Chapter 23: AWS EKS
AWS EKS (Elastic Kubernetes Service).
If you remember our last lesson on ECS (AWS’s simpler, native orchestrator), EKS is the more powerful, more standard, but also more complex sibling. It’s basically AWS’s fully managed version of open-source Kubernetes (K8s) — the de-facto industry standard for orchestrating containers at scale.
Many Hyderabad teams (especially mid-size companies, product startups scaling to 50+ engineers, fintechs, gaming, or those with multi-cloud ambitions) end up choosing EKS over ECS once they outgrow the simplicity of ECS.
Let me explain it like we’re in a real classroom — slow, with analogies, real examples from India/Hyderabad, architecture in 2026, pricing (updated numbers), when to choose it over ECS/Fargate, and a clear mental hands-on.
1. What is Amazon EKS? (Simple + Official Definition – 2026)
Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS) is a managed Kubernetes service that makes it easy to run production-grade Kubernetes clusters on AWS without installing, operating, and maintaining your own Kubernetes control plane.
- AWS fully manages the Kubernetes control plane (API server, etcd, scheduler, controller manager) — highly available across multiple AZs.
- You focus on your applications (pods, deployments, services, ingress).
- You can run worker nodes (where your containers actually run) in three main ways:
- Managed Node Groups (AWS manages EC2 Auto Scaling Groups for you)
- Fargate (fully serverless pods — no EC2 nodes to manage)
- Self-managed nodes (you manage EC2 instances yourself — rare now)
Official short line (from aws.amazon.com/eks/): “Amazon EKS is a managed Kubernetes service that lets you run Kubernetes applications on AWS and on-premises without needing to install, operate, and maintain your own Kubernetes control plane.”
In plain Hyderabad terms: Imagine Kubernetes as a very smart, but complicated restaurant chain manager (scheduling chefs, ordering ingredients, handling complaints). Running plain Kubernetes yourself = hiring and training that manager yourself (very hard). EKS = you pay AWS a small monthly fee (~₹6,000/cluster), and they provide a perfectly trained, 24/7 available manager who never sleeps, auto-updates, and scales. You just tell it: “I need 10 chefs cooking biryani” — and it handles the rest.
2. Why Do Teams Choose EKS in 2026? (Especially in Hyderabad/India)
- Kubernetes everywhere → Standard skill (huge talent pool in India — most DevOps/K8s jobs ask for Kubernetes).
- Portability → Same YAML/Helm charts work on EKS, GKE, AKS, on-prem, hybrid.
- Ecosystem power → Helm, Istio, Prometheus, ArgoCD, Flux, Karpenter, Operators — full K8s ecosystem.
- Advanced features → Service Mesh, advanced networking (Cilium), GPU workloads, stateful apps.
- Hybrid/multi-cloud → Run same K8s on AWS + on-prem (EKS Anywhere) or edge.
- Auto Mode (newer in 2025–2026) → AWS auto-manages capacity with Karpenter-like scaling.
Real Hyderabad example: A gaming company in Madhapur runs multiplayer backend — needs GPU pods, complex networking, CI/CD with ArgoCD. They started on ECS → hit limits → moved to EKS + Fargate → scaled to 100s of pods during tournaments, used same Helm charts for dev/test/prod.
3. Core EKS Architecture Components (2026 View)
| Component | What It Is (Simple) | Managed by Whom? | 2026 Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Control Plane | Kubernetes masters (API server, etcd, etc.) | AWS fully managed (multi-AZ HA) | $0.10/hour (~₹6,000–7,000/month per cluster) |
| Worker Nodes | Where pods/containers run | You choose: Managed Node Groups / Fargate / Self-managed | Fargate most popular for simplicity |
| Managed Node Groups | AWS-managed EC2 Auto Scaling Groups | AWS handles lifecycle, updates | Spot support, custom AMIs, launch templates |
| Fargate Profiles | Serverless pods (no EC2 nodes) | AWS fully serverless | Pod-level isolation, pay-per-pod |
| Networking | VPC CNI (pods get VPC IP), ALB Ingress Controller | You configure | Cilium support growing |
| Add-ons | CoreDNS, kube-proxy, VPC CNI, EBS CSI, etc. | AWS manages updates | Auto Mode adds more auto-addons |
4. EKS vs ECS – Quick 2026 Comparison (Most Asked Question)
| Aspect | Amazon EKS (Kubernetes) | Amazon ECS (Native) |
|---|---|---|
| Orchestrator | Full open-source Kubernetes | AWS proprietary (simpler) |
| Learning curve | Higher (kubectl, YAML, Helm, operators) | Lower (AWS console, JSON task defs) |
| Ecosystem & portability | Excellent (runs anywhere K8s runs) | AWS-only |
| Control plane cost | ~₹6,000/month per cluster | Free |
| Serverless option | EKS on Fargate | ECS on Fargate |
| Best for | Complex apps, microservices at scale, multi-cloud, K8s skills | Simpler apps, fast start, deep AWS integration |
| Typical monthly cost (moderate) | ₹10,000–30,000+ (control plane + compute) | ₹5,000–15,000 (mostly compute) |
2026 rule for Hyderabad teams:
- < 10 microservices, small team, no K8s experience → ECS + Fargate
-
10 services, growing team, need K8s ecosystem/portability → EKS + Fargate or EKS Managed Node Groups
5. Real Hyderabad Example: EKS in a Fintech Startup
Your UPI/payment gateway startup in Financial District:
- 15+ microservices (auth, transactions, fraud detection, notifications).
- Needs GPU for ML fraud models, Istio service mesh, ArgoCD GitOps.
- Runs on EKS with Fargate (some GPU workloads on Managed Node Groups).
- Cluster: 1 EKS cluster (~₹6,000/month control plane).
- Auto-scaling pods based on transaction volume.
- During festival sales → pods scale from 50 → 300 automatically.
- Same Helm charts used in dev (local Minikube), staging, prod.
- Monthly infra: ~₹15,000–40,000 (depending on traffic) — but huge velocity & reliability.
6. Quick Hands-On Mental Picture (Free Tier Friendly)
- Create EKS cluster (console or eksctl) → Fargate profile.
- Deploy simple nginx deployment YAML via kubectl.
- Expose via ALB Ingress.
- Scale replicas → watch pods spin up.
- Monitor in CloudWatch + EKS console.
Cost? Testing cluster ~₹500–2,000 (control plane runs only when you use it — delete after).
Summary Table – EKS Cheat Sheet (2026)
| Question | Answer (Beginner-Friendly) |
|---|---|
| What is EKS? | Managed Kubernetes service — AWS runs control plane |
| Serverless pods? | EKS on Fargate — no EC2 nodes to manage |
| Main compute options? | Managed Node Groups (EC2), Fargate, Self-managed |
| Control plane cost? | ~$0.10/hour (~₹6,000–7,000/month per cluster) |
| When choose EKS over ECS? | Need Kubernetes ecosystem, portability, complex apps |
| First project idea? | Deploy nginx + ALB Ingress on EKS Fargate |
EKS is the “Kubernetes without the pain of managing masters” service — the go-to when your app/team outgrows ECS simplicity and needs the full power of K8s in 2026.
Got it? Want next:
- Step-by-step: Create EKS cluster + deploy sample app?
- EKS on Fargate vs Managed Node Groups deep dive?
- EKS pricing calculator walkthrough?
Tell me — next whiteboard ready! 🚀📦
