Kubernetes & Docker: Container Orchestration Mastery 2026

Container orchestration has become essential for modern application deployment. After managing hundreds of Kubernetes clusters in production, here's what you need to know to master container orchestration in 2026.

Related reading: Check out our guides on micro-frontends architecture and Docker development setup for more deployment insights.

Why Container Orchestration Matters#

The Container Revolution#

Before containers:

• "Works on my machine" syndrome
• Complex deployment processes
• Environment inconsistencies
• Difficult scaling
• Resource waste

With containers:

• Consistent environments
• Rapid deployment
• Efficient resource usage
• Easy scaling
• Microservices enablement

Why Kubernetes Won#

Market dominance: 88% of organizations use Kubernetes Cloud native: Native support from all major cloud providers Ecosystem: Massive tooling and community support Flexibility: Runs anywhere (cloud, on-prem, hybrid) Production proven: Powers the world's largest applications

Docker Fundamentals#

Creating Docker Images#

# Multi-stage build for Node.js app
FROM node:18-alpine AS builder

WORKDIR /app

# Copy package files
COPY package*.json ./

# Install dependencies
RUN npm ci --only=production

# Copy source code
COPY . .

# Build application
RUN npm run build

# Production stage
FROM node:18-alpine

WORKDIR /app

# Copy only necessary files from builder
COPY --from=builder /app/dist ./dist
COPY --from=builder /app/node_modules ./node_modules
COPY --from=builder /app/package.json ./

# Create non-root user
RUN addgroup -g 1001 -S nodejs && \
    adduser -S nodejs -u 1001

USER nodejs

EXPOSE 3000

# Health check
HEALTHCHECK --interval=30s --timeout=3s --start-period=5s --retries=3 \
  CMD node healthcheck.js

CMD ["node", "dist/server.js"]

Docker Compose for Development#

# docker-compose.yml
version: '3.8'

services:
  app:
    build:
      context: .
      dockerfile: Dockerfile.dev
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    volumes:
      - .:/app
      - /app/node_modules
    environment:
      - NODE_ENV=development
      - DATABASE_URL=postgresql://postgres:password@db:5432/myapp
      - REDIS_URL=redis://redis:6379
    depends_on:
      - db
      - redis
    networks:
      - app-network
    command: npm run dev

  db:
    image: postgres:15-alpine
    ports:
      - "5432:5432"
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_USER=postgres
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=password
      - POSTGRES_DB=myapp
    volumes:
      - postgres-data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    networks:
      - app-network
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pg_isready -U postgres"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5

  redis:
    image: redis:7-alpine
    ports:
      - "6379:6379"
    volumes:
      - redis-data:/data
    networks:
      - app-network
    command: redis-server --appendonly yes

  nginx:
    image: nginx:alpine
    ports:
      - "80:80"
    volumes:
      - ./nginx.conf:/etc/nginx/nginx.conf:ro
    depends_on:
      - app
    networks:
      - app-network

volumes:
  postgres-data:
  redis-data:

networks:
  app-network:
    driver: bridge

Docker Best Practices#

# Optimized Dockerfile with best practices

# Use specific version tags
FROM node:18.17.0-alpine3.18 AS builder

# Set working directory
WORKDIR /app

# Install security updates
RUN apk update && apk upgrade && \
    apk add --no-cache dumb-init

# Copy dependency files first (better caching)
COPY package*.json ./
COPY yarn.lock ./

# Install dependencies with cache mount
RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.yarn \
    yarn install --frozen-lockfile --production=false

# Copy source code
COPY . .

# Build application
RUN yarn build && \
    yarn install --production --ignore-scripts --prefer-offline

# Production stage
FROM node:18.17.0-alpine3.18

# Install dumb-init for proper signal handling
RUN apk add --no-cache dumb-init

# Create app directory
WORKDIR /app

# Copy built application
COPY --from=builder --chown=node:node /app/dist ./dist
COPY --from=builder --chown=node:node /app/node_modules ./node_modules
COPY --from=builder --chown=node:node /app/package.json ./

