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Kong Gateway Enterprise [ARCHIVE]
2.1.x

PermalinkKong for Kubernetes Enterprise

Kong provides two main Enterprise packages that you can deploy with Kubernetes, depending on your use case:

  • Kong for Kubernetes Enterprise: The Kong Ingress Controller with Enterprise plugins.
  • Kong Enterprise on Kubernetes: The whole Kong Enterprise platform deployed on Kubernetes, optionally with the Kong Ingress Controller.

PermalinkKong for Kubernetes Enterprise

Kong for Kubernetes Enterprise is a lightweight deployment of Kong Gateway as a Kubernetes ingress controller. A Kubernetes ingress controller is a proxy that exposes Kubernetes services from applications (for example, Deployments, StatefulSets) running on a Kubernetes cluster to client applications running outside of the cluster. The intent of an ingress controller is to provide a single point of control for all incoming traffic into the Kubernetes cluster.

The Kong Ingress Controller runs without a database (DB-less mode) and supports the vast majority of Kong’s plugins, including the Enterprise plugins.

Important: Enterprise features such as Kong Manager, Kong Vitals (analytics), Kong Developer Portal, RBAC, Workspaces and many others can't run in this deployment because they require a database.

Kong for Kubernetes Enterprise

For example, here’s a common use case: an application deployed to Kubernetes exposes an API that needs to be used by Web or mobile-client applications or services in another cluster. It uses a Kubernetes ingress controller, which can secure and manage traffic according to various policies that can be changed on the fly based on the use case and application.

Here are some benefits of using Kong for Kubernetes Enterprise:

  • It stores all of the configuration in the Kubernetes datastore (etcd) using Custom Resource Definitions (CRDs), meaning you can use Kubernetes’ native tools to manage Kong and benefit from Kubernetes’ declarative configuration, RBAC, namespacing, and scalability.
  • Because the configuration is stored in Kubernetes, no database needs to be deployed for Kong. Kong runs in DB-less mode, making it operationally easy to run, upgrade, and back up.
  • It natively integrates with the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) ecosystem to provide out of the box monitoring, logging, certificate management, tracing, and scaling.

PermalinkKong Enterprise on Kubernetes

This option lets you deploy the full Kong for Kubernetes Enterprise platform. As there are functionalities in the platform that require a stateful environment, a database is required to run this package, which includes the following:

  • Kong Manager
  • Kong Vitals
  • Kong Developer Portal
  • Role-based access control (RBAC)
  • Workspaces
  • All open-source and Enterprise plugins
  • and more

Kong Enterprise on Kubernetes is the ideal install for organizations looking to leverage Kong’s complete platform. If your organization requires the functionalities mentioned above, it is recommended to use this deployment option.

Kong Enterprise on Kubernetes

PermalinkSee Also

For a detailed comparison of the options, see Deployment Options.

For more information about the architecture of the ingress controller, see Kong Ingress Controller Design.