS availability zones? Or that EKS can automatically find and replace sub-par masters, as well as implement automatic patches? With all of these benefits and functionalities, Amazon EKS provides the most optimal Kubernetes deployment, scaling, and monitoring you can get for the Cloud.

Mission Provides EKS Guidance and Expertise So You Don’t Have To

If you want to run containers on AWS you have three options: run your own Kubernetes cluster, use Amazon Elastic Container Service (Amazon ECS), or try Amazon EKS. If you run your own cluster, you’re going to need proficient IT staff in-house to maintain it, which is a considerable expense. This also places the burden of keeping up-to-date Kubernetes expertise on hand squarely on your firm. Or, you could use Amazon ECS, but all that gives you is a managed docker service that lacks EKS’ service discovery, open-source enhancements and community support.

What your firm really needs is an AWS Advanced Consulting Partner with extensive experience managing, deploying, and scaling containerized applications using Kubernetes on Amazon EKS. One that can help you achieve your business goals by giving you the expertise, resources, and strategic insight needed to fully leverage EKS, down to the last benefit.

Getting Started

Kubernetes is a versatile tool for automating and simplifying your container workflow that gives you limitless scalability at a moment’s notice. Your business should definitely run it on Amazon EKS where it can prevent single failure points by running on multiple AWS availability zones. Any applications run on your current Kubernetes environment will be compatible with and easy to migrate to Amazon EKS. And Amazon EKS comes with a variety of plugins and tooling that have been developed by the open-source community. However, migration is a major project you should delegate to AWS Certified Engineers.

Mission is the partner who offers the experience, knowledge and support you need for a successful implementation, and to have outstanding container management for the years that follow. When you’re ready to move your Kubernetes environment and applications to Amazon EKS, let us do the heavy lifting. Our expert AWS certified engineers can migrate, run, and manage all aspects of your Kubernetes infrastructure on Amazon EKS with greater efficiency and expertise than any in-house IT organization can.

From 24/7 monitoring to comprehensive routine maintenance, Mission provides all the services and detailed knowledge to help you harness the full power of Kubernetes on Amazon EKS. We free your firm so that your people can devote themselves to doing what they do best: furthering your primary business objective, without disruption.

FAQ

1. How does Amazon EKS integrate with other AWS services, such as Amazon RDS or AWS Lambda, to enhance application development and deployment?

2. Amazon EKS seamlessly integrates with other AWS services, enhancing application development and deployment by leveraging AWS's extensive ecosystem. This integration facilitates a streamlined process for deploying, managing, and scaling containerized applications with services like Amazon RDS for databases and AWS Lambda for serverless computing, offering a cohesive and efficient infrastructure.
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4. What strategies can be employed to manage costs effectively when using Amazon EKS, especially considering the pay-as-you-go pricing model?

5. Managing costs with Amazon EKS involves strategically utilizing AWS's pay-as-you-go pricing model. This can include monitoring resource usage closely with AWS Cost Management tools, optimizing cluster sizes based on demand, and choosing the right mix of instance types and sizes to balance performance and cost.
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7. What are the common challenges when migrating existing Kubernetes workloads to Amazon EKS, and how can these be addressed?

8. Migrating existing Kubernetes workloads to Amazon EKS may present challenges such as compatibility issues, data migration complexities, and adapting to AWS-specific security and networking configurations. Addressing these involves thorough planning, leveraging Amazon EKS migration tools, and possibly engaging AWS Professional Services or other AWS Premier Tier Partners, such as Mission Cloud, for a smooth transition.