Orchestration

Definitions

1. Orchestration is the automated coordination, configuration, and management of multiple services, containers, or infrastructure components so they function as a coherent system. In container environments, orchestrators like Kubernetes handle scheduling across nodes, scaling replicas based on demand, performing rolling updates, restarting failed containers, and managing networking. Beyond containers, orchestration applies to workflow engines (Airflow, Step Functions) that chain tasks in defined order, and to infrastructure provisioning tools (Terraform, Pulumi) that coordinate cloud resources. Orchestration differs from choreography: orchestration uses a central controller directing all participants, while choreography lets each service react independently to events.

   In plain English: Software that automatically manages a fleet of services — starting, stopping, scaling, and connecting them so they work together without manual intervention.

   Example: "Our orchestration layer spins up new pods when CPU exceeds 80% and tears them down when traffic drops."

Related Terms

• Config as Code
• infrastructure as code
• Image
• Shell Script
• Container Image
• Container Network
• Container Orchestration
• Container Registry
• Mount Point
• Task Runner