Mirantis, known for freeing developers to create their most valuable code, recently announced a new open source project that enables Kubernetes operators to provide greater security and flexibility for Kubernetes control planes, which includes support for remote worker nodes, while reducing resource and operational overhead costs required to build new Kubernetes clusters.
The k0smotron architecture resembles the architecture used by major public cloud providers in that it allows for rapid, large-scale provisioning of Kubernetes control planes on Kubernetes, increasing resilience and security, and ensuring true control plane separation from worker nodes. This separation also allows for the provisioning of remote worker nodes, supporting a wider range of use cases, such as smaller footprint edge, branch office, and Internet of Things (IoT).
“k0smotron is ideal for IoT applications where you want to centrally manage control planes and do so very efficiently, but where thousands of distributed worker nodes may need to run on remote, resource-poor devices with less-than-ideal network connectivity,” says Miska Kaipiainen, Vice President of Engineering at Mirantis. “k0smotron is also great for more run-of-the-mill applications, like giving developers the ability to provision clusters on demand for themselves on a private cloud. We’re now working with Kubernetes ClusterAPI to let k0smotron provision underlying virtual machines (VMs) and networks for itself in a fully-automated way, abstracting underlying infrastructure and creating a complete solution.”
The team behind the open source k0s Kubernetes distribution is also responsible for the development of the k0smotron operator, which is deployed onto an existing Kubernetes cluster that then becomes the mothership cluster that provides control plane services on demand. This approach offers both hybrid and multi-cloud support.
