We often come across OpenShift and Kubernetes when talking about containerization. However, what’s the difference between the two and which one is better?
First, let us see their definition’s.
What is OpenShift?
It is a family of opensource software developed by American multinational software company Red Hat. Red Hat has deployed OpenShift as a Platform-as-a-service (PaaS) product. The free cloud-based platform allows developers to create, test and run their applications and then deploy them to the cloud. Using Docker containers, OpenShift provides the distribution of Kubernetes.
What is Kubernetes?
Kubernetes or K8s is an open-source system used for scaling, management and automated deployment of a containerized application. Google developed K8s in 2014 and later donated it to the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF). The name Kubernetes originates from Greek, meaning pilot.
Now let’s see some of the differences between them.
1) Base
Its easier to run Kubernetes on different OS. Kubernetes is preferred to be run on Fedora, Ubuntu etc. This arrangement allows it to run on significant Location as a Service (LaaS) platform like AWS and Azure.
On the other hand, we can install OpenShift on both Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Atomic Host. Therefore, it can also run on both CentOS and Fedora.
2) Security
When it comes to security, OpenShift clearly takes the lead. OpenShift has stricter authentication policies when compared to Kubernetes. Even though Kubernetes does not have login commands, they offer specific authentications which require effort for setup and configuration. Whereas OpenShift provides an integrated server for better authentication.
3) User experience
Kubernetes is quite tricky for end developers to understand completely, the platform often requires specialists to operate. On the other hand, In OpenShift, switching between projects and namespace is relatively easy. But, Kubernetes need additional tools to do the same. For beginners, OpenShift is way easier to run when compared to Kubernetes.
4) Networking
OpenShift Uses Open vSwitch, a network solution that has native plug-ins. OpenShift SDN provides the following plug-ins
1) The ovs-subnet plug-in
2) The ovs-multitenant plug-in
3) The ovs-networkpolicy plug-in
On the other hand, Kubernetes users need to use third-party network plug-ins for their networking solutions. Using these plugins, users can perform different tasks.
5) Releases
Kubernetes generally has around four releases each year, whereas OpenShift has just three.
6) Integrated Image Registry
OpenShift comes with integrated image registry that can run with Red Hat or Docker Hub. But, in Kubernetes, there is no such concept of integrated image registry.
7) Integrated CI/CD with Jenkins
OpenShift comes with integrated Jenkins, which make the deployment of applications easy. The integrated Jenkins helps in management, upgrades and testing. While this is not available in Kubernetes, it’s possible to deploy your own custom Jenkins image.
Conclusion: Which one’s better?
Even though both Kubernetes and OpenShift have a similar core, Openshift is the favourite choice. When it comes to installation, OpenShift is way better and faster than Kubernetes. In OpenShift, everything is already configured, and you can also use the professional support of Red Hat.
However, we cannot ignore Kubernetes. In the end, the system you choose will depend on the requirements for your development process.
