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Getting started

This section covers different options to set up and run Kubernetes.

Different Kubernetes solutions meet different requirements: ease of maintenance, security, control, available resources, and expertise required to operate and manage a cluster.

You can deploy a Kubernetes cluster on a local machine, cloud, on-prem datacenter; or choose a managed Kubernetes cluster. You can also create custom solutions across a wide range of cloud providers, or bare metal environments.

More simply, you can create a Kubernetes cluster in learning and production environments.

• Learning environment
• Production environment

Learning environment

If you’re learning Kubernetes, use the Docker-based solutions: tools supported by the Kubernetes community, or tools in the ecosystem to set up a Kubernetes cluster on a local machine.

Production environment

When evaluating a solution for a production environment, consider which aspects of operating a Kubernetes cluster (or abstractions) you want to manage yourself or offload to a provider.

Some possible abstractions of a Kubernetes cluster are applicationsThe layer where various containerized applications run. , data planeThe layer that provides capacity such as CPU, memory, network, and storage so that the containers can run and connect to a network. , control planeThe container orchestration layer that exposes the API and interfaces to define, deploy, and manage the lifecycle of containers. , cluster infrastructureThe infrastructure layer provides and maintains VMs, networking, security groups and others. , and cluster operationsActivities such as upgrading the clusters, implementing security, storage, ingress, networking, logging and monitoring, and other operations involved in managing a Kubernetes cluster. .

The following diagram lists the possible abstractions of a Kubernetes cluster and whether an abstraction is self-managed or managed by a provider.

Production environment solutions

The following production environment solutions table lists the providers and the solutions that they offer.

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