Written By: Michael Cade, Senior Global Technologist at Veeam

One of the ever more popular topics in information technology (IT) are container systems, such as Kubernetes. Increasingly, decision-makers at companies of all sizes cannot avoid asking themselves whether containers should be integrated into their own IT infrastructure. At the same time, VMware’s Kubernetes Report 2021 says that Kubernetes is already being used more widely, but at the same time there is a lack of expertise and the necessary security. Reason enough to take a closer look at important questions around Kubernetes – especially from a data protection perspective.

Integral part of hybrid and multi-cloud infrastructures?

In the networks of many corporations and long-established companies, containers do not yet exist, or have only existed for a short time. They were not part of the traditional network structures based on a data center. However, neither are they an integral part of modern multi-cloud environments or hybrid solutions – they just fit in very well. It is similar to virtualization: this also started as a trend that not every company had to take up and therefore not all did – only early adopters integrate technology from the beginning. But 20 years later, it seems, a large proportion of all companies have virtualized a high number of workloads.

Kubernetes is now acting as a management platform for containers and interestingly, established and regulated industries like banking and financial services show greater interest and are early adopters of this technology, while other industries are still observing and evaluating the pros and cons.

Compatible with the runtime environments?

Of course, the question immediately arises as to whether Kubernetes and the virtualization software are compatible. First, let’s set the record straight about exactly what we are talking about: Kubernetes is an orchestration system for containers; Docker for example, is for now the most common container runtime. The containers created in Docker can each exist and be worked on separately. Developers can manage them individually and do not necessarily need a higher-level solution to manage them. But with the number of containers, the complexity grows, and the overview is lost. To keep this effort small and as clear as possible, a central administration point must be set up – and this is where Kubernetes comes into play. The software keeps an eye on everything and ensures, for example, that payloads are distributed dynamically and sensibly to the containers to guarantee the availability of a service and ensure that it can meet all requirements. Kubernetes is thus an orchestration for Docker and accordingly, a connection between the two is not only possible but desirable.

New security vulnerabilities in sight?

Kubernetes does not change the threat landscape. It does not close security gaps but requires the same Modern Data Protection as any other type of data. Formerly, we just saved everything, then with virtualization, we selected what to protect and how often. Today, we move forward with containers that sometimes only last for minutes or hours, other than Virtual Machines that can have a lifetime of months. Kubernetes.io provides in-depth documentation that focuses on the “Four Cs” of cloud-native security: Code, Container, Cluster, Cloud/Corporate Data Center. It states that each layer of the cloud-native security model builds on the previous one. Accordingly, the coding layer (code layer) benefits from a strong foundation at the cloud, cluster, and container level. So, if weak IT security standards apply there, the difficulties cannot be solved at the coding level. Each level must therefore be a strong foundation in itself. Kubernetes simply comes in here as the orchestrator of the containers.

Kubernetes on the rise?

The analysts at ESG published a report in September 2020 called Data Protection Trends and Strategies for Containers, which summarizes the results of a survey of 334 enterprise IT professionals from the United States and Canada. When asked about their use of containers, 67 percent said they use them for production-related applications. This statement underscores the increasing adoption and integration of containers into systems and networks, and this trend will continue over the next two years.

With the rise of containers, Kubernetes will then also increasingly enter the scene to manage the new environment well. Kubernetes will probably start this triumphant march with startups and large corporations first, because the former can build their networks and accordingly incorporate the new technology immediately, while the latter have the necessary money and personnel to successfully incorporate the new technology.