Docker Swarm: Uses a decentralized approach where each node in the swarm participates in cluster management. There's no single point of failure because manager nodes can elect a new leader if the current one fails. This resembles a mesh network where nodes are interconnected and share responsibilities.
Kubernetes: Employs a centralized control plane (API server, scheduler, controller manager, etc.) that manages the cluster. While highly robust and redundant, it's a more centralized architecture.
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B) Kubernetes does place a strong emphasis on declarative configuration (desired state), while Docker Swarm commonly uses more imperative commands (though it also supports declarative Compose/stack files). Both can, to some extent, use either approach, so āimperative vs. declarativeā isnāt the most critical architectural difference between the two.
C) Single-host vs. multi-host container management: Both Docker Swarm and Kubernetes are designed for multi-host container management. This isn't a distinguishing factor.
D) Integrated vs. plugin-based networking: While Kubernetes has a more plugin-based approach to networking (CNI), and Docker Swarm has integrated networking, this is a detail of implementation, not the core architectural difference in how they manage the cluster.