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7th chunk of `content/en/blog/_posts/2016-07-00-Kubernetes-In-Rancher-Further-Evolution.md`
ec6757e024ae38902b85cc5a64a33d90c4eb598d4767ea6500000001000009dd
- Kubernetes [cluster federation design doc](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/blob/master/docs/design/federation-phase-1.md)
- Kubernetes [blog post on multi zone clusters](https://kubernetes.io/blog/2016/03/building-highly-available-applications-using-kubernetes-new-multi-zone-clusters-aka-ubernetes-lite/)
- Kubernetes [federated services design doc](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/blob/master/docs/design/federated-services.md)


### Plans for Kubernetes 1.4


When we launched Kubernetes support in Rancher we decided to maintain our own distribution of Kubernetes in order to support Rancher’s native networking. We were aware that by having our own distribution, we’d need to update it every time there were changes made to Kubernetes, but we felt it was necessary to support the use cases we were working on for users. As part of our work for 1.4 we looked at our networking approach again, and re-analyzed the initial need for our own fork of Kubernetes. Other than the networking integration, all of the work we’ve done with Kubernetes has been developed as a Kubernetes plugin:

- Rancher as a CloudProvider (to support Load Balancers).
- Rancher as a CredentialProvider (to support Rancher private registries).
- Rancher Ingress controller to back up Kubernetes ingress resource.

So we’ve decided to eliminate the need of Rancher Kubernetes distribution, and try to upstream all our changes to the Kubernetes repo. To do that, we will be reworking our networking integration, and support Rancher networking as a [CNI plugin for Kubernetes](/docs/admin/network-plugins/#cni). More details on that will be shared as soon as the feature design is finalized, but expect it to come in the next 2-3 months. We will also continue investing in Rancher’s core capabilities integrated with Kubernetes, including, but not limited to:

- Access rights management via Rancher environment that represents Kubernetes cluster
- Credential management and easy web-based access to standard kubectl cli
- Load Balancing support
- Rancher internal DNS support
- Catalog support for Kubernetes templates
- Enhanced UI to represent even more Kubernetes objects like: Deployment, Ingress, Daemonset.

All of that is to make Kubernetes experience even more powerful and user intuitive. We’re so excited by all of the progress in the Kubernetes community, and thrilled to be participating. Kubernetes 1.3 is an incredibly significant release, and you’ll be able to upgrade to it very soon within Rancher.
Title: Rancher's Plans for Kubernetes 1.4: Eliminating Fork and Enhancing Integration
Summary
Rancher initially maintained its own Kubernetes distribution for native networking support. However, for version 1.4, they are eliminating this fork and aiming to upstream changes to the Kubernetes repository. This involves reworking the networking integration as a CNI plugin. Rancher will continue to enhance Kubernetes integration by investing in access rights management, credential management, load balancing, DNS support, catalog support, and an enhanced UI for Kubernetes objects.