What is an orchestration system?

Kubernetes, in its most common usage, is a container orchestration system. Of course, we need to define what that means! Look no further:

An orchestration system provides automated configuration, coordination and management of complex computing networks, systems and services.

So these systems are designed to reduce the time and manual effort/manipulation required to align a business’s applications, data, and infrastructure. In a software-defined networking (SDN) context, orchestration systems decouple the "orchestration layer" from the "service layer" to increase the agility of the applications being rolled out on the network.

Still puzzled? Let's dive deeper to get a visual!