Amazon EKS Tutorial – What is Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service?

Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (Amazon EKS) is a managed platform that allows teams to run container-based applications. It removes the need for setting up or maintaining Kubernetes and offers a simple way to deploy applications in the AWS cloud. In this blog, you will understand what Amazon EKS is, how it works, along its use cases in detail.

Table of Contents:

• What is Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS)?
• History of Amazon EKS
• Components of Amazon EKS
• How does Amazon EKS Work?
• AWS EKS Pricing
• AWS EKS Monitoring
• Advantages and Disadvantages of Amazon EKS
• Use Cases of AWS EKS
• Conclusion

What is Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS)?

Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (Amazon EKS) is a Kubernetes platform that is fully managed from Amazon Web Services that helps in simplifying the process of running container applications. The control plane is spread across different Availability Zones, so that the setup stays stable even after one zone goes down. As the EKS follows the standard Kubernetes setup, the teams can keep using their usual tools, plugins, and workloads without the need for changing anything. AWS takes care of the control plane so the teams can spend their time building and running the real applications instead of managing the heavy infrastructure.

Importance of Amazon EKS

Below are a few key reasons why Amazon EKS has become a preferred choice for running cloud-native applications.

1. Deep AWS Ecosystem Integration: EKS connects with core AWS services for networking, storage, and monitoring, helping teams build and scale cloud-native applications easily.
2. Managed Control Plane: EKS manages the Kubernetes control plane across multiple Availability Zones, ensuring high availability, stability, and scalability automatically.
3. Managed Worker Nodes: Teams can create, update, or remove worker nodes easily. EKS-managed node groups use optimized AMIs for simpler and faster operations.
4. Load Balancing and Ingress Controllers: EKS supports Application, Network, and Classic Load Balancers to efficiently distribute traffic. It also integrates with ingress controllers for flexible and reliable routing to applications.
5. Logging and Monitoring: EKS works with AWS CloudTrail and CloudWatch for activity tracking and performance insights, improving security and visibility.
6. AWS Fargate Integration: EKS integrates with AWS Fargate, allowing containers to run without managing servers. It automatically provisions compute resources, improving security and reducing operational effort.

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History of Amazon EKS

Before Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (Amazon EKS), running Kubernetes on Amazon Web Services (AWS) was a complex process that required deep technical knowledge. Teams needed to manually build and manage the Kubernetes architecture, ensure high availability across multiple Availability Zones (AZs), and handle updates and scaling themselves.

To simplify this challenge, AWS launched Amazon EKS in June 2018 as a fully managed Kubernetes service. It was designed to manage the control plane and automate critical operations, allowing teams to focus on developing and deploying their applications instead of maintaining infrastructure. According to the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), AWS has already recognized itself as the popular cloud for Kubernetes. With EKS, AWS made it easier for organizations to adopt a cloud native approach by offering a production-ready, secure, and scalable Kubernetes environment.

Components of Amazon EKS

The Amazon EKS is made up of six key components that work together to create a safe and effective Kubernetes environment. Understanding these components helps in managing the workload efficiently

1. Control Plane

The control plane acts as the central system of the Kubernetes cluster. It runs the API server, stores cluster data, and handles the scheduling decisions. In EKS, the control plane is fully managed by AWS and runs across multiple Availability Zones to maintain reliability.

2. Worker Nodes

The worker nodes are the machines that run the application containers. These nodes can be Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) instances or AWS Fargate tasks. EKS links the nodes to the control planes automatically and allows them to scale smoothly by using the managed group nodes.

3. Amazon VPC Networking

Every EKS cluster runs inside an Amazon VPC. This provides a very secure space where the control plane and the worker nodes can communicate effectively. EKS uses high-performance network interfaces to ensure smooth and low-latency communication.

4. AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM)

IAM handles the access permission for the EKS cluster. It works with the Kubernetes Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) for defining the actions and applications that different users are allowed to perform. This helps in ensuring strong security and clear access boundaries.

5. Storage Integration

EKS supports the AWS storage services such as Amazon EBS, Amazon EFS, and Amazon S3. These options help in providing durable and scalable storage for the workloads that need to save data. This makes it easier for both stateless applications (those that do not store the past requests) and stateful applications (those that depend on the continuous data for better performance) to run.

6. Load Balancing and Ingress Controllers

EKS integrates with the Elastic Load Balancing services, including ALB Ingress Controller, NLB for L4, and Gateway API. It also supports the Kubernetes ingress controllers for flexible traffic routing. This helps in safely exposing the services, whether they are meant for internal use or for the internet.

