TL;DR
Kubernetes (K8s) is the most popular container orchestration platform. It automates deployment, scaling and management of containerized applications. Here’s when to use it and how to get started in 2026.
Who this is for
- Teams already using Docker and wanting production-grade orchestration
- Companies needing scaling and high availability
- Developers entering the cloud-native world
Keyword (SEO)
kubernetes, container orchestration, k8s, devops, scaling, container deployment
What is Kubernetes?
Kubernetes is an open-source platform for automating:
- Container deployment (Docker, containerd)
- Application scaling (horizontal pod autoscaling)
- Network and storage management
- Self-healing (restart failed pods, health checks)
Key concepts:
- Pod – smallest unit; one or more containers sharing resources
- Deployment – declarative app definition (replicas, image, update strategy)
- Service – stable endpoint to talk to pods (load balancing)
- Namespace – logical isolation of resources (e.g. dev, staging, prod)
When to use Kubernetes?
- ✅ Many microservices in containers
- ✅ Need auto-scaling and self-healing
- ✅ Zero-downtime deployments (rolling updates)
- ❌ Simple site or small app (VPS or PaaS is enough)
Basic Deployment
deployment.yaml:
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
name: my-app
labels:
app: my-app
spec:
replicas: 3
selector:
matchLabels:
app: my-app
template:
metadata:
labels:
app: my-app
spec:
containers:
- name: my-app
image: myregistry/my-app:latest
ports:
- containerPort: 3000
resources:
requests:
memory: "128Mi"
cpu: "100m"
limits:
memory: "256Mi"
cpu: "500m"
livenessProbe:
httpGet:
path: /health
port: 3000
initialDelaySeconds: 10
periodSeconds: 5
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
name: my-app-service
spec:
selector:
app: my-app
ports:
- port: 80
targetPort: 3000
type: LoadBalancer
Rolling update (zero-downtime)
spec:
strategy:
type: RollingUpdate
rollingUpdate:
maxSurge: 1
maxUnavailable: 0
New version is rolled out gradually; old and new code can coexist briefly.
Checklist / steps
- Install kubectl and connect to a cluster (minikube, EKS, GKE, AKS)
- Define Deployment and Service in YAML
- Use ConfigMap/Secret for config and secrets
- Set up HPA (Horizontal Pod Autoscaler) for CPU/memory scaling
- Enable health checks (liveness, readiness)
FAQ
Is Kubernetes suitable for a small project?
For a single simple app, a VPS or managed PaaS (Vercel, Railway) is often enough. K8s makes sense with many services and scaling/HA requirements.
How to start locally?
Use minikube or Docker Desktop with Kubernetes enabled – runs a local cluster on one machine.
What is Helm?
Helm is a package manager for K8s – packages apps into “charts” and installs them with one command (e.g. helm install my-app ./chart).