In this three-part blog series, we examine the critical role Kubernetes plays in shaping the future of infrastructure, including the rise of containers and [Kubernetes](https://konghq.com/blog/learning-center/what-is-kubernetes)Kubernetes.
This post, the first in the series, covers Next-Generation Application Development.
The second covers the [Next Frontier: Container Orchestration.](https://konghq.com/blog/container-orchestration)Next Frontier: Container Orchestration.
And the third covers [How Kubernetes Gets Work Done](https://konghq.com/blog/how-kubernetes-gets-work-done)How Kubernetes Gets Work Done.
The goal is to understand the organizational and technical advantages that Kubernetes contributes to microservice-based applications and methods to improve deploying, scaling and managing containerized applications.
The world of IT infrastructure has evolved dramatically since the days of developing and running applications on bare metal hardware. In the early 2000s, VMware broke the mold by popularizing virtualization—a software abstraction (virtual machine, or VM) that looks and behaves like dedicated hardware. The primary advantages of using virtualized infrastructure include increased flexibility, scalability, reliability and performance, in addition to lower capital and operational expenses.
The rise of cloud computing and big data has fueled the adoption of another technology designed to improve flexibility and convenience at scale, containers, which facilitated the development of [microservices](https://konghq.com/blog/learning-center/what-are-microservices)microservices.
Containers are an efficient, modern way to package software. A container includes the application code itself and dependencies such as runtime, configuration, system tools and libraries. Because containers can package code with dependencies and run across various infrastructure types, they free developers from worrying about where their code will run in production.
There are many parallels between the rise of virtual machines and the rise of containers. Containerization has transformed how companies deliver applications and in the same way virtualization did in the early and mid-2000s.
Containers are another lighter-weight way to isolate applications. While containers have their operating system embedded, they can rely on the server's operating system rather than packaging each application the way virtual machines do. This makes containers a fraction of the size of virtual machines and more manageable for developers and operators. It allows operators to fit even more application instances on the same physical servers while preventing the workload in one container from interfering with others on the same server.
Since containers allow developers to package their code and dependencies, they facilitate a DevOps approach to software development. Developers no longer rely on operators to provision machines or virtual machines that can support their services; they can package their code with everything it needs, without any help. This speeds up development by reducing back-and-forth between teams and reducing wait time. Because containers are self-contained, they are easily shared via common repositories for testing and collaboration.
Ease of use is another core benefit of containers. Just as virtual machines were easier to create, scale and manage than physical hardware, containers make it even easier to build software because they can start up in a few seconds and can easily run on a laptop.
Gone are the days of running the heavy load of processes required by a full virtual machine. Instead, containers let us run lightweight, isolated processes in any environment, including locally, in the cloud, or on on-premises servers or virtual machines. This makes them easy to develop and quick to scale without the overhead of DevOps busy work.
In the next part of this series, we discuss the next frontier in microservice architecture: Container Orchestration.
The Anatomy of Architectural Complexity Modern architectures now juggle three distinct traffic patterns. Each brings unique demands. Traditional approaches treat them separately. This separation creates unnecessary complexity. North-South API Traf
[](https://konghq.com/blog/enterprise/microservices-to-ai-traffic-kong-as-the-unified-control-plane)
Your Kafka Doesn't Have to Live Behind a Wall When teams resort to VPC peering or PrivateLink to expose Kafka, they're not solving the problem — they're managing it, one network topology decision at a time. Every new external consumer adds compl
[](https://konghq.com/blog/enterprise/kafka-external-access)
This is the pitch to the board and the C-suite. It must be brutally concise, focused entirely on your business outcomes, not the technology. If the first page doesn't articulate value, the strategy dies. Why? It immediately frames the initiative in
[](https://konghq.com/blog/enterprise/enterprise-api-strategy-legacy-modernization)
What are Virtual Machines (VMs)? A virtual machine (VM) is a fully-fledged, standalone operating environment running on a physical computer. Unlike the host computer it's running on, a VM is not a physical machine, thus the designation of "virtual".
[](https://konghq.com/blog/learning-center/virtual-machines)What is Kubernetes? Kubernetes, or K8s as it's known for short, and container orchestration are changing the landscape of software development and deployment. But what exactly does Kubernetes do? In this comprehensive guide, we'll explain the basics
[](https://konghq.com/blog/learning-center/what-is-kubernetes)
Kubernetes has become the gold standard for container orchestration. However, running stateful applications on Kubernetes can be challenging . This is where Kubernetes operators come in. Kubernetes operators resolve common issues like automating
[](https://konghq.com/blog/learning-center/what-is-a-kubernetes-operator)
Read the latest version: APM With Prometheus and Grafana on Kubernetes Ingress Archived post below. In the modern SaaS world, observability is key to running software reliability, managing risks and deriving business value out of the code that you'
[](https://konghq.com/blog/engineering/observability-kubernetes-kong)