A Kubernetes cluster is a set of nodes (physical or virtual machines) that are grouped together to run containerized applications orchestrated by Kubernetes. In simpler terms, it's a collection of machines (servers) that work together to provide the computing resources needed to deploy, manage, and scale containerized applications using Kubernetes.

Steps to deploy a cluster

1. Create a Deployment: Define a Kubernetes Deployment to specify the MongoDB container image, replicas, and configuration.
2. Create a Service: Define a Kubernetes Service to expose the MongoDB deployment within the Kubernetes cluster, allowing other pods to communicate with it.
3. (Optional) Configure Persistent Storage: Set up PersistentVolumeClaims (PVCs) and PersistentVolumes (PVs) if you want to use persistent storage for MongoDB data.
4. Apply Kubernetes Manifests: Apply the Deployment and Service manifests using kubectl apply.
5. Verify Deployment: Check the status of the MongoDB deployment and service using kubectl get pods and kubectl get services.
6. Connect to MongoDB: Once the MongoDB deployment is running, connect to it using a MongoDB client, either by port-forwarding or exposing the service externally.