Understanding Google Kubernetes Engine

Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) is a Google-managed service for running Kubernetes. You can use GKE to deploy, manage, and scale containerized applications on Google Cloud. GKE runs Kubernetes on clustered Compute Engine instances.

GKE is built on the open source Kubernetes container orchestration platform. GKE uses Kubernetes commands to manage workloads. Kubernetes itself is based on technology used within Google for deploying, administering, managing, and monitoring applications. This internal Google system—called Borg—is often pointed to as the inspiration for Kubernetes. This means that organizations other than Google can benefit from years of experience scheduling containers to power major systems such as Search and YouTube.

The following sections talk about GKE, why it’s important, its components, and two modes of operation for GKE clusters. This information will help you decide whether or not to deploy your applications...