# Use non-root user
USER node

# Expose port
EXPOSE 3000

# Use dumb-init to handle signals properly
ENTRYPOINT ["dumb-init", "--"]

# Start application
CMD ["node", "dist/server.js"]

Kubernetes Architecture#

Core Components#

Control Plane:

• API Server: Central management point
• etcd: Distributed key-value store
• Scheduler: Assigns pods to nodes
• Controller Manager: Maintains desired state
• Cloud Controller Manager: Cloud provider integration

Worker Nodes:

• Kubelet: Node agent
• Container Runtime: Docker/containerd/CRI-O
• Kube-proxy: Network proxy

Basic Kubernetes Objects#

# Namespace
apiVersion: v1
kind: Namespace
metadata:
  name: production
  labels:
    environment: production

---
# ConfigMap
apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: app-config
  namespace: production
data:
  APP_ENV: "production"
  LOG_LEVEL: "info"
  API_URL: "https://api.example.com"

---
# Secret
apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: app-secrets
  namespace: production
type: Opaque
stringData:
  DATABASE_URL: "postgresql://user:pass@db:5432/myapp"
  JWT_SECRET: "your-secret-key"
  API_KEY: "your-api-key"

---
# Deployment
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: web-app
  namespace: production
  labels:
    app: web-app
spec:
  replicas: 3
  strategy:
    type: RollingUpdate
    rollingUpdate:
      maxSurge: 1
      maxUnavailable: 0
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: web-app
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: web-app
        version: v1.0.0
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: app
        image: myregistry/web-app:v1.0.0
        ports:
        - containerPort: 3000
          name: http
        env:
        - name: NODE_ENV
          value: "production"
        envFrom:
        - configMapRef:
            name: app-config
        - secretRef:
            name: app-secrets
        resources:
          requests:
            memory: "256Mi"
            cpu: "250m"
          limits:
            memory: "512Mi"
            cpu: "500m"
        livenessProbe:
          httpGet:
            path: /health
            port: 3000
          initialDelaySeconds: 30
          periodSeconds: 10
          timeoutSeconds: 5
          failureThreshold: 3
        readinessProbe:
          httpGet:
            path: /ready
            port: 3000
          initialDelaySeconds: 10
          periodSeconds: 5
          timeoutSeconds: 3
          failureThreshold: 3
        volumeMounts:
        - name: app-storage
          mountPath: /app/data
      volumes:
      - name: app-storage
        persistentVolumeClaim:
          claimName: app-pvc

---
# Service
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: web-app-service
  namespace: production
spec:
  type: ClusterIP
  selector:
    app: web-app
  ports:
  - port: 80
    targetPort: 3000
    protocol: TCP
    name: http

---
# Ingress
apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: Ingress
metadata:
  name: web-app-ingress
  namespace: production
  annotations:
    kubernetes.io/ingress.class: nginx
    cert-manager.io/cluster-issuer: letsencrypt-prod
    nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/rate-limit: "100"
spec:
  tls:
  - hosts:
    - app.example.com
    secretName: app-tls
  rules:
  - host: app.example.com
    http:
      paths:
      - path: /
        pathType: Prefix
        backend:
          service:
            name: web-app-service
            port:
              number: 80

---
# HorizontalPodAutoscaler
apiVersion: autoscaling/v2
kind: HorizontalPodAutoscaler
metadata:
  name: web-app-hpa
  namespace: production
spec:
  scaleTargetRef:
    apiVersion: apps/v1
    kind: Deployment
    name: web-app
  minReplicas: 3
  maxReplicas: 10
  metrics:
  - type: Resource
    resource:
      name: cpu
      target:
        type: Utilization
        averageUtilization: 70
  - type: Resource
    resource:
      name: memory
      target:
        type: Utilization
        averageUtilization: 80
  behavior:
    scaleDown:
      stabilizationWindowSeconds: 300
      policies:
      - type: Percent
        value: 50
        periodSeconds: 60
    scaleUp:
      stabilizationWindowSeconds: 0
      policies:
      - type: Percent
        value: 100
        periodSeconds: 30
      - type: Pods
        value: 2
        periodSeconds: 30
      selectPolicy: Max

