Skip to main content
In this article, we’ll answer two key questions to help you build and scale containerized applications:
  1. What problems does Kubernetes solve?
  2. How does Linode Kubernetes Engine (LKE) make Kubernetes even easier?

​
What Is Kubernetes and Why Use It?

Kubernetes is an open-source container orchestration platform designed to automate deployment, scaling, and management of containerized workloads. If you’re running a multi-VM web application and need high availability, Kubernetes lets you:
  • Define your application as containers grouped into Pods
  • Distribute Pods across a cluster of nodes
  • Automatically scale based on desired replica count
  • Self-heal by replacing or restarting unhealthy Pods

​
Example: Scaling with a Deployment

Below is a simple Deployment manifest that runs five replicas of a web application. Kubernetes handles scheduling, health checks, and rescheduling automatically: 
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: web-app
spec:
  replicas: 5
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: web-app
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: web-app
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: web-app
        image: my-web-app:latest
        ports:
        - containerPort: 80
You can also scale on the fly: 
kubectl scale deployment/web-app --replicas=10
Kubernetes is platform-agnostic. You can run it on bare metal, on-premises VMs, or any cloud provider.

​
Why Choose Linode Kubernetes Engine (LKE)?

Deploying “upstream” Kubernetes means you’re responsible for every control-plane component:
  • API server, Controller Manager, Scheduler
  • etcd datastore
  • Networking (kube-proxy, CNI plugins)
  • Certificate management and RBAC
  • Upgrades, backups, and security patches
Maintaining these at scale demands time and expertise. Linode Kubernetes Engine abstracts away the operational overhead so you can focus on your applications:
ResponsibilitySelf-Managed KubernetesLinode Kubernetes Engine
Control PlaneYouFully managed
etcd StorageYouHighly available, managed
Cluster Upgrades & PatchingManualAutomated
Networking SetupYouPreconfigured CNI
Logging & MonitoringThird-party setupIntegrated options

​
Key Benefits of LKE

  • Managed Control Plane: API server, etcd, Controller Manager, and Scheduler—all maintained by Linode.
  • Automated Upgrades: One-click cluster upgrades keep you on the latest stable release.
  • Integrated Add-Ons: Built-in logging, monitoring, and autoscaling.
  • Simplified Networking & Storage: Linode’s CNI and Block Storage integrates seamlessly.
Be sure to review Linode’s resource quotas and limits before provisioning production clusters to avoid unexpected interruptions.

​
Next Steps

In the following lesson, we’ll walk through:
  1. Creating your first LKE cluster
  2. Configuring kubectl access
  3. Deploying a sample application
Stay tuned for a hands-on tutorial that takes you from zero to running workloads on Linode Kubernetes Engine!

​
References

Watch Video