The Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) Architecture Map
Published Dec 23 2019 07:41 AM 27.8K Views

Hi,

 

I recently started to build several Azure Maps to help architects find their way in Azure. Here is my complete series of Architecture Maps:

 

AKS is not a service quite like others, so it certainly deserves its own map.  Microsoft is adding its own bits to help enterprises running K8s with a higher confidence with regards to monitoring, security, general cluster hygiene and to help gluing with other Azure resources.

 

As usual, this map is by no way the holy grail and is just there to highlight some key areas to look at when starting an AKS journey. Several aspects depicted in this map have to be tackled right from the start...With AKS, more than any other service, it is important to think about the broader picture, meaning the other Azure Services you might be using. Should you go 100% the open source way or should you prefer a unified way of managing resources using the Azure ecosystem? Should you prefer a best of suite or a best of breed? The map does not answer those questions but shows different possible routes to achieve similar functionalities.  

 

Edit: the map has been updated in 06/2020 and tries to reflect the latest changes or to include tools/products that were forgotten. In this revision, tools such as Flagger, Promitor, and practices such as using AAD Pod Identity, Key Vault CSI driver, Pod Disruption Budgets, etc. were added to the mix.

 

 

 

 

As usual, here is a screenshot of the map:

 

aks2.0.png

 

The map focuses on the following areas:

  • Network
  • Scaling
  • Storage
  • Monitoring
  • Deployment
  • Miscellaneous

How to read this map?

 

Whenever you see the attachment icon attachicon.png, it means that I have attached an explanation on a given rationale or service. If you see this iconattention.png next to a node, it means that I have attached a must-read information.

 

The link icon  link.pngis a pointer to the corresponding documentation.

 

With this tool, any Cloud-native Application Architect should quickly grasp the AKS universe and how this managed Kubernetes integrates with other Azure Services.

 

Here is the pointer to the map:

Update: the online MindMapMaker tool deletes maps that are older than a year, therefore, just visit the last version.

v1.0 (12/2019) https://app.mindmapmaker.org/#m:mmc815f3546ecc42cb8fc68d105290f931
v2.0 (06/2020) https://app.mindmapmaker.org/#m:mmfbe43f1c6b2e42779f5c4e1b9d890fc8
Last MindMapMaker map

https://app.mindmapmaker.org/#m:mm54f531332aae47578143d43c5e59cfac²

Last PDF map

https://github.com/PacktPublishing/The-Azure-Cloud-Native-Architecture-Mapbook/blob/master/Chapter03...

 

Here are all my Architecture Maps:

 

4 Comments
Brass Contributor

Nice presentation about AKS 

Brass Contributor

Thanks for sharing :smile:

 

 

Copper Contributor

Is there a way to subscribe to updates to this article?

Copper Contributor

very helpful , Thank You Stephane

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Last update:
‎Feb 21 2021 09:34 AM
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