Advanced Kubernetes Patterns#

StatefulSet for Databases#

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: StatefulSet
metadata:
  name: postgres
  namespace: production
spec:
  serviceName: postgres
  replicas: 3
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: postgres
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: postgres
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: postgres
        image: postgres:15-alpine
        ports:
        - containerPort: 5432
          name: postgres
        env:
        - name: POSTGRES_PASSWORD
          valueFrom:
            secretKeyRef:
              name: postgres-secret
              key: password
        - name: PGDATA
          value: /var/lib/postgresql/data/pgdata
        volumeMounts:
        - name: postgres-storage
          mountPath: /var/lib/postgresql/data
        resources:
          requests:
            memory: "1Gi"
            cpu: "500m"
          limits:
            memory: "2Gi"
            cpu: "1000m"
  volumeClaimTemplates:
  - metadata:
      name: postgres-storage
    spec:
      accessModes: ["ReadWriteOnce"]
      storageClassName: fast-ssd
      resources:
        requests:
          storage: 10Gi

DaemonSet for Monitoring#

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: DaemonSet
metadata:
  name: node-exporter
  namespace: monitoring
spec:
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: node-exporter
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: node-exporter
    spec:
      hostNetwork: true
      hostPID: true
      containers:
      - name: node-exporter
        image: prom/node-exporter:latest
        ports:
        - containerPort: 9100
          name: metrics
        volumeMounts:
        - name: proc
          mountPath: /host/proc
          readOnly: true
        - name: sys
          mountPath: /host/sys
          readOnly: true
        args:
        - '--path.procfs=/host/proc'
        - '--path.sysfs=/host/sys'
        - '--collector.filesystem.mount-points-exclude=^/(sys|proc|dev|host|etc)($$|/)'
      volumes:
      - name: proc
        hostPath:
          path: /proc
      - name: sys
        hostPath:
          path: /sys

Job and CronJob#

# One-time Job
apiVersion: batch/v1
kind: Job
metadata:
  name: database-migration
  namespace: production
spec:
  template:
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: migration
        image: myregistry/migrations:latest
        command: ["npm", "run", "migrate"]
        envFrom:
        - secretRef:
            name: app-secrets
      restartPolicy: OnFailure
  backoffLimit: 3
  activeDeadlineSeconds: 600

---
# Scheduled CronJob
apiVersion: batch/v1
kind: CronJob
metadata:
  name: backup-database
  namespace: production
spec:
  schedule: "0 2 * * *"  # Daily at 2 AM
  jobTemplate:
    spec:
      template:
        spec:
          containers:
          - name: backup
            image: myregistry/backup:latest
            command: ["/bin/sh", "-c"]
            args:
            - |
              pg_dump $DATABASE_URL | gzip > /backup/db-$(date +%Y%m%d).sql.gz
              aws s3 cp /backup/db-$(date +%Y%m%d).sql.gz s3://backups/
            envFrom:
            - secretRef:
                name: app-secrets
            volumeMounts:
            - name: backup-storage
              mountPath: /backup
          volumes:
          - name: backup-storage
            emptyDir: {}
          restartPolicy: OnFailure
  successfulJobsHistoryLimit: 3
  failedJobsHistoryLimit: 1

Helm Charts#

Creating a Helm Chart#

# Chart.yaml
apiVersion: v2
name: web-app
description: A Helm chart for web application
type: application
version: 1.0.0
appVersion: "1.0.0"
dependencies:
  - name: postgresql
    version: "12.x.x"
    repository: "https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami"
    condition: postgresql.enabled
  - name: redis
    version: "17.x.x"
    repository: "https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami"
    condition: redis.enabled

