Apache CloudStack vs Kubernetes

Overview

Apache CloudStack

Stacks66

Followers250

Votes95

GitHub Stars2.7K

Forks1.2K

Kubernetes

Stacks61.2K

Followers52.8K

Votes685

Apache CloudStack vs Kubernetes: What are the differences?

Introduction

Apache CloudStack and Kubernetes are both powerful open-source platforms used for managing and orchestrating containerized applications. While they share some similarities, there are key differences that make them suitable for different use cases.

Architecture:

Apache CloudStack is primarily a cloud management platform that focuses on providing infrastructure as a service (IaaS) capabilities. It enables the management of virtual machines, networks, and storage resources in a cloud environment. On the other hand, Kubernetes is a container orchestration platform that focuses on automating the deployment, scaling, and management of containers. It provides a more lightweight and container-centric architecture.

Containerization Approach:

In Apache CloudStack, virtual machines are used as the fundamental units of execution. Applications are run within these virtual machines, which provide isolation and flexibility but come with a higher resource overhead. In contrast, Kubernetes uses containerization technology, such as Docker, to encapsulate applications and their dependencies into lightweight, portable containers. This approach allows for more efficient resource utilization and faster application deployment.

Scalability:

Apache CloudStack is designed to scale horizontally, allowing users to add more physical resources, such as servers, to meet increasing demand. It provides features like load balancing and auto-scaling to ensure optimal resource utilization. On the other hand, Kubernetes is designed to scale both horizontally and vertically. It can automatically scale the number of container replicas based on load but can also scale individual containers by adjusting their resource limits dynamically.

Application Portability:

Apache CloudStack provides a platform for running virtual machines and managing cloud resources. It supports a wide range of operating systems and applications, making it suitable for running diverse workloads. However, due to the nature of virtual machines, there can be some challenges in migrating applications between different CloudStack deployments. Kubernetes, on the other hand, focuses on container-based application portability. Containers are lightweight and can be easily moved between different Kubernetes clusters, providing greater flexibility for deploying applications across different environments.

Networking and Storage:

Apache CloudStack provides built-in networking and storage capabilities, allowing users to create virtual networks and attach virtual storage volumes to virtual machines. It supports various networking modes, including bridged, isolated, and shared modes. Kubernetes, on the other hand, does not provide built-in networking and storage solutions. It relies on plugins and integrations with external networking and storage providers to provide these capabilities. This allows users to choose and customize their networking and storage solutions based on their specific requirements.

Community and Ecosystem:

Apache CloudStack has been around since 2010 and has a well-established user and developer community. It has a robust ecosystem of infrastructure providers, virtual machine image catalogs, and third-party integrations. Kubernetes, on the other hand, has gained significant traction in recent years and has a rapidly growing community and ecosystem. It is backed by major technology companies and has a wide range of tools, plugins, and integrations available.

In Summary, Apache CloudStack is a cloud management platform that focuses on providing infrastructure as a service capabilities through virtual machines, while Kubernetes is a container orchestration platform that focuses on automating the deployment and management of containerized applications. They differ in architecture, containerization approach, scalability, application portability, networking and storage options, and community and ecosystem support.

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Advice on Apache CloudStack, Kubernetes

Simon

Senior Fullstack Developer at QUANTUSflow Software GmbH

Apr 27, 2020

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Our whole DevOps stack consists of the following tools:

@{GitHub}|tool:27| (incl. @{GitHub Pages}|tool:683|/@{Markdown}|tool:1147| for Documentation, GettingStarted and HowTo's) for collaborative review and code management tool
Respectively @{Git}|tool:1046| as revision control system
@{SourceTree}|tool:1599| as @{Git}|tool:1046| GUI
@{Visual Studio Code}|tool:4202| as IDE
@{CircleCI}|tool:190| for continuous integration (automatize development process)
@{Prettier}|tool:7035| / @{TSLint}|tool:5561| / @{ESLint}|tool:3337| as code linter
@{SonarQube}|tool:2638| as quality gate
@{Docker}|tool:586| as container management (incl. @{Docker Compose}|tool:3136| for multi-container application management)
@{VirtualBox}|tool:774| for operating system simulation tests
@{Kubernetes}|tool:1885| as cluster management for docker containers
@{Heroku}|tool:133| for deploying in test environments
@{nginx}|tool:1052| as web server (preferably used as facade server in production environment)
@{SSLMate}|tool:2752| (using @{OpenSSL}|tool:3091|) for certificate management
@{Amazon EC2}|tool:18| (incl. @{Amazon S3}|tool:25|) for deploying in stage (production-like) and production environments
@{PostgreSQL}|tool:1028| as preferred database system
@{Redis}|tool:1031| as preferred in-memory database/store (great for caching)

The main reason we have chosen Kubernetes over Docker Swarm is related to the following artifacts:

Key features: Easy and flexible installation, Clear dashboard, Great scaling operations, Monitoring is an integral part, Great load balancing concepts, Monitors the condition and ensures compensation in the event of failure.
Applications: An application can be deployed using a combination of pods, deployments, and services (or micro-services).
Functionality: Kubernetes as a complex installation and setup process, but it not as limited as Docker Swarm.
Monitoring: It supports multiple versions of logging and monitoring when the services are deployed within the cluster (Elasticsearch/Kibana (ELK), Heapster/Grafana, Sysdig cloud integration).
Scalability: All-in-one framework for distributed systems.
Other Benefits: Kubernetes is backed by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), huge community among container orchestration tools, it is an open source and modular tool that works with any OS.

