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Spectro Cloud, a company delivering an enterprise Kubernetes management platform, has released an open source CNCF Cluster API contribution that supports Canonical’s MaaS interface. The new addition to the open-source Kubernetes ecosystem addresses the requirement for companies to quickly install, run, and manage Kubernetes clusters directly on bare metal servers. It would boost performance while reducing cost and operational effort.
Spectro Cloud’s recent open-source contribution would connect two Kubernetes paradigm shifts: Cluster API, which provides declarative lifecycle management for Kubernetes settings, and bare metal performance.
It enables any team to utilize CNCF’s Cluster API to quickly provision Kubernetes clusters on bare metal servers in any data center and manage them in the same way as any other Kubernetes deployment target, without the added complexity, dangers, or technical skill sets.
“Running Kubernetes directly on bare metal servers is the next big thing for the Kubernetes community, but it has been challenging and difficult to implement,” said Tenry Fu, CEO and co-founder of Spectro Cloud. “So far, we have seen two fairly compartmentalized efforts to evolve the use of bare metal with all of its benefits and to modernize Kubernetes management. The problem has been that each of these initiatives have been siloed thus far. With the Spectro Cloud Cluster API provider for MaaS, we have built the bridge between the two – this will enable the whole market to expand.”
Managing Kubernetes Systems at Scale
IT and development teams who want to manage Kubernetes systems at scale and have or want to extend to bare metal servers can utilize the open-source software. It is licensed under the Apache license and available for anybody to download.
Spectro Cloud’s Cluster API provider for MaaS may help organizations transition to production Kubernetes with numerous projects through:
- Simplified management – There’s no need for sophisticated coding, configuration work, or an in-house virtualization skill set
- Improved performance – Removes the 7-10% CPU/memory impact incurred by hypervisors, as well as allowing direct access to GPUs and high-IOPS storage
- Lowered costs – Because Kubernetes can operate directly on bare metal, it eliminates the requirement for hypervisor and virtualization license
“Kubernetes can be challenging, let alone deploying directly on bare metal servers,” said Saad Malik, CTO and co-founder of Spectro Cloud. “The challenge with bare metal Kubernetes was always in treating those environments as one-offs that required specialized management, customizations and additional oversight. What we have built is essentially a way for any team to deploy and manage bare metal Kubernetes just like any other cluster. This open-source contribution, along with the Spectro Cloud platform, further demonstrates our work in bringing life to the CNCF Cluster API project.”
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Spectro Cloud is a company backed by Stripes, Sierra Ventures, boldstart ventures, Westwave Capital, Alter Venture Partners and Firebolt Ventures. The new solution advances Spectro Cloud’s aim of offering container-based development capabilities with Kubernetes without the complexity that now prevents mainstream corporate adoption for production-scale systems.
Spectro Cloud recently completed a $20 million Series A funding round led by Stripes, a leading investor in software and consumer products.
“Spectro Cloud’s release of a MaaS provider for CNCF’s Cluster API project is an important contribution to the technology industry, extending Kubernetes provisioning and management to now include bare metal target environments,” said Joseph Jacks, Founding CNCF Member and Former Board Member, co-founder of KubeCon. “These types of open-source projects and efforts help to advance the adoption of new technologies for both business and solution providers.”
