In the official release first launched in the second quarter of 2024, VKS became the first Kubernetes service provider in Vietnam to support Kubernetes version 1.29. 

As the latest version released at the end of 2023, Kubernetes v1.29: Mandala represents notable enhancements in Kubernetes functionalities. This new version will help platform engineers and DevOps engineers manage Kubernetes clusters more easily and effectively.

Currently, VKS is open for users to sign up for free. To register, see more at: Register for VKS.

In this blog, we will review the advantages of VNG Cloud's VKS and the benefits you get when using this service based on Kubernetes version v1.29.

What is VKS?

VNGCloud Kubernetes Service (VKS) is a Kubernetes management solution based on the Kubernetes platform developed by Google. Kubernetes is a system to automate the deployment, management and scaling of applications in containers, also known as Container Orchestration Engine.

Deployed on VNG's public cloud infrastructure, VKS provides a complete virtualization environment at the OS (Operation System) layer.

In general, solutions developed on the Kubernetes platform mostly require users to manage Master Nodes and Worker Nodes concurrently. However, with Master Node management technology completely controlled by VNG Cloud, users can be guaranteed a stable, optimal operating environment. This environment allows users to develop, test, deploy and distribute their applications simply, quickly and efficiently.

VKS by VNG Cloud offer plethora of advanced features

VKS brings you a more powerful and efficient Kubernetes management experience than ever before. Outstanding features of VKS include:

• Fully managed control plane: The control plan system is controlled completely by VNG Cloud. Thanks to the mechanism of automatically distributing, connecting and operating nodes, VKS ensures you always have the most optimal environment to operate the applications.
• Flexible update of Kubernetes versions: You can choose to automatically update or manually update to your desired Kubernetes version. Currently, VKS supports the latest version of Kubernetes up to 1.29. Updating to the latest versions will provide you with a more stable and efficient system.

• IP Whitelist and Private Node: To enhance the security efficiency of the system, you can create and operate a Private Node Group with only Private IP and limit access to the cluster management API according to the pre-installed IP address.

  

• Autoscaling: Operating on the autoscaling mechanism, Node Groups will be increased or decreased automatically based on the application's operational requirements and actual usage needs. This helps you ensure applications always run at optimal performance levels at the most economical cost.
• Auto-healing: VKS helps automatically reboot failed nodes, delete or replace nodes that do not recover from healthcheck.
• Persistent Storage: Built-in NFS Node - Persistent Storage for long-term data storage, automatically configured upon initialization to share for all nodes in the cluster to use.

• Integrating operational support tools: The VKS system is integrated with Calico CNI, providing high efficiency and security. In addition, VKS also provides Blockstore and NLB/ALB management capabilities through Kubernetes YAML.

  

Kubernetes supported version in VKS

VKS currently provides support for the three latest Kubernetes versions including v1.27, v1.28, and v1.29. 

In particular, Kubernetes 1.29 is the latest version supported in the alpha release of VKS officially launched on April 17, 2024.

In the coming release, VNG Cloud's team commits to always making efforts to go with the latest updated versions utilizing the most stable and complete source code versions of Kubernetes.

Kubernetes 1.29 highlights

Launched at the end of 2023, Kubernetes 1.29: Mandala first introduces many of its significant improvements compared to previously released versions. This release introduces 49 enhancements including 11 stable features, 19 features in Beta and 19 features in Alpha. To ensure service quality and a stable experience, VKS only utilizes the stable (GA) features of Kubernetes.

In this update, much-awaited features have graduated to stable, include:

• Remove transient node predicates from KCCM's service controller: This improvement removes temporary (transient) checks used by the service controller to decide where to place pods. These checks might have been based on short-lived conditions and could potentially lead to unnecessary pod movements. 
• Reserve nodeport ranges for dynamic and static allocation: The administrators can reserve specific ranges for either automatic (dynamic) allocation by Kubernetes or manual (static) configuration by users. This helps avoid conflicts between automatically assigned ports and those configured manually.
• Priority and Fairness for API Server Requests: The Kubernetes API server handles requests from various sources like applications and cluster management tools. This feature introduces mechanisms to prioritize certain types of requests and ensure fairness in handling them. This can be crucial for guaranteeing responsiveness to critical tasks.

