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Managed Cloud Providers

Key Takeaways for AI & Readers
  • Managed Control Plane: Cloud providers (EKS, GKE, AKS) manage the API and etcd, reducing operational overhead.
  • Provider Strengths: GKE leads in automation (Autopilot), EKS in configurability, and AKS in enterprise ecosystem integration.
  • Shared Responsibility: Providers ensure the "brain" is healthy; users are responsible for worker nodes, security, and application logic.

While Kind/Minikube are great for learning, production workloads usually run on Managed Kubernetes services from cloud giants. They handle the "Control Plane" (API, etcd) so you only manage the nodes and apps.

1. Comparing the Big Three​

Google GKE

The most advanced. Autopilot mode and best-in-class UI.

$ gcloud container clusters get-credentials

AWS Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS)​

The most widely used. It's known for being robust and highly configurable, but has a steep learning curve for IAM and Networking.

Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)​

Kubernetes was born at Google, and it shows. GKE is often considered the most advanced managed service, especially with its Autopilot mode which manages the nodes for you.

Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)​

The choice for enterprise teams already in the Microsoft ecosystem. Excellent integration with Azure Active Directory and Windows nodes.

2. Shared Responsibility Model​

  • Provider Manages: Control Plane, etcd, Master Node scaling, API availability.
  • You Manage: Worker Nodes (OS updates), RBAC, Networking, and the Applications.