> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://daniel-guo.gitbook.io/notebook/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://daniel-guo.gitbook.io/notebook/k8s-related/k8s-management-tools.md).

# K8S Management Platform

## Rancher

[Official website](https://rancher.com/)

**Rancher 2.x**

Rancher 2.x is a multi-cloud [Kubernetes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kubernetes) management platform. It is built on top of Kubernetes, and includes an upstream Kubernetes hyperkube distribution. Rancher 2 uses Docker as the underlying container runtime and utilizes Kubernetes to coordinate running containers between multiple discrete physical nodes.

Rancher 2.x is a complete rewrite from Rancher 1.x and was built off of user and customer feedback regarding the desire to run Kubernetes in a multi-cloud/hybridized fashion.

**Rancher 1.x**

Rancher 1.x is a management platform for Docker containers. It includes a Kubernetes distribution as well as the option to choose from Docker Swarm and [Apache Mesos](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_Mesos). These all use Docker as the underlying container runtime and coordinate running containers between multiple discrete physical nodes. Rancher also includes modular infrastructure services including networking, load balancing, service discovery, monitoring and recovery.