Containers have become a popular method for deploying and managing applications due to their advantages like isolation, efficient hardware use, scalability, and portability. However, in situations where resource isolation is crucial for security, virtual machines (VMs) are often used. A recent user engagement highlighted the need for tamper-proof containers that required compiling code and signing it with a secure key. To address this security challenge, Kata Containers, an open-source project, provides a secure container runtime that combines the lightweight nature of containers with the security benefits of VMs. Kata Containers offer stronger workload isolation through hardware virtualization technology.
Kata Containers run containers in a stripped-down VM, providing strict isolation between containers on a host machine. It supports various architectures like AMD64 and ARM, as well as multiple hypervisors such as Cloud-Hypervisor and Firecracker. By using the Kubernetes orchestration system, Kata Containers simplify the orchestration of workloads while ensuring strong isolation and security.
To deploy Kata Containers on AWS using Amazon EKS, a series of steps are outlined starting with configuring the EKS cluster, adding node groups containing instances for workloads, and deploying Kata Containers using Kata Deploy. Additionally, the configuration of Firecracker, a virtualization technology developed by AWS, is detailed to enhance security and efficiency.
The process involves setting up a devmapper snapshotter for Firecracker, updating containerd configuration, and configuring the runtime classes for Kata Containers. Once the setup is completed, workloads can be deployed using specific hypervisor runtime classes, such as Firecracker or Cloud Hypervisor, providing enhanced security and isolation. It is essential to follow best practices for deploying workloads, including verifying the runtime classes and checking the running processes on the node machine.
After completing the experiments, it is important to clean up the Kubernetes cluster and EKS Node by deleting the CloudFormation templates created during deployment. While this setup is suitable for small tests or proof of concepts, a thorough assessment is recommended before deploying workloads in production.
In conclusion, setting up a self-managed microVM infrastructure on Amazon EKS using Kata Containers offers the benefits of both container orchestration systems and VM security. However, careful consideration and evaluation are required before implementing this setup in a production environment. Managed solutions like Amazon EC2, Amazon ECS, and Amazon EKS are recommended for smoother operations and reduced complexity. Readers interested in delving deeper into Kata Containers can refer to their official documentation for further insights.
Article Source
https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/containers/enhancing-kubernetes-workload-isolation-and-security-using-kata-containers/