Amazon EKS is a managed Kubernetes service that runs the Kubernetes control plane on AWS's behalf, so teams can deploy and operate containerized applications without managing that control plane themselves.

Is EKS the same as regular Kubernetes?

Yes, EKS runs standard, upstream [Kubernetes](/glossary/kubernetes), so existing Kubernetes tools, manifests, and knowledge generally transfer directly.

Do I still need to manage servers with EKS?

You manage worker nodes (or use serverless Fargate capacity to avoid even that), but AWS manages the Kubernetes control plane itself.

How does EKS compare to running Kubernetes yourself?

Self-managed Kubernetes gives more control over the control plane's configuration, while EKS trades some of that control for reduced operational burden and tighter AWS integration.

DevOps

Amazon EKS

By Amazon Web Services

AdvancedService5.4K learners

Amazon EKS (Elastic Kubernetes Service) is a managed AWS service that runs the Kubernetes control plane on a user's behalf, letting teams deploy, scale, and operate containerized applications on Kubernetes without managing Kubernetes' own…

#AmazonEKS #DevOps#Service#Advanced#Kubernetes #Docker #Helm #AmazonEC2 #SoftwareDelivery#Glossary#SkillVeris

Definition

Amazon EKS (Elastic Kubernetes Service) is a managed AWS service that runs the Kubernetes control plane on a user's behalf, letting teams deploy, scale, and operate containerized applications on Kubernetes without managing Kubernetes' own infrastructure.

Overview

Running Kubernetes yourself means operating its control plane — the API server, scheduler, and etcd cluster that keep the whole system consistent — which is operationally demanding to run reliably and securely. EKS removes that burden by managing the control plane for you: AWS handles its availability, patching, and scaling, while users focus on worker nodes and the workloads running on them, which can be backed by Amazon EC2 instances or serverless Fargate capacity. Because EKS runs standard, upstream Kubernetes, workloads, manifests, and tools built for Kubernetes generally work the same way as they would on any other conformant cluster, including tools like Helm for packaging applications. EKS integrates with the rest of AWS — IAM for access control, VPC networking, load balancers, and storage — which is a major reason teams already invested in AWS choose it over self-managed Kubernetes or other managed offerings, trading some flexibility for reduced operational overhead. Kubernetes fundamentals and cluster operations are covered in the Kubernetes course.

Key Features

Fully managed Kubernetes control plane with AWS handling availability and patching
Standard, upstream Kubernetes compatible with existing tools and manifests
Worker nodes on EC2 instances or serverless Fargate capacity
Deep integration with AWS IAM, VPC networking, and load balancers
Managed node groups for simplified worker node lifecycle management
Support for Kubernetes add-ons and the broader CNCF ecosystem
Multi-AZ control plane for high availability

Use Cases

Running containerized microservices at scale on AWS

Standardizing deployments on Kubernetes across multiple environments

Migrating existing Kubernetes workloads into a managed AWS environment

Building CI/CD pipelines that deploy to a managed Kubernetes cluster

Running batch and machine learning workloads on Kubernetes

Adopting Kubernetes without operating the control plane in-house

Frequently Asked Questions

From the Blog

Cloud & Cybersecurity

AWS for Beginners: Cloud Computing Fundamentals

Amazon Web Services is the world's most widely used cloud platform. This guide covers the core services every developer needs — EC2 (virtual servers), S3 (storage), IAM (access control), VPC (networking), and RDS (databases) — with practical setup instructions and free tier guidance.