Container Platform Design

Overview

Enterprise container platform architecture for scalable, secure, and manageable containerized applications.

Platform Architecture

Container Orchestration

graph TB
    subgraph "Control Plane"
        APIServer[API Server]
        Scheduler[Scheduler]
        ControllerManager[Controller Manager]
        etcd[etcd Cluster]
    end
    
    subgraph "Worker Nodes"
        Kubelet1[Kubelet]
        ContainerRuntime1[Container Runtime]
        KubeProxy1[Kube Proxy]
        
        Kubelet2[Kubelet]
        ContainerRuntime2[Container Runtime]
        KubeProxy2[Kube Proxy]
    end
    
    subgraph "Supporting Services"
        Registry[Container Registry]
        LoadBalancer[Load Balancer]
        StorageClass[Storage Classes]
        NetworkPolicy[Network Policies]
    end
    
    APIServer --> Scheduler
    APIServer --> ControllerManager
    APIServer --> etcd
    Scheduler --> Kubelet1
    Scheduler --> Kubelet2
    Kubelet1 --> ContainerRuntime1
    Kubelet2 --> ContainerRuntime2

Application Deployment Pipeline

graph LR
    subgraph "Development"
        SourceCode[Source Code]
        GitRepo[Git Repository]
    end
    
    subgraph "CI/CD Pipeline"
        Build[Build Process]
        Test[Automated Tests]
        Scan[Security Scan]
        Package[Container Build]
    end
    
    subgraph "Registry & Deployment"
        Registry[Container Registry]
        Staging[Staging Environment]
        Production[Production Environment]
    end
    
    subgraph "Monitoring"
        Metrics[Metrics Collection]
        Logs[Log Aggregation]
        Alerting[Alerting System]
    end
    
    SourceCode --> GitRepo
    GitRepo --> Build
    Build --> Test
    Test --> Scan
    Scan --> Package
    Package --> Registry
    Registry --> Staging
    Staging --> Production
    Production --> Metrics
    Production --> Logs
    Metrics --> Alerting
    Logs --> Alerting

Platform Components

Container Registry

• Features

  • Image vulnerability scanning
  • Role-based access control
  • Image signing and verification
  • Geo-replication for global access

• Implementation

  • Harbor for on-premises
  • Azure Container Registry for cloud
  • Integration with CI/CD pipelines
  • Automated cleanup policies

Service Mesh

graph TB
    subgraph "Service Mesh Control Plane"
        Pilot[Pilot]
        Mixer[Mixer]
        Citadel[Citadel]
        Galley[Galley]
    end
    
    subgraph "Data Plane"
        Service1[Service A]
        Proxy1[Envoy Proxy]
        Service2[Service B]
        Proxy2[Envoy Proxy]
        Service3[Service C]
        Proxy3[Envoy Proxy]
    end
    
    Pilot --> Proxy1
    Pilot --> Proxy2
    Pilot --> Proxy3
    Service1 --> Proxy1
    Service2 --> Proxy2
    Service3 --> Proxy3
    Proxy1 <--> Proxy2
    Proxy2 <--> Proxy3

Storage Solutions

• Persistent Storage

  • Container Storage Interface (CSI)
  • Storage classes for different workloads
  • Backup and disaster recovery
  • Performance optimization

• Configuration Management

  • ConfigMaps and Secrets
  • External secret management
  • Configuration validation
  • Version control integration

Security Framework

Runtime Security

• Container image scanning
• Runtime threat detection
• Network policy enforcement
• Resource quota management

Access Control

• Role-based access control (RBAC)
• Service account management
• Pod security policies
• Network segmentation

Monitoring and Observability

Metrics and Monitoring

graph TB
    subgraph "Data Sources"
        Pods[Pod Metrics]
        Nodes[Node Metrics]
        Apps[Application Metrics]
        Custom[Custom Metrics]
    end
    
    subgraph "Collection"
        Prometheus[Prometheus]
        Jaeger[Jaeger Tracing]
        Fluentd[Fluentd Logging]
    end
    
    subgraph "Visualization"
        Grafana[Grafana Dashboards]
        Kibana[Kibana Logs]
        AlertManager[Alert Manager]
    end
    
    Pods --> Prometheus
    Nodes --> Prometheus
    Apps --> Jaeger
    Custom --> Prometheus
    Prometheus --> Grafana
    Jaeger --> Grafana
    Fluentd --> Kibana
    Prometheus --> AlertManager

Log Management

• Centralized logging with ELK stack
• Log correlation and analysis
• Security event monitoring
• Audit trail maintenance

Best Practices

Development Guidelines

1. Container Image Standards

   • Use minimal base images
   • Implement multi-stage builds
   • Regular security updates
   • Proper labeling and tagging

2. Application Design

   • Twelve-factor app principles
   • Stateless application design
   • Health check implementation
   • Graceful shutdown handling

Operational Excellence

1. Deployment Strategies

   • Blue-green deployments
   • Canary releases
   • Rolling updates
   • Rollback procedures

2. Resource Management

   • Resource requests and limits
   • Horizontal pod autoscaling
   • Cluster autoscaling
   • Cost optimization

Disaster Recovery

Backup Strategies

• Persistent volume snapshots
• Configuration backup
• Application data backup
• Cross-region replication

Recovery Procedures

• Automated failover mechanisms
• Recovery time objectives (RTO)
• Recovery point objectives (RPO)
• Regular disaster recovery testing

Related Topics

• Container Security
• Monitoring Architecture
• DevOps Pipeline