Running EKS control plane and data plane on premises with an Outposts local cluster

SAP-C02 By islever Editorial Last updated

Design a deployment strategy to meet business requirements.

Short answer

A Deploy an EKS local cluster on an Outposts server so the control plane and data plane run on premises and stay AWS managed with least overhead.

Question

A company has an on-premises data center and is using Kubernetes to develop a new solution on AWS. The company uses Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (Amazon EKS) clusters for its development and test environments. The EKS control plane and data plane for production workloads must reside on premises. The company needs an AWS managed solution for Kubernetes management. Which solution will meet these requirements with the LEAST operational overhead?
  1. Install an AWS Outposts server in the on-premises data center. Deploy Amazon EKS by using a local cluster configuration on the Outposts server for the production workloads. Correct Answer
  2. Install Amazon EKS Anywhere on the company's hardware in the on-premises data center. Deploy the production workloads on an EKS Anywhere cluster.
  3. Install an AWS Outposts server in the on-premises data center. Deploy Amazon EKS by using an extended cluster configuration on the Outposts server for the production workloads.
  4. Install an AWS Outposts server in the on-premises data center. Install Amazon EKS Anywhere on the Outposts server. Deploy the production workloads on an EKS Anywhere cluster.

Key Takeaways

EKS local clusters on Outposts place both the control plane and data plane on Outposts hardware on premises while AWS still manages the Kubernetes control plane, satisfying the on-prem-plus-managed requirement with the least overhead.

A company needs EKS for production with both control plane and data plane on premises and AWS-managed with least overhead. An EKS local cluster on an Outposts server runs the entire EKS stack on-premises and remains AWS managed, unlike EKS Anywhere which is customer-operated.

Common mistake: Choosing EKS Anywhere (Options B/D) — it is customer-managed and therefore carries higher operational overhead, conflicting with the 'AWS managed' and 'least operational overhead' requirements.

Expert Analysis

Why the Answer Is Correct

Option A installs an Outposts server on premises and deploys an EKS local cluster, which runs both the EKS control plane and data plane on the Outposts hardware on premises and is AWS managed. This meets the on-prem control/data plane requirement with the least operational overhead.

Why the Other Options Are Wrong

Option B (EKS Anywhere) and D (EKS Anywhere on Outposts) are customer-managed, increasing operational overhead and violating the AWS-managed requirement. Option C (extended cluster) keeps the control plane in the AWS Region, not on premises, failing the control-plane-on-prem requirement.

Community Comment Notes

pangchn (likes 14) breaks down the requirements: control plane on-prem, data plane on-prem, AWS managed — ruling out EKS Anywhere (B/D) and extended clusters (C). The vote is A (80).

Official Reference

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/eks/latest/userguide/eks-outposts-local-cluster-overview.html

This link opens the official vendor documentation in a new tab.

Community Votes

A
100%

100% of anonymous learners picked answer A. Votes are pick records left by other test-takers — they are not the verified answer.

Discussion 20 contributions

Compiled from public community threads and reader submissions, lightly edited for clarity. Handles and vote tallies are shown as recorded, and comments reflect the views of individual contributors.