How does Amazon EKS Work?

Now, let’s understand the workflow of AWS EKS in detail.

1. Create the EKS Cluster
Start by creating an EKS cluster through the AWS Management Console, AWS CLI, or an AWS SDK. This step automatically provisions a fully managed Kubernetes control plane in the background.

2. Add Worker Nodes
Next, deploy worker nodes to the cluster using AWS-provided templates. These templates handle the configuration and securely connect the nodes to the EKS control plane.

3. Set Up Kubernetes Tools
Install and configure tools like kubectl to interact with your cluster. This setup allows your local environment to communicate with the EKS API endpoint for cluster management.

4. Deploy Applications
After your cluster and nodes are ready, deploy your Kubernetes applications using familiar YAML files and workflows. EKS supports standard Kubernetes operations, making it easy to run workloads without changing your existing setup.

For users who need secure access to the Amazon EKS API within an Amazon VPC, AWS PrivateLink can be used. With PrivateLink, the Amazon EKS API endpoint is exposed through a private network interface inside the VPC. This keeps all communication on the private network and makes the connection both secure and reliable.

AWS EKS Pricing

AWS EKS follows a simple pricing model. Each cluster costs $0.10 per hour, no matter how many applications run inside it. The compute cost for EC2 or Fargate is billed separately. This setup lets you run many workloads on a single cluster while keeping the overall pricing clear and predictable. It also gives teams the freedom to choose the right compute option based on their needs.

AWS EKS Monitoring

Monitoring is an important part of keeping an EKS cluster running as expected. Even though AWS manages the control plane, teams still need clear visibility into how it performs. They also have to watch the status of nodes, pods, and other components to detect issues early and prevent any effect on applications. This helps the cluster stay stable and consistent during daily operations.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Amazon EKS

Now, let’s explore the advantages and disadvantages of AWS EKS in detail.

Advantages of Amazon EKS

• Multi-AZ Control Plane: EKS runs the control plane across three different Availability Zones, which helps to keep the structure stable even if one zone has an issue.
• High Reliability: It offers consistent performance and automatic recovery of the control plane components, which helps in maintaining a stable Kubernetes environment.
• Native AWS Integration: EKS works smoothly with services like EC2, Fargate, IAM, ELB, EBS, and CloudWatch, which makes it easier to manage the overall setup.
• Standard Kubernetes Compatibility: EKS uses the standard Kubernetes framework, so the tools, plugins, and existing workloads work without any changes.

Disadvantages of Amazon EKS

• Cluster Pricing: Every EKS cluster has a fixed hourly cost, which increases the overall bill when many clusters are needed.
• Separate Charges for Compute: EKS billing does not include the EC2 and the Fargate costs. The compute, storage, and load balancers are billed separately, which increases the overall expense.
• Limited Control Plane Access: The control plane is fully managed, so there is no option for customizing or directly accessing it.
• Setup Complexity: Initial setup with the VPC networking, node groups, and the IAM roles can be very complicated compared to the AWS ECS, which is a simple container service.

Use Cases of AWS EKS

Now, let’s understand the use cases of AWS EKS in real-world applications.

• Hybrid Kubernetes Deployments: The EKS can run along with the existing Kubernetes clusters in the data center of the company. This helps in maintaining the same deployment process across both the cloud and the local environment, which makes the setup easier to manage
• Machine Learning Workflows: EKS supports ML training and batch jobs by using GPU-enabled EC2 instances. Kubernetes handles the scheduling and the allocation of the resources, which helps in running the large training tasks easily.
• Big Data and Analytics Workloads: By using Amazon EMR integration, EKS can efficiently run big data tools like Apache Spark and Hadoop. This makes it simpler to manage the resources for analytics, data processing, and large-scale computations.
• Microservices-Based Applications: EKS provides a stable platform for microservices that need scaling, rolling updates, and reliable performance. Features like autoscaling and service discovery work naturally within the EKS environment.

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Conclusion

Amazon EKS provides a stable and well-structured platform for running Kubernetes workloads in the AWS cloud. It helps in managing the core infrastructure, ensuring high availability of core Kubernetes functions across multiple zones, and integrates naturally with the essential AWS services. With its consistent Kubernetes setup and support for a wide range of applications, EKS helps the organization to deploy ans scale with confidence. Understanding its features, components, and use cases makes it easier to plan and operate modern cloud applications efficiently.

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