Rancher Introduction: Manage All of Your Kubernetes Clusters as One
An introduction to the Rancher platform for managing multiple Kubernetes
Manage All of Your Kubernetes Clusters as One
Rancher is a container management platform for managing multiple Kubernetes clusters. Rancher introduces a centralized control plane that unified the management of every Kubernetes cluster in your organization. It solves operational challenges such as cluster provisioning, upgrades, user management, and enforcement of security policies.
Kubernetes is the Cloud
First we virtualized the hardware. Then we put all the VMs into the cloud. Then we wrapped the software in containers and used Docker to deploy them. Soon after, we used Kubernetes to manage the complete lifecycle of a container. Each step along the way abstracted the complexity of the layers that came before it.
Rancher treats Kubernetes as a commodity: it matters less where the service comes from and more that it works. Kubernetes is the new Cloud, and Rancher empowers you to make the most of every provider, every type of infrastructure, and every cluster, all at once.
The Enterprise Kubernetes Management Platform
Kubernetes provides enterprises with a consistent way to manage any computing infrastructure. Rancher is a complete platform for managing Kubernetes clusters wherever you deploy them.
1. Centralized Cluster Provisioning
With Rancher, it’s easy to provision Kubernetes clusters on-premises, in the cloud or at the edge. Import existing clusters with ease or define your cluster configuration as code. Rancher will build and scale Kubernetes on any infrastructure using RKE, our certified Kubernetes distribution and provisioning engine built for hybrid cloud environments. Rancher also supports K3s, our CNCF-certified lightweight Kubernetes distribution built for IoT and edge computing.
2. Streamlined Kubernetes Operations
Once you’ve provisioned a Kubernetes cluster with Rancher, operations are centralized and administrators can deal with all aspects of Day 2 Kubernetes operations. From one console, administrators can monitor any cluster in any location, upgrade Kubernetes versions, backup etcd and recover degraded clusters.
3. Centralized Kubernetes Security
Rancher admins can work with their security team to centrally define how users should interact with managed Kubernetes clusters and how containerized workloads should operate. Once polices have been defined, assigning them to any Kubernetes cluster is instantaneous.
4. Intuitive Workload Management
DevOps teams using Rancher have full access to manage workloads using the native Kubernetes API or Kubectl CLI. Rancher also includes an intuitive web UI that makes it easy to deploy workloads, export configuration files and troubleshoot existing deployments.
5. Global Application Catalog
Give your users a visual way to configure the applications and a reliable way to upgrade them to future versions using Rancher’s Application Catalog.
6. Integrated Prometheus Monitoring and Logging
Get out-of-the-box monitoring for all Rancher-managed clusters with inbuilt Prometheus, Fluentd and Grafana dashboards to visualize cluster metrics in a beautiful layout.
7. Full lifecycle management for Amazon EKS clusters
Gives operators full lifecycle management of the most popular cloud-hosted distributions including node management and autoscaling, from a single pane of glass. Import, provision, upgrade, and configure and secure clusters on Amazon EKS directly using the Rancher’s new unified, intuitive user experience. Additionally, Rancher managed Amazon EKS deployments support CIS templating and scanning to minimize configuration drift between clusters.
8. GitOps at Scale for Edge Clusters
Rancher Continuous Delivery allows for maximum cluster consistency from core to cloud to edge. Rancher supports from 1 to 1,000,000 clusters from a single console with built-in security capabilities, running any CNCF-certified Kubernetes distribution. By streamlining application delivery across any infrastructure in any location, enterprises can use Rancher to accelerate their journey towards true digital transformation.