• KMS v2 Improvements: With the Kubernetes v1.29, KMS v2 has become a stable feature, bringing numerous improvements in performance, key rotation, health check & status, and observability. These enhancements provide users with a reliable solution to encrypt all resources in their Kubernetes clusters.
   

  

• Support paged LIST queries from the Kubernetes API: Large deployments can lead to a significant number of resources (pods, services, etc.) in a cluster. This feature allows retrieving such resources in smaller chunks (pages) instead of overwhelming the API server with a single large request.
• ReadWriteOncePod PersistentVolume Access Mode: Giới thiệu ReadWriteOncePod access mode for PVs and PVCs. If you create a pod with a PVC that uses the ReadWriteOncePod access mode, Kubernetes ensures that pod is the only pod across your whole cluster that can read that PVC or write to it.
• Kubernetes Component Health SLIs: This feature introduces SLIs for core Kubernetes components like the API server and kubelet. These metrics can help monitor the health and performance of the Kubernetes cluster.
• CRD Validation Expression Language: Custom Resource Definitions (CRDs) allow extending Kubernetes with custom resources. This feature introduces an expression language for validating CRD objects. This enables defining more complex and flexible validation rules for custom resources.
• Introduce nodeExpandSecret in CSI PV source: the CSI Node Expand Secret feature allows an optional secret field to be sent as part of the NodeExpandVolumeRequest by the CSI drivers so that node volume expansion operation can be performed with the underlying storage system.
• Track Ready Pods in Job status: This feature adds information about the number of ready pods to the job status. This provides better visibility into the progress of a job and helps identify any issues preventing pods from becoming ready.
• Kubelet Resource Metrics Endpoint: This feature exposes an endpoint where the kubelet reports resource utilization metrics like CPU and memory usage. This can be helpful for monitoring resource consumption and cluster health.

Why choose VKS?

Equipped with comprehensive Kubernetes management features, VKS significantly reduces management tasks for server administrators. Benefits of VNG Cloud's Kubernetes management service include:

Simplify system management tasks

Deployment, infrastructure management and virtualization are completely undertaken by VNG Cloud. This includes the management system from Master Node to Kubernetes clusters, control plane and nodes.

Optimize Kubernetes operations

Thanks to the ability to integrate CNI, CSI, NLB/ALB operating and distribution systems, VKS will help you automate the heavy tasks of operational management.

High compatibility with Kubernetes

Thanks to its compliance with open source Kubernetes standards, VKS ensures high compatibility with other Kubernetes tools and services. You can easily integrate VKS into your existing system or move your Workload Cluster to another cloud provider or even an on-premises environment if needed and vice versa.

Ability of extension

VKS can comply with business needs at all levels. You can easily expand or optimize the appropriate VKS service package depending on the data management needs of your business.

Free management fee

VKS's Kubernetes management platform is completely free. Node usage costs will be calculated based on the number of Group Nodes used. In addition, VKS also provides features such as Node Group Autoscaling, which helps you optimize costs by automatically scaling nodes in the cluster up or down based on your actual workload needs. This can help significantly reduce your cloud bill by ensuring you only pay for the resources you need.

Easily integrate with other VNG Cloud services and applications

In the same ecosystem, you can seamlessly integrate the VKS system with other VNG Cloud services and applications, such as LoadBalancer, Volume and vMonitor Platform, etc. This can help you easily develop and deploy complex applications on your management platform.

VKS completely inherits the latest advantages Kubernetes while being completely flexible with the needs of businesses and organizations in Vietnam. With Kubernetes Engine in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh cities and a team of technical experts supporting 24/7 in 100% Vietnamese, VNG Cloud can meet all your requirements with high efficiency.

Conclusion

Thanks to its many outstanding features, VKS based on Kubernetes version v1.29 will equip you with powerful tools to significantly reduce the burden of managing Kubernetes while still ensuring performance and operation of the application.

Whether you are developing, testing or deploying applications, VKS provides a comprehensive and reliable platform that simplifies your business' digital transformation. Embrace the future of containerized application management with Kubernetes 1.29 on VKS today. Register to experience the service HERE!

As a forefront service provider for applying the latest programming technology innovations, VNG Cloud is always committed to providing stable, reliable, and cost-effective cloud computing platform services for businesses. Contact VNG Cloud for free consultant on digital transformation solutions for businesses!