5 ms·

What's the difference in running GKE on-prem vs Kubernetes?

philip1209 8y ago
I think it's that Google provides the master node as a service. That's a big benefit. Plus, it looks like the add some security tooling.
- polskibus 8y ago
  The master node is on-prem? Does that mean that this requires that Google has permanent access to my intranet ?
  - karangoeluw 8y ago
    Yes and no. The connection is needed to show your workloads and other cluster information in GCP Console (similar to what was shown in the keynote). However, if the connection goes down, your cluster will not stop working.
  - chumboslice 8y ago
    Google K8s specialist here. The entire cluster is on-prem. At the moment, you can optionally leverage a secured tether to manage your cluster in GCP with the same management features you've come to expect with GKE proper. If the connection is lost, your cluster is still fully functional, so no there is no requirement for permanent access to your intranet. The access, when it exists, is also secured to only permit specific access between Google's network and your cluster.
    - polskibus 8y ago
      Thanks, and what are the conditions on keeping my on-prem GKE up-to-date so it doesn't lose compatibility with Google Cloud?
karangoeluw 8y ago
GKE On-Prem eng here. GKE On-Prem is packaged with upstream K8s. So for your team that currently uses `kubectl` to deploy or manage workloads, there won't be any differences.
- polskibus 8y ago
  What is the value prop then, for someone who already runs open source Kubernetes on-prem? Why should he pay extra for GKE on-prem?
  - karangoeluw 8y ago
    Excellent question. GKE On-Prem is a Google provided, validated and supported distribution of Kubernetes and extensions that offer a GKE-like experience in your on-premise datacenter. It makes it easy to install and upgrade Kubernetes and provides access to GCP services such as monitoring, logging, metrics, security and auditing for your on-premise installation. It is the foundational component of the Cloud Services Platform, and is how Google "brings the cloud to you". CSP combines Kubernetes both in your on-premise datacenter (GKE On-Prem) and Google-managed Kubernetes in GCP (GKE) with Istio and other CI/CD (Cloud Build) and serverless (Knative) products. You can leverage this suite of products to both modernize your existing on-premise applications and build new applications in the cloud. Additionally, Google will be offering phone and email support similar to the existing GCP support packages.
    - ironjunkie 8y ago
      What is the benefit, if you get the same output from "kubectl" as regular GKE, or from any other distro. Basically, this is yet another paid packaged Kubernetes distribution, that has the explicit goal to do "Hybrid clustering" so that it is easier to lure the customer back to GKE. Do I get that right ?
      - karangoeluw 8y ago
        What we have found out is that most on-prem customers are eager to move to the cloud. Practically it's not easy to just lift-and-shift. So think of this is a ramp to the cloud. Now, the benefit of upstream K8s is that your dev team can build apps and containers without proprietary APIs; so when you are ready to move to the cloud you are not locked-in.

I think it's that Google provides the master node as a service. That's a big benefit. Plus, it looks like the add some security tooling.

polskibus 8y ago
The master node is on-prem? Does that mean that this requires that Google has permanent access to my intranet ?
- karangoeluw 8y ago
  Yes and no. The connection is needed to show your workloads and other cluster information in GCP Console (similar to what was shown in the keynote). However, if the connection goes down, your cluster will not stop working.
- chumboslice 8y ago
  Google K8s specialist here. The entire cluster is on-prem. At the moment, you can optionally leverage a secured tether to manage your cluster in GCP with the same management features you've come to expect with GKE proper. If the connection is lost, your cluster is still fully functional, so no there is no requirement for permanent access to your intranet. The access, when it exists, is also secured to only permit specific access between Google's network and your cluster.
  - polskibus 8y ago
    Thanks, and what are the conditions on keeping my on-prem GKE up-to-date so it doesn't lose compatibility with Google Cloud?

karangoeluw 8y ago

GKE On-Prem eng here. GKE On-Prem is packaged with upstream K8s. So for your team that currently uses `kubectl` to deploy or manage workloads, there won't be any differences.

polskibus 8y ago
What is the value prop then, for someone who already runs open source Kubernetes on-prem? Why should he pay extra for GKE on-prem?
- karangoeluw 8y ago
  Excellent question. GKE On-Prem is a Google provided, validated and supported distribution of Kubernetes and extensions that offer a GKE-like experience in your on-premise datacenter. It makes it easy to install and upgrade Kubernetes and provides access to GCP services such as monitoring, logging, metrics, security and auditing for your on-premise installation. It is the foundational component of the Cloud Services Platform, and is how Google "brings the cloud to you". CSP combines Kubernetes both in your on-premise datacenter (GKE On-Prem) and Google-managed Kubernetes in GCP (GKE) with Istio and other CI/CD (Cloud Build) and serverless (Knative) products. You can leverage this suite of products to both modernize your existing on-premise applications and build new applications in the cloud. Additionally, Google will be offering phone and email support similar to the existing GCP support packages.
  - ironjunkie 8y ago
    What is the benefit, if you get the same output from "kubectl" as regular GKE, or from any other distro. Basically, this is yet another paid packaged Kubernetes distribution, that has the explicit goal to do "Hybrid clustering" so that it is easier to lure the customer back to GKE. Do I get that right ?
    - karangoeluw 8y ago
      What we have found out is that most on-prem customers are eager to move to the cloud. Practically it's not easy to just lift-and-shift. So think of this is a ramp to the cloud. Now, the benefit of upstream K8s is that your dev team can build apps and containers without proprietary APIs; so when you are ready to move to the cloud you are not locked-in.