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Architecture#

Mirantis Kubernetes Engine 4 (MKE 4) is an enterprise-grade, production-ready Kubernetes platform that is designed to be secure, scalable, and reliable.

You can manage the entire MKE 4 cluster through the mke4.yaml configuration file. Refer to Configuration for details.

The diagram below illustrates the product architecture:

Architecture Diagram

The following components constitute an MKE 4 cluster:

  • k0s Kubernetes distribution
  • Container Network Interface (CNI)

  • MKE 4 Control Plane

    • mke-operator
    • k0rdent

  • System services

  • User services

k0s Kubernetes distribution#

k0s is a lightweight and open-source Kubernetes distribution that acts as the foundational runtime for MKE 4 clusters. For more information, refer to the k0s documentation.

Container Network Interface (CNI)#

MKE 4 supports Container Network Interface (CNI) plugins. Such components provide networking functionality within a cluster that is secure, scalable, and policy-driven.

MKE 4 installs with the Calico CNI by default. Other CNI options, though, are also available. Refer to Container Network Interface for the network configuration details.

MKE 4 Control Plane#

The MKE 4 Control Plane, which comprises mke-operator and k0rdent, is used to orchestrate, manage, and maintain the lifecycle of the MKE 4 cluster and services.

  • mke-operator: A Kubernetes-native operator that automates installation, upgrades, system configuration, and user services.
  • k0rdent: An open-source component that performs lifecycle management for the services that mke-operator configures.

System services#

A key benefit of MKE 4 is that it includes various services that are typically standard to a cluster, thus ensuring that they integrate well and are easy to use and configure. These services are Kubernetes workloads that run within the cluster, which you can manage using the MKE 4 control plane. They include authorization, ingress, monitoring, and backups, among others.

User Services#

Typically, user services are user-defined applications that run within the MKE 4 cluster, which you manage using the MKE 4 control plane.