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Kubernetes vs Autoscaling AWS

Bygoktugulvan@gmail.com

Kubernetes (K8s) vs AWS Auto scaling

AWS Auto Scaling is the “Old School” native method. It does not use Kubernetes.

They perform a similar job (making things bigger when traffic is high), but they operate at completely different levels.

Here is the difference between AWS Auto Scaling (ASG) and Kubernetes.

1. AWS Auto Scaling (EC2) -> The “Hardware” Scaler

This is the tool you saw in the AWS Console.

  • What it scales: Virtual Machines (EC2 Instances).
  • How it works: You tell AWS: “If the average CPU usage of these computers goes above 70%, turn on another computer.”
  • Speed: Slow. It takes 3 to 5 minutes to boot up a fresh Windows/Linux VM.
  • Granularity: Heavy. It adds an entire computer (e.g., 4 CPUs, 16GB RAM) at a time.

2. Kubernetes (HPA) -> The “Software” Scaler

This is the tool used inside the cluster.

  • What it scales: Containers (Docker).
  • How it works: Kubernetes says: “I have space on this existing computer. I will squeeze another copy of the Game Server right here.”
  • Speed: Instant. Containers start in milliseconds to seconds.
  • Granularity: Light. It adds just one game process (e.g., 100MB RAM) at a time.