Google Container Engine (GKE) is a cluster management and container orchestration system developed to run and manage Docker containers.
Google Container Engine is powered by the open-source Kubernetes system that Google originally created to help the company in its own operational management of containers, and it can be deployed for use on on-premises, hybrid cloud or public cloud infrastructure.
GKE schedules containers into a cluster and then manages them automatically based on defined stipulations and requirements. Interaction with GKE can be conducted via the gcloud command-line interface (CLI) or the Google Cloud Platform Console.
Google Container Engine in Action
Enterprises can tap into Google Container Engine’s capabilities to create or resize Docker container clusters, update and upgrade container clusters, debug container clusters, resize application controllers and create container pods.
Google charges a flat fee per hour per cluster for cluster management with Google Container Engine, based on the number of nodes in the managed cluster. For clusters of up to five nodes, there is no charge, and for six or more nodes in a cluster, the charge is $.015 per hour per 6+ node cluster.
