Item: Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
Rating: 9
Author: Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

The problem that Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) adresses is the need for an runtime environment that allows to run our application in an orchestrated platform, that like Kubernetes allows automated deploy/management of containerized images. For this purpose it would be possible to use virtual machines (e.g. with plain docker) but of course even with a reduced complexity in some regard, such a solution would offer way less possibilities e.g. the use of an k8s operator. Besides this, Azure for example offers options (data centers, pricing)

Pros and Cons

Pros

Amount of locations (data centers) available
Option to commit to Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) for a longer periode to save cost
Offering a lot of configuration options, to custom-tailor it to your needs
Fast deployment of the Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) and Nodes

Cons

Documentation about all of these different configuration options is scarce, scattered and sometimes even untraceable (undocumented)
Terraform provider often runs succesfully but elements are missing/not there and no error is thrown
The tool landscape arround it is not sophisticated, other providers offer a terraform runtime for example

Return on Investment

Extending the offering to more countries because of more locations available
Beeing forced to put more effort into certain aspects is likey help uns in a longterm, even though this investment was not small (with a few people and even consulting support, that can take months)
The question if you can profit from the longterm commitments depends on your level success respectively potential

Usability

As already said, the UI/CLI and even terraform are perfectly fine, but certain details could be documented better. For instance, if I want to secure the whole Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) with my own managed keys, then it is very complex and hard to get there. Not really a single source that gives you the whole picture.
Besides that, it is still good to use, in most cases intuitive but details mentioned as above can be tricky.

Alternatives Considered

IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service

This depends fully on your needs respectively what you expect or the amount of work you can deal with.
Both services are not the silver bullet that will take care of all your pain points. It is needed to analyze/evaluate them carefully and then decide which makes the most sense. As said before, to briefly summarize Azure has its strengths when the ability to configure as much as possible is crucial. If that is not needed than IKS is a solide option too, with some other benefits regarding preconfigured features.

Key Insights

Do you think Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)'s feature set?

Did Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Azure Application Gateway, Azure Blob Storage, Microsoft Azure Key Vault

Likelihood to Recommend

In a scenario, where a company respectively a team uses a managed K8s for the first time, the Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) can be overwhelming. So many different options respectively aspects to consider, in my opinion this makes it very hard to start without outside support. In addition, Azure does not offer a terraform runtime as e.g. Terraform Cloud, you need to take such things in account too.

But if you have the need for a lightweight k8s that starts up relatively fast, the Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) is suited for you.

Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) Feature Ratings

Comments

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Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) - Blessings and Curses that come with a bulk of configuration options