Tutorials
A comparison between Deployments, Statefulsets and Daemonsets in Kubernetes
Deployments, StatefulSets, and DaemonSets are all Kubernetes objects that can be used to manage and deploy applications. However, they have different purposes and behaviors.
Deployments are the most common type of Kubernetes object for managing stateless applications. A Deployment ensures that a specified number of replicas of a Pod are running at all times. Deployments also provide features such as rolling updates and rollbacks.
StatefulSets are used to manage stateful applications. Stateful applications are applications that maintain their own state, such as a database or a queue. StatefulSets ensure that each replica of a Pod has a unique identity and a stable network identity. This is important for stateful applications because it allows them to maintain their state even if they are restarted or rescheduled to a different node.
DaemonSets are used to ensure that a Pod is running on every node in a Kubernetes cluster. DaemonSets are often used to run system services, such as logging or monitoring.
Here is a table that compares Deployments, StatefulSets, and DaemonSets:
| Feature | Deployment | StatefulSet | DaemonSet | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Managing stateless applications | Managing stateful applications | Running a single instance of an application on every node in the cluster | |
| Stateful | No | Yes | No | |
| Persistent storage | Optional | Recommended | Not supported | |
| Scalability | Yes | Yes | Cannot be scaled down to zero, Can be scaled up or down, but not as easily as Deployments or StatefulSets | |
| Rollback | Yes | No | No | |
| Examples | Web servers, load balancers, caching servers | Databases, message queues, distributed file systems | Logging agents, monitoring agents, node-local services | |
| Guarantee | Ensures that a desired number of replicas are running | Ensures that a desired number of replicas are running in a specific order | Ensures that a pod is running on every node | |
| Restart policy | Pods are restarted in a random order | Pods are restarted in the order they were created | Pods are restarted in the order they were created | |
| Use cases | Web servers, caching servers, load balancers | Databases, message queues, key-value stores | Monitoring agents, logging agents, distributed file systems |
Examples of applications that would typically be managed using each type of object:
Deployments:
- Web applications
- Load balancers
- Caching servers
- Stateless microservices
StatefulSets:
- Databases
- Message queues
- State machines
- ZooKeeper clusters
- Kubernetes etcd clusters
DaemonSets:
- Logging agents
- Monitoring agents
- Distributed file systems
- Node-local services (e.g., DNS, NTP)
Which type of object you choose to use will depend on the specific requirements of your application. If you are managing a stateless application, a Deployment is the simplest and most common option. If you are managing a stateful application, a StatefulSet is the best option. If you need to ensure that a Pod is running on every node in your cluster, use a DaemonSet.