Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)

November 08, 2020

1 min read

*This article could be a summary of content for learning purposes. For more information and knowledge, read the original articles in the References section.

Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) makes it simple to deploy a managed Kubernetes cluster in Azure. AKS reduces the complexity and operational overhead of managing Kubernetes by offloading much of that responsibility to Azure. As a hosted Kubernetes service, Azure handles critical tasks like health monitoring and maintenance for you. The Kubernetes masters are managed by Azure. You only manage and maintain the agent nodes. As a managed Kubernetes service, AKS is free - you only pay for the agent nodes within your clusters, not for the masters.

You can create an AKS cluster in the Azure portal, with the Azure CLI, or template driven deployment options such as Resource Manager templates and Terraform. When you deploy an AKS cluster, the Kubernetes master and all nodes are deployed and configured for you. Additional features such as advanced networking, Azure Active Directory integration, and monitoring can also be configured during the deployment process. Windows Server containers are supported in AKS.

For more information on Kubernetes basics, see Kubernetes core concepts for AKS.