# values.yaml
replicaCount: 3

image:
  repository: myregistry/web-app
  pullPolicy: IfNotPresent
  tag: "1.0.0"

service:
  type: ClusterIP
  port: 80
  targetPort: 3000

ingress:
  enabled: true
  className: nginx
  annotations:
    cert-manager.io/cluster-issuer: letsencrypt-prod
  hosts:
    - host: app.example.com
      paths:
        - path: /
          pathType: Prefix
  tls:
    - secretName: app-tls
      hosts:
        - app.example.com

resources:
  limits:
    cpu: 500m
    memory: 512Mi
  requests:
    cpu: 250m
    memory: 256Mi

autoscaling:
  enabled: true
  minReplicas: 3
  maxReplicas: 10
  targetCPUUtilizationPercentage: 70
  targetMemoryUtilizationPercentage: 80

postgresql:
  enabled: true
  auth:
    username: myapp
    password: changeme
    database: myapp
  primary:
    persistence:
      size: 10Gi

redis:
  enabled: true
  auth:
    enabled: false
  master:
    persistence:
      size: 1Gi

# templates/deployment.yaml
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: {{ include "web-app.fullname" . }}
  labels:
    {{- include "web-app.labels" . | nindent 4 }}
spec:
  {{- if not .Values.autoscaling.enabled }}
  replicas: {{ .Values.replicaCount }}
  {{- end }}
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      {{- include "web-app.selectorLabels" . | nindent 6 }}
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        {{- include "web-app.selectorLabels" . | nindent 8 }}
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: {{ .Chart.Name }}
        image: "{{ .Values.image.repository }}:{{ .Values.image.tag | default .Chart.AppVersion }}"
        imagePullPolicy: {{ .Values.image.pullPolicy }}
        ports:
        - name: http
          containerPort: {{ .Values.service.targetPort }}
          protocol: TCP
        livenessProbe:
          httpGet:
            path: /health
            port: http
        readinessProbe:
          httpGet:
            path: /ready
            port: http
        resources:
          {{- toYaml .Values.resources | nindent 12 }}
        env:
        {{- if .Values.postgresql.enabled }}
        - name: DATABASE_URL
          value: "postgresql://{{ .Values.postgresql.auth.username }}:{{ .Values.postgresql.auth.password }}@{{ include "web-app.fullname" . }}-postgresql:5432/{{ .Values.postgresql.auth.database }}"
        {{- end }}
        {{- if .Values.redis.enabled }}
        - name: REDIS_URL
          value: "redis://{{ include "web-app.fullname" . }}-redis-master:6379"
        {{- end }}

Using Helm#

# Install chart
helm install my-app ./web-app -n production --create-namespace

# Upgrade release
helm upgrade my-app ./web-app -n production

# Rollback
helm rollback my-app 1 -n production

# List releases
helm list -n production

# Uninstall
helm uninstall my-app -n production

# Install with custom values
helm install my-app ./web-app -n production \
  --set replicaCount=5 \
  --set image.tag=v2.0.0 \
  --values custom-values.yaml

Monitoring and Logging#

Prometheus Monitoring#

# ServiceMonitor for Prometheus
apiVersion: monitoring.coreos.com/v1
kind: ServiceMonitor
metadata:
  name: web-app-metrics
  namespace: production
spec:
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: web-app
  endpoints:
  - port: metrics
    interval: 30s
    path: /metrics

---
# PrometheusRule for Alerts
apiVersion: monitoring.coreos.com/v1
kind: PrometheusRule
metadata:
  name: web-app-alerts
  namespace: production
spec:
  groups:
  - name: web-app
    interval: 30s
    rules:
    - alert: HighErrorRate
      expr: |
        rate(http_requests_total{status=~"5.."}[5m]) > 0.05
      for: 5m
      labels:
        severity: critical
      annotations:
        summary: "High error rate detected"
        description: "Error rate is {{ $value }} for {{ $labels.instance }}"
    
    - alert: HighMemoryUsage
      expr: |
        container_memory_usage_bytes{pod=~"web-app-.*"} / 
        container_spec_memory_limit_bytes{pod=~"web-app-.*"} > 0.9
      for: 5m
      labels:
        severity: warning
      annotations:
        summary: "High memory usage"
        description: "Memory usage is {{ $value | humanizePercentage }}"

