50 Kubernetes Concepts Every Devops Engineer Should Know (2026)

The phonebook. The internal DNS server for the cluster, allowing pods to find Services by name.

The config file. An API object used to store non-confidential data in key-value pairs. Pods can consume ConfigMaps as environment variables or configuration files. 50 kubernetes concepts every devops engineer should know

The firewall. It specifies how groups of pods communicate with each other and other network endpoints. The phonebook

The permission set (namespaced). Contains rules that represent a set of permissions within a specific namespace. 50 kubernetes concepts every devops engineer should know

The query. Used to filter lists of objects based on their Labels.

The "manager." It manages ReplicaSets and provides declarative updates to Pods (rolling updates, rollbacks).

The permission set (cluster-wide). Like a Role, but non-namespaced.