OpenShift and Kubernetes are primarily based on containerization. It is the amalgamation of functions for efficient upgrading, administration and deployment across completely different infrastructures.
This allows for scalability and brings extra eco-friendly utility enhancements. More than 75% of Companies are expected to utilize containerization by 2022.
About Openshift
OpenShift is a software container framework created by open-source software provider Red Hat. According to some sources, Kubernetes is a distributed system kernel, while OpenShift is the distribution.
At its core, OpenShift is a cloud-based Kubernetes container platform that is considered a containerization and platform-as-a-service (PaaS) software.
OpenShift is also built on Docker, which is another popular containerization platform.
OpenShift offers consistent security, built-in monitoring, centralized policy management, and compatibility with Kubernetes for handling containerized workloads.
OpenShift has speed, thus enabling the provision of services independently and integrated with various tools.
In other words, there is no vendor lock-in. Formerly known as Origin, OKD’s OpenShift open-source platform enables developers to build, test, and deploy applications in the cloud.
The platform also supports several programming languages, including Go, Node.js, Ruby, Python, PHP, Perl, and Java.
Features
- It can more quickly and agilely create and launch applications.
- Many other DevOps tools can be easily integrated with it.
- For each release, it checks for several third-party plugins.
- Easy to use either locally or with any cloud service provider.
- It supports the Open Container Initiative (OCI) for hosting and running containers.
- It contains several fixes for performance, bugs, and security issues.
- Prometheus and Grafana are supported, which helps with cluster monitoring.
- It can quickly build and deploy policies using the unified console in Red Hat.
- Access control, network, and enterprise registry with built-in scanners are just a few of the basic security features of Red Hat OpenShift.
- Applications based on Red Hat OpenShift can grow to thousands of instances across hundreds of nodes in seconds.
With the help of a 3-node cluster, one Red Hat OpenShift node, and remote worker nodes, Red Hat OpenShift improves support for smaller footprint topologies in edge scenarios. This topology better suits various edge sites’ physical size, connectivity, and availability requirements.
About Kubernetes
Kubernetes is an open-source container-as-a-service (CaaS) framework created by Google developers over a decade ago. At its core, Kubernetes is a portable, open-source containerized system that enables developers to manage services and workloads.
The system will automate the process of application deployment, scaling, and operations.
Kubernetes is part of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation, enabling application developers to take advantage of capabilities such as self-monitoring, process automation, container balancing, storage orchestration, and many more.
Features
- It can be used free of charge on any platform as it is open-source.
- You can quickly roll back and roll out to handle downtime automatically.
- It provides load-balancing features for network traffic distribution.
- It has a strong and active development and engineering community, which helps in the ongoing release of new features.
- It supports multiple programming languages and frameworks, giving developers and administrators freedom.
It has a default dashboard which provides lots of data to understand every aspect of the cluster. - This helps in utilizing infrastructure resources effectively and lowering overall costs.
- To launch the application, Kubernetes installs and adds the storage system of your choice.
- With Kubernetes, you can quickly and efficiently scale your resources vertically and horizontally.
- Containers that fail during execution can be automatically restarted by Kubernetes, and containers that do not react to user-defined health checks will be killed. However, if a node fails, it replaces it and redistributes the failed container to other active nodes.
Openshift vs Kubenertes
Kubernetes and OpenShift have robust and scalable architectures that allow for fast, large-scale application development, deployment, and management.
OpenShift and Kubernetes Table Comparison
| OpenShift | Kubernetes | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Container application platform for enterprise applications | Open-source container orchestration platform |
| Vendor | Red Hat | Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) |
| Architecture | Kubernetes-based architecture with additional features and capabilities | Core container orchestration platform |
| Deployment | Can be deployed on-premises, on public or private cloud, or as a managed service | Can be deployed on-premises, on public or private cloud, or as a managed service |
| User Interface | Web console with additional features for enterprise users | Dashboard for Kubernetes |
| Security | Integrated security features with role-based access control (RBAC), security context constraints, and other security mechanisms | Integrated security features with RBAC, network policies, and other security mechanisms |
| Networking | Built-in software-defined networking (SDN) with support for multiple network plugins | Built-in SDN with support for multiple network plugins |
| Registry | Built-in container image registry with support for private images | Container image registry needs to be configured separately |
| Application management | Built-in application management with support for source-to-image (S2I) builds and templates | Application management needs to be configured separately using Helm charts or other tools |
| Support and maintenance | Subscription-based support with regular updates and maintenance from Red Hat | Open-source community support with regular updates and maintenance from Kubernetes contributors |
| Integration | Integrates well with other Red Hat products and technologies, such as JBoss Middleware and Ansible automation | Integrates well with other cloud-native technologies and open-source projects, such as Istio and Prometheus |
These two platforms have in common that they both run on the Apache 2.0 License. Here are some of the differences between Kubernetes and OpenShift.
1. Deployments
Kubernetes offers more flexibility as an open-source framework and can be installed on almost any platform, such as Microsoft Azure and AWS, as well as any Linux distribution, including Ubuntu and Debian.
OpenShift, on the other hand, requires Red Hat’s proprietary Red Hat Enterprise Linux Atomic Host (RHELAH), Fedora, or CentOS. This narrows the options for many businesses, especially if they still need to start using the platform.
2. Security
OpenShift has a stricter security policy. For example, it is forbidden to run containers as root. The platform also offers a safe-by-default option for increased security. Kubernetes does not have built-in authentication or authorization capabilities, so developers must manually generate tokens and other authentication procedures.
3. Support
Kubernetes has a large, active community of developers who constantly collaborate on improving the platform. The platform also offers support for multiple frameworks and languages. OpenShift has a much smaller support community limited mainly to Red Hat developers.
4. Releases and Updates
Kubernetes has an average of four releases annually, while OpenShift trails by around three. Kubernetes also supports multiple concurrent and simultaneous updates, while OpenShift does not have such support.
5. Network
Kubernetes does not have a network solution but allows users to use third-party network plug-ins. OpenShift, on the other hand, has an out-of-the-box networking solution called Open vSwitch, which comes with three native plug-ins.
6. Templates
Kubernetes offers Helm templates that are easy to use and provide great flexibility. OpenShift does not offer flexible or user-friendly templates.
7. Container Image Management
OpenShift allows developers to use Image Stream to manage container images. At the same time, Kubernetes does not offer container image management features.
Kubernetes and OpenShift are popular container management systems with unique features and benefits.
While Kubernetes can help automate deploying, scaling, and operating applications, OpenShift is a container platform that works closely with Kubernetes to help applications run more efficiently.
8. Interface and User Experience
Kubernetes’ complicated web interface may confuse newbies.
Users must install the Kubernetes dashboard and use a Kube-proxy to port their machine to the server cluster to view the Kubernetes graphical user interface (GUI) web.
Since the dashboard does not have a login page, the user must generate a bearer token to provide authentication and authorization.
On the other hand, OpenShift offers an easy-to-use online console with a one-touch login page. The console provides users an easy-to-use form-based interface that allows adding, deleting, and modifying resources. With OpenShift, the user clearly benefits.