Azure AKS — Kubernetes in the Microsoft Ecosystem

Most of our enterprise clients in the banking sector have contracts with Microsoft and run on Azure. AKS is a managed Kubernetes that pleasantly surprised us.

Integration with the Azure Ecosystem¶

• Azure Active Directory — RBAC integrated with AAD groups
• Azure Container Registry — native Docker registry
• Azure Monitor — Container insights
• Azure Policy — governance and compliance
• Azure Key Vault — secrets management

Networking¶

Azure CNI: every pod gets a VNet IP. Direct integration with VNet peering, NSG, firewall. The security team can see Kubernetes traffic in Network Watcher.

Best Practices for AKS in Enterprise¶

• Private cluster — API server accessible only from VNet
• Azure Policy for Pod Security
• Managed identity instead of service principal
• Availability Zones for HA

AKS Is Enterprise-Ready Kubernetes¶

For banking clients on Azure, AKS is the perfect choice. Integration with AAD and Azure Policy facilitates adoption even in conservative organizations.