VSHN Managed Rancher Kubernetes Engine
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This service is deprecated. Existing services will continue to run and will over time migrate to either VSHN Managed OpenShift or VSHN Managed Kubernetes. |
VSHN Managed Rancher Kubernetes Engine (RKE) from SUSE is our product to run Kubernetes in virtual machines on almost any infrastructure which provides virtual machines.
You can also use the Rancher Management Server to manage Cloud Service Provider managed Kubernetes services.
Use Cases
- Kubernetes in virtual machines
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Useful on all infrastructures which don’t offer Kubernetes directly on the platform. This usually applies to on-premise data centers.
- Full-fledged highly-available Kubernetes cluster
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With RKE a highly-available Kubernetes cluster can be built on most infrastructures.
- Customized deployment
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If the features and possibilities of a cloud offering doesn’t meet the requirements, usually the requirements can be met by this product.
Shared Rancher Management Server
VSHN operates a shared Rancher Management Server and provides access to it for users of the Managed Kubernetes product.
The VSHN provided Rancher Management Server includes:
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Access to the Kubernetes cluster with a VSHN Account
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Graphical overview of the Kubernetes cluster
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Access control to the clusters
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GUI to deploy applications
| Instead of using the shared Rancher Management Server a dedicated instance can be provided at additional cost. Please contact us for more information. |
VSHN Supported Features and Configuration
Supported by default
These features and configurations are available out-of-the box and installed and configured by default.
| Feature / Configuration | Description |
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Kubernetes with RKE |
Rancher Kubernetes Engine (RKE) is used as the Kubernetes distribution. |
Ubuntu LTS as Operating System |
The underlying Operating System is Ubuntu LTS. |
Persistent Storage |
Persistent storage is available when the platform supports Kubernetes CSI. |
Control-Plane High-Availability |
The Kubernetes control-plane is built with high-availability on three dedicated virtual machines. |
Access via shared Rancher |
Access to the Kubernetes cluster is available via the VSHN provided shared Rancher Management Server. |
Commercial support by Rancher (SUSE) |
All clusters are included in the support contract VSHN has with Rancher (SUSE). |
Cluster Maintenance |
Kubernetes control-plane and node updates are applied continuously when they’re available. See also Version and Upgrade Policy. |
Cluster Backup |
A full backup of the Persistent storage volumes are not automatically backed up. The user of persistent volumes is obliged to take care of this. For that purpose, K8up is available on the cluster to help with that task. We’re also happy to help, just let us know. |
Cluster limits |
We’re following the recommendations of upstream Kubernetes. |
Supported on request
These features or configuration adjustments must be specifically requested and some restrictions apply. Activation and configuration of these features imply additional engineering costs and can cause additional recurring engineering costs for operating them.
| Feature / Configuration | Description |
|---|---|
Dedicated Rancher Management Server |
A dedicated Rancher Management Server can be provided and managed on request. This option incurs additional subscription fees. |
Crossplane is an open source Kubernetes add-on that enables platform teams to assemble infrastructure from multiple vendors, and expose higher level self-service APIs for application teams to consume, without having to write any code. We can help with the deployment and configuration of Crossplane on the cluster to make it ready to work with the cloud the cluster is provisioned in. |
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Rancher logging can be used out of the box, the storage destination and configuration has to be engineered on a case-by-case base. |
Unsupported
These features or configuration adjustments are not supported by VSHN, but can still be activated, changed or used, although are neither monitored, backed up nor maintained. No guarantees are given, use them at your own risk.
| Still interested in one (or more) of these unsupported options? Get in contact with sales@vshn.ch and we figure out together what we can offer. |
| Feature / Configuration | Description |
|---|---|
Cluster autoscaling is usually not supported by the underlying platform and therefore not supported by VSHN. |
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Cluster Provisioning with Rancher |
Provisioning of Kubernetes clusters via the Rancher Management Server is only supported with a dedicated Rancher Management Server. |
The Open Policy Agent Gatekeeper is not supported by VSHN yet. |
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Istio is not supported by VSHN yet. |
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CIS scans aren’t support by VSHN yet. |
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Longhorn Storage |
Longhorn storage isn’t support by VSHN yet. |
Pipelines aren’t supported by VSHN. We recommend using GitLab for that. |
Version and Upgrade Policy
Supported is only the latest available version of RKE and Ubuntu LTS release. Installations must be upgraded to the next minor release within three months after a new release is available, or the latest when the next minor release is available.
The official Rancher Support Matrix applies.
Minimum Requirements
| Item | Description |
|---|---|
Control Plane |
3 virtual machines
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Compute Nodes |
3 virtual machines
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The official RKE requirements applies.
Infrastructure specifics
The following infrastructures are known to VSHN and lists their specifics:
- cloudscale.ch
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Only Plus flavors of virtual machines are supported
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Storage support is provided via cloudscale.ch CSI
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- Exoscale
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Storage support is available via Managed Storage Cluster.
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- VMware
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Storage support via VMware CSI
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