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Docker Swarm vs k3s: What are the differences?

Introduction

Docker Swarm and k3s are both container orchestration platforms used to manage and scale containerized applications. While they share similarities, there are key differences between the two.

  1. Scalability and Complexity: Docker Swarm is a more mature and feature-rich orchestration tool compared to k3s. It allows scaling to thousands of nodes and supports advanced features like service discovery, load balancing, and rolling updates. On the other hand, k3s is designed to be lightweight and lightweight, suitable for resource-constrained environments like IoT devices or edge computing. It sacrifices some advanced features for simplicity and ease of use.

  2. Installation and Resource Requirements: Docker Swarm requires a Docker daemon on each node, which leads to higher resource utilization. It also needs a dedicated manager node for cluster coordination. In contrast, k3s is a single binary that includes both the Kubernetes components and container runtime. It has minimal resource requirements, making it easier to install and run on low-spec devices.

  3. Community Support and Ecosystem: Docker Swarm has a larger and more established community compared to k3s. It has been around for a longer time, resulting in a wider range of tools, integrations, and community support available. Conversely, k3s is relatively new but has gained popularity due to its lightweight nature. However, the ecosystem around k3s is still evolving and may have fewer options compared to Docker Swarm.

  4. Networking and Service Discovery: Docker Swarm uses an embedded DNS server for service discovery and assigns a virtual IP to each service. It supports overlay networks for multi-host communication. K3s, being a lightweight Kubernetes distribution, relies on Kubernetes networking models like Service Objects and DNS for service resolution. It provides more advanced networking capabilities and integrates seamlessly with other Kubernetes components.

  5. Security and Authentication: Docker Swarm uses Docker's built-in security mechanisms for authentication and access control, such as TLS certificates and role-based access control (RBAC). It provides a simplified approach to security and is well-suited for environments where Docker is already being used extensively. K3s, being Kubernetes-based, leverages its robust security features, including RBAC, pod security policies, and network policies. It offers granular control and can be integrated into existing Kubernetes security frameworks.

  6. Ease of Management and Operation: Docker Swarm has a straightforward and intuitive management interface, allowing users to quickly set up and scale their clusters. It provides a simple API and CLI for managing services, nodes, and configurations. K3s, although lighter, follows the Kubernetes tooling and workflows. It provides a flexible and powerful command-line interface for managing and configuring Kubernetes resources but requires familiarity with Kubernetes concepts and YAML-based configuration files.

In summary, Docker Swarm is a mature and feature-rich orchestration platform suitable for large-scale deployments, while k3s is a lightweight Kubernetes distribution geared towards resource-constrained environments. Docker Swarm offers advanced features and a larger ecosystem, while k3s prioritizes simplicity, ease of installation, and performance on low-spec devices.

Decisions about Docker Swarm and k3s
Simon Reymann
Senior Fullstack Developer at QUANTUSflow Software GmbH · | 30 upvotes · 10.7M views

Our whole DevOps stack consists of the following tools:

  • GitHub (incl. GitHub Pages/Markdown for Documentation, GettingStarted and HowTo's) for collaborative review and code management tool
  • Respectively Git as revision control system
  • SourceTree as Git GUI
  • Visual Studio Code as IDE
  • CircleCI for continuous integration (automatize development process)
  • Prettier / TSLint / ESLint as code linter
  • SonarQube as quality gate
  • Docker as container management (incl. Docker Compose for multi-container application management)
  • VirtualBox for operating system simulation tests
  • Kubernetes as cluster management for docker containers
  • Heroku for deploying in test environments
  • nginx as web server (preferably used as facade server in production environment)
  • SSLMate (using OpenSSL) for certificate management
  • Amazon EC2 (incl. Amazon S3) for deploying in stage (production-like) and production environments
  • PostgreSQL as preferred database system
  • Redis 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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Pros of Docker Swarm
Pros of k3s
  • 55
    Docker friendly
  • 46
    Easy to setup
  • 40
    Standard Docker API
  • 38
    Easy to use
  • 23
    Native
  • 22
    Free
  • 13
    Clustering made easy
  • 12
    Simple usage
  • 11
    Integral part of docker
  • 6
    Cross Platform
  • 5
    Labels and annotations
  • 5
    Performance
  • 3
    Easy Networking
  • 3
    Shallow learning curve
  • 6
    Lightweight
  • 4
    Easy
  • 2
    Replication Controller
  • 2
    Scale Services
  • 2
    Open Source

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Cons of Docker Swarm
Cons of k3s
  • 9
    Low adoption
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    What is 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.

    What is 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.

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    What companies use Docker Swarm?
    What companies use k3s?
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    What tools integrate with Docker Swarm?
    What tools integrate with k3s?

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    What are some alternatives to Docker Swarm and k3s?
    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.
    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.
    Ansible
    Ansible is an IT automation tool. It can configure systems, deploy software, and orchestrate more advanced IT tasks such as continuous deployments or zero downtime rolling updates. Ansible’s goals are foremost those of simplicity and maximum ease of use.
    Apache Mesos
    Apache Mesos is a cluster manager that simplifies the complexity of running applications on a shared pool of servers.
    CoreOS
    It is designed for security, consistency, and reliability. Instead of installing packages via yum or apt, it uses Linux containers to manage your services at a higher level of abstraction. A single service's code and all dependencies are packaged within a container that can be run on one or many machines.
    See all alternatives