Centralized Logging#

# Fluentd DaemonSet
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: DaemonSet
metadata:
  name: fluentd
  namespace: logging
spec:
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: fluentd
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: fluentd
    spec:
      serviceAccountName: fluentd
      containers:
      - name: fluentd
        image: fluent/fluentd-kubernetes-daemonset:v1-debian-elasticsearch
        env:
        - name: FLUENT_ELASTICSEARCH_HOST
          value: "elasticsearch.logging.svc.cluster.local"
        - name: FLUENT_ELASTICSEARCH_PORT
          value: "9200"
        volumeMounts:
        - name: varlog
          mountPath: /var/log
        - name: varlibdockercontainers
          mountPath: /var/lib/docker/containers
          readOnly: true
      volumes:
      - name: varlog
        hostPath:
          path: /var/log
      - name: varlibdockercontainers
        hostPath:
          path: /var/lib/docker/containers

CI/CD Pipeline#

GitLab CI/CD#

# .gitlab-ci.yml
stages:
  - build
  - test
  - deploy

variables:
  DOCKER_REGISTRY: registry.example.com
  IMAGE_NAME: $DOCKER_REGISTRY/web-app
  KUBE_NAMESPACE: production

build:
  stage: build
  image: docker:latest
  services:
    - docker:dind
  script:
    - docker login -u $CI_REGISTRY_USER -p $CI_REGISTRY_PASSWORD $DOCKER_REGISTRY
    - docker build -t $IMAGE_NAME:$CI_COMMIT_SHA .
    - docker tag $IMAGE_NAME:$CI_COMMIT_SHA $IMAGE_NAME:latest
    - docker push $IMAGE_NAME:$CI_COMMIT_SHA
    - docker push $IMAGE_NAME:latest
  only:
    - main

test:
  stage: test
  image: $IMAGE_NAME:$CI_COMMIT_SHA
  script:
    - npm test
    - npm run lint
  only:
    - main

deploy:
  stage: deploy
  image: bitnami/kubectl:latest
  script:
    - kubectl config set-cluster k8s --server="$KUBE_URL" --insecure-skip-tls-verify=true
    - kubectl config set-credentials admin --token="$KUBE_TOKEN"
    - kubectl config set-context default --cluster=k8s --user=admin
    - kubectl config use-context default
    - kubectl set image deployment/web-app app=$IMAGE_NAME:$CI_COMMIT_SHA -n $KUBE_NAMESPACE
    - kubectl rollout status deployment/web-app -n $KUBE_NAMESPACE
  only:
    - main
  when: manual

GitHub Actions#

# .github/workflows/deploy.yml
name: Build and Deploy

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

env:
  REGISTRY: ghcr.io
  IMAGE_NAME: ${{ github.repository }}

jobs:
  build-and-push:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      contents: read
      packages: write
    
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v3
    
    - name: Log in to Container Registry
      uses: docker/login-action@v2
      with:
        registry: ${{ env.REGISTRY }}
        username: ${{ github.actor }}
        password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
    
    - name: Extract metadata
      id: meta
      uses: docker/metadata-action@v4
      with:
        images: ${{ env.REGISTRY }}/${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}
    
    - name: Build and push
      uses: docker/build-push-action@v4
      with:
        context: .
        push: true
        tags: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.tags }}
        labels: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.labels }}
  
  deploy:
    needs: build-and-push
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v3
    
    - name: Set up kubectl
      uses: azure/setup-kubectl@v3
    
    - name: Configure kubectl
      run: |
        echo "${{ secrets.KUBE_CONFIG }}" | base64 -d > kubeconfig
        export KUBECONFIG=kubeconfig
    
    - name: Deploy to Kubernetes
      run: |
        kubectl set image deployment/web-app \
          app=${{ env.REGISTRY }}/${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}:${{ github.sha }} \
          -n production
        kubectl rollout status deployment/web-app -n production

Production Best Practices#

Resource Management#

# ResourceQuota
apiVersion: v1
kind: ResourceQuota
metadata:
  name: production-quota
  namespace: production
spec:
  hard:
    requests.cpu: "100"
    requests.memory: 200Gi
    limits.cpu: "200"
    limits.memory: 400Gi
    persistentvolumeclaims: "50"
    services.loadbalancers: "5"

