About Container Orchestration Simulator

Simulate container orchestration scenarios (deploy, scale, failover). Part of the DevTools Surf developer suite. Browse more tools in the Developer Utilities collection.

Use Cases

• Practice Kubernetes deployment scenarios without requiring a cluster
• Simulate pod scheduling and eviction during node failure events
• Test scaling policies before deploying to production
• Demonstrate orchestration concepts during team education sessions

Tips

• Configure the replica count and resource limits (CPU, memory) per service before running the simulation — these drive scheduling decisions
• Use the 'node failure' event to simulate what happens when one of three nodes goes down — watch which pods reschedule and where
• The failover timeline shows the expected recovery duration based on configured liveness/readiness probe settings

Fun Facts

• Kubernetes was open-sourced by Google in June 2014, based on Google's internal Borg system that had been running production workloads since 2003. Google has been running containerized workloads at scale for over 20 years.
• As of 2023, over 5.6 million developers use Kubernetes according to the CNCF Annual Survey. It runs in over 96% of Fortune 100 companies and processes billions of container instances daily across hyperscaler infrastructure.
• The name 'Kubernetes' comes from Greek for 'helmsman' or 'pilot' — the same root as 'cybernetics' (control systems theory). Docker containers were named after shipping containers; Kubernetes continues the nautical metaphor.

FAQ

What is the difference between Docker Swarm and Kubernetes?

Both orchestrate containers across multiple hosts. Docker Swarm is simpler to set up and sufficient for many use cases. Kubernetes is far more feature-rich (RBAC, custom resources, operator pattern) and is the industry standard for complex production workloads.

What is a liveness probe vs readiness probe?

Liveness probe: checks if the container is alive — failure triggers a restart. Readiness probe: checks if the container is ready to receive traffic — failure removes the pod from the load balancer. Both are critical for zero-downtime deployments.

What is the difference between a Deployment and a StatefulSet?

Deployments manage stateless pods interchangeably — any replica can serve any request. StatefulSets manage pods with stable network IDs and persistent storage, required for databases and other stateful workloads where identity matters.