Containers have caused significant disruptions in the field application development. Container management, deployment, and creation have been made possible by many tools. The debate over Kubernetes and Docker has been a key pointer in the cloud computing industry.
However, there are many ambiguities due to the lack of clarity about the differences between them. Let’s now discuss the differences between Kubernetes & Docker.
What is Kubernetes and what is Docker?
Before we get into the Kubernetes debate vs Docker, let’s first define each tool. Kubernetes, an open-source container management platform, was developed on the Google platform. It allows you to manage containerized applications in a variety of physical, virtual, and cloud environments.
The other side in the Docker-vs. Kubernetes debate is i.e. Docker is an open source platform for containerization. Docker is a platform that allows you to automate application development using lightweight and portable containers.
Let’s now look at the differences between Docker and Kubernetes from different angles.
Installation and Setup
In the Kubernetes debate, the first thing to compare is setup and installation. Kubernetes requires many manual steps to set up the Kubernetes Master, worker and related components. Docker installation is a simple one-liner command for Linux platforms like Ubuntu, CentOS, and Debian.
Multi-System Working
Kubernetes is a software-level application, not a hardware-level. It supports various workloads, including stateless, data-processing, and stateful workloads. Kubernetes can be run over Docker, but you will need to specify the command-line interface for both the API and Kubernetes.
Docker, on the other hand is available in Enterprise and Community editions. This section of Kubernetes and Docker comparison gives Docker an advantage. Docker Community offers enterprise-class support and private support channels. Docker Enterprise and Docker Community come with Docker Swarm Mode, which allows for efficient working with multiple systems.
Logging and Monitoring
Next, Kubernetes and Docker are compared on the basis of monitoring and logging. Kubernetes doesn’t provide a native storage solution to log data. You will need to integrate log solutions into the Kubernetes cluster.
Docker, on the other hand is a better choice because of the availability plugins for logging drivers that provide exceptional logging capabilities. Docker offers a variety of logging mechanisms that allow you to extract information from various operational services and containers using the logging drivers.
Capacity
The size factor is also important in comparing Kubernetes to Docker. Kubernetes supports clusters up to 5000 nodes, subject to certain criteria. Kubernetes supports clusters with a maximum of 5000 nodes, a total of 150000 pods, and a total of 300000 containers.
You should also limit the number of pods per node to 100. Docker Swarm offers exceptional container orchestration capabilities, with a maximum of 30,000 containers per node and 1000 nodes. Kubernetes has a clear advantage in terms workload capacity.
Quick Look at Differences: Kubernetes vs Docker
Let’s now look at some other differences between Kubernetes & Docker to enhance our discussion.
Docker automatically balances load while you must manually adjust load balancing settings with Kubernetes.
Docker allows you to share storage volumes between multiple containers within a single pod. Kubernetes, on the other hand can support storage volume sharing
