Kubernetes is an open-source container orchestration platform that is the de-facto standard for managing cloud-native applications. It automates the deployment, scaling, and operations of application containers across clusters of hosts. A core feature of Kubernetes is its robust support for stateful applications through a persistent storage model. It uses abstractions like PersistentVolumes (PVs) and PersistentVolumeClaims (PVCs) to provide containers with durable, persistent storage that exists independently of the container's lifecycle. This directly addresses all the customer's requirements for an open-source, cloud-native orchestrator with persistent storage capabilities.

B. OpenStack Neutron is a networking component within the OpenStack IaaS framework; it is not a container orchestration system.

C. Hadoop is an open-source framework for distributed storage and processing of large datasets (Big Data), not for orchestrating application containers.

D. Hortonworks Data Platform was a commercial distribution of Apache Hadoop and related technologies for big data, not a container orchestration platform.

1. HPE Ezmeral Runtime Enterprise Documentation: The HPE Ezmeral platform

a key component of HPE's Edge-to-Cloud strategy

is built on Kubernetes. The documentation states

"HPE Ezmeral Runtime Enterprise is powered by 100% open-source Kubernetes for orchestration..." and details its capabilities for managing stateful applications with persistent storage.

Source: HPE Ezmeral Runtime Enterprise 5.4.0 Documentation

"Overview of HPE Ezmeral Runtime Enterprise

" Section: "Key Features."

2. Official Kubernetes Documentation: The official documentation defines Kubernetes and its storage capabilities. It explicitly describes its role in orchestrating containers for cloud-native applications and its model for managing persistent storage.

Source: Kubernetes Documentation (kubernetes.io)

"Concepts > What is Kubernetes?" and "Concepts > Storage > Persistent Volumes."

3. Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF): As the home of the Kubernetes project

the CNCF defines cloud-native principles and the role of orchestration. The CNCF Cloud Native Definition v1.0 highlights how technologies like Kubernetes enable scalable applications in modern

dynamic environments.

Source: CNCF Cloud Native Definition v1.0

available at https://github.com/cncf/toc/blob/main/DEFINITION.md.