Deployment options - Amazon EKS
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Deployment options

You can deploy Amazon EKS using any of the following options:

Amazon EKS in the cloud

You can run Kubernetes in the Amazon cloud without needing to install, operate, and maintain your own Kubernetes control plane or nodes. This option is what is covered in this guide.

Amazon EKS Anywhere

Amazon EKS Anywhere is a deployment option for Amazon EKS that enables you to easily create and operate Kubernetes clusters on-premises. Both Amazon EKS and Amazon EKS Anywhere are built on the Amazon EKS Distro. To learn more about Amazon EKS Anywhere, and its differences with Amazon EKS, see Overview and Comparing Amazon EKS Anywhere to Amazon EKS in the Amazon EKS Anywhere documentation. For answers to some common questions, see Amazon EKS Anywhere FAQs.

Amazon EKS Distro

Amazon EKS Distro is a distribution of the same open-source Kubernetes software and dependencies deployed by Amazon EKS in the cloud. Amazon EKS Distro follows the same Kubernetes version release cycle as Amazon EKS and is provided as an open-source project. To learn more, see Amazon EKS Distro. You can also view and download the source code for the Amazon EKS Distro on GitHub.

When choosing which deployment options to use for your Kubernetes cluster, consider the following:

Feature Amazon EKS Amazon EKS Anywhere Amazon EKS Distro
Hardware Amazon-supplied Supplied by you Supplied by you
Deployment location Amazon cloud Your data center Your data center
Kubernetes control plane location Amazon cloud Your data center Your data center
Kubernetes data plane location Amazon cloud Your data center Your data center
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