Cisco and Microsofts Azure integrate Kubernetes platforms

Cisco and Microsoft have decided to integrate their Kubernetes platforms. This should make it easier for large businesses to run their containerised applications both on-premise and in the Azure cloud.

Both companies will be able to run and manage Kubernetes clusters both on premise on the Cisco Container Platform and in the cloud-based Azure Kubernetes Service. That’s what Silicon Angle writes.

Users can roll out and manage their clusters via a single tool via common identity and management policy. Manual tasks and the introduction should be reduced as a result.

According to senior vice president Kip Comptonijd of Cloud Platform and Solutions at Cisco, the integration was made possible by adding Microsoft’s Azure Kubernetes Service to the Kubernetes managed services on the Cisco Container Platform.

Future functions

In the future, the Cisco Container Platform will also need functionality to support Microsoft Windows container applications, with the potential to use virtual-kubelet or Windows node pools in Azure, says Compton in a blog post.

In addition, there will be support for Azure Active Directory common identity integration for on-premise and Azure Kubernetes Service clusters. This allows customers and applications to use a single, consistent environment in the hybrid cloud.

Collaboration

Cisco and Azure have been working together for a long time and there are already several integrations between Cisco’s services and Microsoft’s cloud environment. There is the Cisco Integrated System for Microsoft Azure Stack, on which the new integration also builds.

The Cisco Integrated System for Microsoft Azure Stack enables Cisco’s on-premise customers to use the Azure services as developer tools and data repositories. Azure Stack is an on premise tool that replicates the capabilities of the Azure Cloud in the private, on-premise data center of companies and organizations.