From public community threads 20

  1. pangchn 👍 14 Answered A
    A 3 things to consider fromr question requirement control plane location - onprem data plane location - onprem management - AWS EKS anywhere it managed by customer so BD out https://anywhere.eks.amazonaws.com/docs/concepts/eksafeatures/#comparing-amazon-eks-anywhere-to-amazon-eks Extended clusters – Run the Kubernetes control plane in an AWS Region and nodes on your Outpost. Local clusters – Run the Kubernetes control plane and nodes on your Outpost https://docs.aws.amazon.com/eks/latest/userguide/eks-deployment-options.html https://docs.aws.amazon.com/eks/latest/userguide/eks-outposts.html
  2. gustori99 👍 3 Answered A
    The correct answer is A: when deploying EKS on an Outpost server in a local cluster configuration, the control plane and data plane reside on-premises, but the control plane is AWS-managed. B is incorrect. Although for EKS-A, the control plane and data plane reside on-premises, it is not AWS-managed but completely customer-managed (both control plane and data plane). C is incorrect because in an extended cluster configuration on AWS Outpost, the control plane runs inside the AWS cloud, not on the outpost server on-premises. D is incorrect because you do not combine EKS-A and Outpost.
  3. TonytheTiger 👍 2
    Option A: requirement is ask for AWS Managed Solution and AWS Outpost give you that option https://docs.aws.amazon.com/managedservices/latest/userguide/outposts.html Not Option B : Unlike Amazon EKS in AWS Cloud, EKS Anywhere is a user-managed product that runs on user-managed infrastructure. You are responsible for cluster lifecycle operations and maintenance of your EKS Anywhere clusters. https://anywhere.eks.amazonaws.com/docs/overview/
  4. ahmadraufsyahputra 👍 2
    Correct answer is A You can use Amazon EKS to run on-premises Kubernetes applications on AWS Outposts. You can deploy Amazon EKS on Outposts in the following ways: Extended clusters – Run the Kubernetes control plane in an AWS Region and nodes on your Outpost. Local clusters – Run the Kubernetes control plane and nodes on your Outpost. https://docs.aws.amazon.com/eks/latest/userguide/eks-outposts.html
  5. k23319 👍 2 Answered B
    Answer is B. The requirement is that both control plane and data plane will reside on premise. If you deploy EKS using extended cluster the control plane lies within AWS region. You need a local cluster for the control plane to reside on outpost. Please refer to url below. https://docs.aws.amazon.com/eks/latest/userguide/eks-outposts.html
Show 15 more comments
  1. Helpnosense 👍 2 Answered A
    Vote A because by using outpostM EKS is AWS managed service but running on local. Question require AWS managed solution for Kubernetes management. If EKS Anywhere with control plane on prem not AWS cloud, then it's self managed cluster.
  2. 9f02c8d 👍 2
    B - Correct. The requirement is to use on-premise hardware with AWS managed EKS that means EKS Anywhere which leverages on-premise hardware with full control over both the control plane and data plane
  3. JoeTromundo 👍 2 Answered A
    With EKS LOCAL clusters on Outposts, you can run the Amazon EKS control plane and data plane entirely on the Outposts hardware on-premises.Also, it's an AWS managed solution.
  4. Russs99 👍 2 Answered B
    This option provides an AWS-managed solution for Kubernetes management on-premises without the additional complexity of managing an Outposts server.
  5. oayoade 👍 2 Answered A
    https://docs.aws.amazon.com/eks/latest/userguide/eks-deployment-options.html
  6. 0b43291 👍 1 Answered A
    The correct answer is A. Install an AWS Outposts server in the on-premises data center. Deploy Amazon EKS by using a local cluster configuration on the Outposts server for the production workloads. The key requirement is that the company needs an AWS managed solution for Kubernetes management. While EKS Anywhere provides a consistent Kubernetes experience with Amazon EKS, it is a self-managed solution where the customer is responsible for managing the underlying infrastructure and control plane. On the other hand, AWS Outposts allows running AWS services, including Amazon EKS, on-premises. When deploying Amazon EKS on an Outposts server using a local cluster configuration, the EKS control plane and data plane reside on the Outposts server in your data center, meeting the requirement of having the production workloads on-premises. Additionally, Amazon EKS on Outposts is fully managed by AWS, handling provisioning, upgrading, and lifecycle management of the Kubernetes control plane, providing the least operational overhead.
  7. luuthang2011 👍 1
    B Option A (AWS Outposts with local EKS cluster): While this can run EKS on premises, managing an AWS Outposts server and the associated EKS infrastructure might involve more overhead compared to EKS Anywhere. Option C (AWS Outposts with extended EKS cluster): Similar to option A, this involves managing the Outposts server and integrating it with your on-premises environment, which could increase the complexity and operational overhead. Option D (AWS Outposts with EKS Anywhere): This combines managing an Outposts server with deploying EKS Anywhere, which adds unnecessary complexity and overhead compared to deploying EKS Anywhere directly on the company's hardware.
  8. CMMC 👍 1 Answered C
    C provides an AWS-managed solution for Kubernetes management with minimal operational overhead, as it leverages the capabilities of AWS Outposts and Amazon EKS for on-premises deployment. Avoid additional complexity introduced by deploying EKS Anywhere or managing hardware independently in the on-premises DC. Deploying Amazon EKS using an extended cluster configuration on the Outposts server enables the company to have an EKS cluster with the control plane and data plane residing on-premises.
  9. yog927 👍 1
    Correct answer is A. It is not C because EKS Anywhere cluster is a customer-managed product that runs on customer-managed infrastructure. Ref: https://aws.amazon.com/eks/eks-anywhere/faqs/
  10. failexamonly 👍 1 Answered A
    https://anywhere.eks.amazonaws.com/docs/concepts/eksafeatures/#:~:text=With%20Amazon%20EKS%20on%20Outposts,with%20EKS%20Anywhere%20automation%20tooling.
  11. asquared16 👍 1 Answered A
    It's A, EKS Everywhere = Operational Overhead, and it said it needs to be managed by AWS
  12. 4bc91ae 👍 1 Answered A
    A - Control Plane has to be on-prem (not case for Outpost)
  13. Dgix 👍 1 Answered C
    C is the answer.
  14. salekali01 👍 1 Answered B
    EKS anywhere!!!
  15. titi_r 👍 1 Answered A
    A - correct.

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