EKS vs Cycle: Comparing Control Planes

Looking for Kubernetes alternatives? You've come to the right place. In this article I'm diving into Amazon EKS vs Cycle and learning more about the differences in the control plane.

Not what you're looking for? Here are 3 more Kubernetes alternatives articles from our blog:

• The Case for Kubernetes Alternatives
• The Expensive Cost of Free Kubernetes
• On a Mission to Replace Kubernetes

What's Up With Control Planes

Taking a look at the difference between the EKS control plane and the Cycle control plane starts to show some of the major differences in our two platforms. It's also very important to point out here - Cycle is not a wrapper on Kubernetes or Docker. It's a build from scratch container orchestration and infrastructure management platform, thats a true alternative to Kubernetes (or in this case EKS).

From AWS:

"Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (Amazon EKS) is a managed Kubernetes service to run Kubernetes in the AWS cloud and on-premises data centers. In the cloud, Amazon EKS automatically manages the availability and scalability of the Kubernetes control plane nodes responsible for scheduling containers, managing application availability, storing cluster data, and other key tasks."

In bold you'll see that managed EKS is really just a managed installation of the Kubernetes control plane. Without customization this is generally a single region control plane. Let's take a look at what this does and does not include and how that compares to Cycle:

Worker Node Management:

EKS:

Does not automatically manage the worker nodes in your cluster. You are responsible for provisioning, scaling, and maintaining the EC2 instances that serve as worker nodes. AWS provides some tools to simplify this process, like managed node groups, but the ultimate responsibility lies with you.

Cycle:

Worker node management is automatic. Users can add providers, launch worker nodes, and consume those nodes as a pool of resources without having to deal with ever managing the underlying software running on those worker nodes. As soon as they come online the worker nodes are ready for containers.

Deployment Management:

EKS:

Does not handle the deployment of your applications, it provides the control plane to manage the Kubernetes API and essential functions. Deploying, updating, and scaling your applications is something you need to manage. This can be done either manually or through additional tools like Helm, CI/CD pipelines, or GitOps solutions.

Cycle:

Has several ways to manage deployments, including Pipelines, a user favorite for standardization and effectiveness.

Custom Networking and Security Configurations:

EKS:

Integrates with AWS networking and security services (like VPC and Security Groups). It does not automatically configure complex network setups or security policies. You need to design and implement these configurations to suit your specific requirements.

Cycle:

With Cycle, all networks are managed by the platform but owned by the user. An interesting example, Cycle automatically creates IPSec tunnels for users that have worker node clusters that need to talk across public networks.

Federation Across Regions:

EKS:

Operates within a single region. If you need a federated control plane that spans multiple regions for high availability or disaster recovery, you will need to set this up yourself or use additional AWS services and third-party tools.

Cycle:

The Cycle control plane operates across at least 5 different providers, ensuring high availability and reliability. In order for Cycle to have a control plane outage, all of these providers would need to go down simultaneously. Your team will never have to deal with scaling that control plane, updating it, or dealing with its availability. Cycle handles all of this.

Operational Tools and Observability:

EKS:

Provides basic monitoring and logging through CloudWatch, but more advanced observability features (like distributed tracing, custom metrics, and detailed logging) require integrating additional tools like Prometheus, Grafana, or third-party monitoring solutions.

Cycle:

While Cycle doesn’t yet offer this, it is currently in development with phased releases starting in early Summer 2024.

Custom Add-Ons and Plugins:

EKS:

Kubernetes has an ecosystem of add-ons and plugins (like service meshes, ingress controllers, and custom resource definitions). EKS does not include these by default, so you need to install and manage them as per your application's needs, and this will have to be done for every cluster you create.

Cycle:

Designed for vertical integration, significantly reducing the need for "add-ons". This means that many of the features you would typically add to Kubernetes are already built into Cycle, which streamlines the setup and management process. Long term, the impact on technical debt can be significant as your organization will have less total "things" to manage.

Auto-scaling:

EKS:

Supports basic horizontal pod auto-scaling and cluster auto-scaling. However, more advanced auto-scaling requirements, like predictive auto-scaling or custom metrics-based scaling, require additional configuration and integration with other tools.

Cycle:

You'll have access to horizontal auto scaling out of the box and setting up custom scaling conditions is simple and intuitive using things like CPU, RAM, and network events for scaling.

Key Takeaways

EKS offers a managed Kubernetes service that integrates with AWS and can provide some tooling for those that are already deeply integrated into the AWS services ecosystem. However, it also requires significant hands-on management and customization. This can be a good choice for teams that have large DevOps teams with deep technical experience using Kubernetes.

Cycle is designed to simplify many of the complexities inherent in Kubernetes. It offers a fully managed, automated, and standardized approach. This makes it a strong choice for teams looking to reduce operational overhead and streamline their infrastructure, deployments, and container orchestration.

I hope this comparison has given you a clearer understanding of the differences between these two platforms. If you're interested in learning more about Kubernetes alternatives, make sure to explore more on our blog.

💡 Interested in trying the Cycle platform? Create your account today! Want to drop in and have a chat with the Cycle team? We'd love to have you join our public Cycle Slack community!