---
# LimitRange
apiVersion: v1
kind: LimitRange
metadata:
  name: production-limits
  namespace: production
spec:
  limits:
  - max:
      cpu: "2"
      memory: "4Gi"
    min:
      cpu: "100m"
      memory: "128Mi"
    default:
      cpu: "500m"
      memory: "512Mi"
    defaultRequest:
      cpu: "250m"
      memory: "256Mi"
    type: Container

Network Policies#

apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: NetworkPolicy
metadata:
  name: web-app-network-policy
  namespace: production
spec:
  podSelector:
    matchLabels:
      app: web-app
  policyTypes:
  - Ingress
  - Egress
  ingress:
  - from:
    - namespaceSelector:
        matchLabels:
          name: ingress-nginx
    ports:
    - protocol: TCP
      port: 3000
  egress:
  - to:
    - podSelector:
        matchLabels:
          app: postgres
    ports:
    - protocol: TCP
      port: 5432
  - to:
    - podSelector:
        matchLabels:
          app: redis
    ports:
    - protocol: TCP
      port: 6379
  - to:
    - namespaceSelector: {}
    ports:
    - protocol: TCP
      port: 53
    - protocol: UDP
      port: 53

Security Best Practices#

# PodSecurityPolicy
apiVersion: policy/v1beta1
kind: PodSecurityPolicy
metadata:
  name: restricted
spec:
  privileged: false
  allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
  requiredDropCapabilities:
    - ALL
  volumes:
    - 'configMap'
    - 'emptyDir'
    - 'projected'
    - 'secret'
    - 'downwardAPI'
    - 'persistentVolumeClaim'
  hostNetwork: false
  hostIPC: false
  hostPID: false
  runAsUser:
    rule: 'MustRunAsNonRoot'
  seLinux:
    rule: 'RunAsAny'
  fsGroup:
    rule: 'RunAsAny'
  readOnlyRootFilesystem: true

Troubleshooting#

Common kubectl Commands#

# Get resources
kubectl get pods -n production
kubectl get deployments -n production
kubectl get services -n production
kubectl get ingress -n production

# Describe resources
kubectl describe pod web-app-xxx -n production
kubectl describe deployment web-app -n production

# Logs
kubectl logs web-app-xxx -n production
kubectl logs -f web-app-xxx -n production  # Follow
kubectl logs web-app-xxx -n production --previous  # Previous container

# Execute commands
kubectl exec -it web-app-xxx -n production -- /bin/sh
kubectl exec web-app-xxx -n production -- env

# Port forwarding
kubectl port-forward web-app-xxx 8080:3000 -n production

# Copy files
kubectl cp web-app-xxx:/app/data/file.txt ./file.txt -n production

# Debug
kubectl debug web-app-xxx -it --image=busybox -n production

# Events
kubectl get events -n production --sort-by='.lastTimestamp'

# Resource usage
kubectl top nodes
kubectl top pods -n production

Frequently Asked Questions#

Q: Kubernetes vs Docker Swarm? A: Kubernetes won. It has better ecosystem, more features, and industry adoption. Docker Swarm is simpler but less powerful.

Q: How many replicas should I run? A: Minimum 3 for high availability. Use HPA to scale based on metrics. Consider costs vs. reliability needs.

Q: What about serverless containers? A: AWS Fargate, Google Cloud Run, and Azure Container Instances offer serverless containers. Good for simpler workloads without K8s complexity.

Q: How do I handle secrets securely? A: Use external secret managers (AWS Secrets Manager, HashiCorp Vault) with tools like External Secrets Operator. Don't commit secrets to Git.

Q: What's the learning curve? A: Steep. Start with Docker, then basic K8s concepts. Use managed services (EKS, GKE, AKS) to reduce operational burden.

Container orchestration with Kubernetes is complex but essential for modern cloud-native applications. Start small, learn incrementally, and leverage managed services to reduce operational overhead.