Anthos, Google’s new managed application platform, allows you to run Kubernetes or other workloads across multiple public clouds and on-premises data centers.
Google Anthos is the first multi-cloud platform that has been supported by a major cloud provider. It offers native support for Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud, as well as integration with Microsoft Azure.
Anthos is focused on three key capabilities
- Multi-cloud container orchestrationAnthos can be run on both existing virtualized infrastructures and bare-metal servers. This allows you to manage Kubernetes clusters on-premises as well as in the cloud. It offers a simple application stack that is easy-to-use and doesn’t require expensive hypervisor layers.
- Automating policiesAnthos configuration manager enforces enterprise policies across multi-cloud deployments to ensure compliance and security enforcement.
- Modernizing security–allows integration of security during an application’s build-build-run cycle. This security model provides a defense in depth security model, which employs many security controls across all environments.
Google Kubernetes Engine
Anthos’ heart is Google’s Kubernetes engine (GKE), which performs activities such as:
- Kubernetes Cluster Management and Dependent Applications
- Monitoring applications and switching loads between cloud and on-premises
- Tolerance of cluster faults and healing
KE allows you to reserve IP addresses via Google Cloud VPN. It also lets you allocate compute resources for a cluster, scaling down or increasing the deployment according to memory requirements
GKE uses a container-optimized OS, specifically designed for Kubernetes. It utilizes the Docker Container format and integrates UnionFS, control group, namespaces, and control groups. Google manages GKE as a fully managed service. Google is responsible for high availability and resilience.
All resources can be managed using the built-in dashboards. You also have access to actionable insights about the functionality of apps using Google Cloud (Stackdriver), Monitoring and Logging services.
Read our introductory guide to Google Anthos: Hybrid Deployment on Google Cloud: Meet Google Anthos
GKE On-Prem
GKE On-Prem allows you to run fully managed Kubernetes Clusters in your datacenter, and manage them in the GCP console. This is in addition to cloud-based clusters. GKE On-Prem, a virtual appliance designed for on-premises deployments and runs on VMware vSphere6.5. Google is currently working to support additional hypervisors, including Hyper-V or KVM.
GKE On-Prem covers Kubernetes security patches and version upgrades. Google Cloud Identity allows you to manage cluster access. Stackdriver Monitoring, Stackdriver Logging and Stackdriver Logging provide valuable data on the performance of clusters.
Anthos Config Management
Anthos Config Management allows you to deploy Kubernetes in a variety of environments. You can simultaneously manage multiple clusters and quickly develop applications in hybrid containers. It allows you to manage access and policy control, and ensure effective enforcement of policies using a central Git repository. This provides developers with enterprise-grade security within a consistent environment.
Config Management supports Kubernetes native configuration formats such as YAML or JSON to manage a large number clusters at once. It can assign resource quotas for production and staging resources. This simplifies the configuration policy process for clusters.
GKE Hub
GKE Hub, the Anthos networking component, connects Google Cloud Services Platform, other cloud providers and your on-prem GKE clusters. GKE allows you to connect and access all data across multiple cloud deployments, and view and manage all Kubernetes Clusters from one pane of glass.