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Detailed Comparison

Apache CloudStack	Kubernetes
CloudStack is open source software designed to deploy and manage large networks of virtual machines, as a highly available, highly scalable Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) cloud computing platform.	Kubernetes is an open source orchestration system for Docker containers. It handles scheduling onto nodes in a compute cluster and actively manages workloads to ensure that their state matches the users declared intentions.
Works with hosts running KVM, XenServer/XCP-ng, VMware ESXi with vSphere and HyperV; Provides a friendly Web-based UI for managing the cloud; Provides a native API; Manages storage for instances running on the hypervisors (primary storage) as well as templates, snapshots, and ISO images (secondary storage); Orchestrates network services from the data link layer (L2) to some application layer (L7) services, such as DHCP, NAT, firewall, VPN, and so on; Accounting of network, compute, and storage resources; Multi-tenancy/account separation; User management; Supports Kubernetes, Terraform, Ansible	Lightweight, simple and accessible;Built for a multi-cloud world, public, private or hybrid;Highly modular, designed so that all of its components are easily swappable
Statistics
GitHub Stars 2.7K	GitHub Stars -
GitHub Forks 1.2K	GitHub Forks -
Stacks 66	Stacks 61.2K
Followers 250	Followers 52.8K
Votes 95	Votes 685
Pros & Cons
Pros 15 Apache CloudStack works 13 Multi hypervisor 10 Easy setup 9 Real open source software 9 Open architecture	Pros 166 Leading docker container management solution 130 Simple and powerful 108 Open source 76 Backed by google 58 The right abstractions Cons 16 Steep learning curve 15 Poor workflow for development 8 Orchestrates only infrastructure 4 High resource requirements for on-prem clusters 2 Too heavy for simple systems
Integrations
No integrations available	Vagrant Docker Rackspace Cloud Servers Microsoft Azure Google Compute Engine Ansible Google Kubernetes Engine

What are some alternatives to Apache CloudStack, Kubernetes?

Rancher

Rancher is an open source container management platform that includes full distributions of Kubernetes, Apache Mesos and Docker Swarm, and makes it simple to operate container clusters on any cloud or infrastructure platform.

Docker Compose

With Compose, you define a multi-container application in a single file, then spin your application up in a single command which does everything that needs to be done to get it running.

Docker Swarm

Swarm serves the standard Docker API, so any tool which already communicates with a Docker daemon can use Swarm to transparently scale to multiple hosts: Dokku, Compose, Krane, Deis, DockerUI, Shipyard, Drone, Jenkins... and, of course, the Docker client itself.

Tutum

Tutum lets developers easily manage and run lightweight, portable, self-sufficient containers from any application. AWS-like control, Heroku-like ease. The same container that a developer builds and tests on a laptop can run at scale in Tutum.

Portainer

It is a universal container management tool. It works with Kubernetes, Docker, Docker Swarm and Azure ACI. It allows you to manage containers without needing to know platform-specific code.

OpenStack

OpenStack is a cloud operating system that controls large pools of compute, storage, and networking resources throughout a datacenter, all managed through a dashboard that gives administrators control while empowering their users to provision resources through a web interface.

Codefresh

Automate and parallelize testing. Codefresh allows teams to spin up on-demand compositions to run unit and integration tests as part of the continuous integration process. Jenkins integration allows more complex pipelines.

CAST.AI

It is an AI-driven cloud optimization platform for Kubernetes. Instantly cut your cloud bill, prevent downtime, and 10X the power of DevOps.

k3s

Certified Kubernetes distribution designed for production workloads in unattended, resource-constrained, remote locations or inside IoT appliances. Supports something as small as a Raspberry Pi or as large as an AWS a1.4xlarge 32GiB server.

Flocker

Flocker is a data volume manager and multi-host Docker cluster management tool. With it you can control your data using the same tools you use for your stateless applications. This means that you can run your databases, queues and key-value stores in Docker and move them around as easily as the rest of your app.

Related Comparisons

Apache CloudStack vs Kubernetes: What are the differences?

Introduction

Architecture:

Containerization Approach:

Scalability:

Application Portability:

Networking and Storage:

Community and Ecosystem:

Apache CloudStack vs Kubernetes

Overview