Kubernetes Day-2 Operations

Once Kubernetes is set up and applications are running, the real challenge begins: Day-2 operations

Kubernetes adoption has skyrocketed in recent years, demonstrating its popularity as the major platform for deploying cloud-native applications in testing and production environments. However, once Kubernetes is implemented, the real challenge begins: Day-2 operations.

What are Day-2 Operations?

A day here refers to the phases of Kubernetes' application lifecycle:

  • Day 0 refers to the design phase, during which project requirements are specified, and the architecture of the solution is decided
  • Day 1 is the implementation and deployment phase, which includes the infrastructure, network, external services and initial configuration
  • Day 2 is when the application shifts from a development project to the production environment.

That said, Day-2 operations refer to the tasks that come after the initial setup and deployment of your Kubernetes clusters. This includes monitoring, maintenance, troubleshooting, and ensuring that your applications meet security, scalability, and compliance requirements. These Day-2 operations can easily be neglected by organizations in a rush to deploy, but this is the longest and most important phase in an applications lifecycle.

The Challenges of Day-2 Operations

Day-2 operations come with a myriad of challenges, including advanced observability features, security, scaling, storage, high availability, update management, and more sophisticated deployment options. Each of these areas requires a significant amount of expertise and resources to manage effectively.

In fact, one of the most significant challenges businesses face when adopting Kubernetes is the lack of in-house skills and the difficulty of finding and hiring experts. This skills gap can lead to significant challenges in managing and optimizing Kubernetes environments. Moreover, hiring these, high in demand, Kubernetes experts can be a costly and time-consuming process.

For example, security for Day-2 Kubernetes is challenging and differs widely from security in testing environments. Organizations have to deploy strict governance policies that apply to all production workloads. This can become challenging with increasing infrastructure and application complexity unless guardrails are properly placed: workload isolation, pod/container security, network policies, container images scanning, and intrusion detection.

Another hurdle is managing updates. With the constant release of new versions of Kubernetes and its associated platform components, it's crucial to implement these updates promptly in production clusters. This ensures their security and longevity. IT teams need to develop strategies for regular and secure upgrades of all components.

How kspacr Can Help

This is where kspacr comes in. kspacr offers fully-managed namespaces, providing a solution to the complexities of Kubernetes Day-2 operations. Instead of managing the Kubernetes infrastructure, clusters, and platform components, your team can focus on what they do best: building great applications.

Consider kspacr as your platform engineering team. We're continually enhancing the Kubernetes platform and bridging the skills gap, saving you the trouble of recruiting elusive experts.

With kspacr, you get a fully-managed Kubernetes Developer Platform. This means that kspacr takes care of the setup and maintenance of Kubernetes cluster components, leaving your team free to focus on application development.

Moreover, kspacr's namespaces come with built-in observability features, allowing you to monitor and troubleshoot your applications effectively. This eliminates the need for your team to set up and maintain complex monitoring tools, saving time and resources.

In terms of security, kspacr's namespaces are designed with best practices in mind. They provide a secure environment for your applications, with built-in governance policies and features to protect against common security threats.

Finally, kspacr's fully-managed namespaces simplify the process of deploying your applications. With kspacr, you can easily roll out updates to your applications, and rollbacks can be done automatically if something goes wrong.

Closing Thoughts

Navigating Kubernetes Day-2 operations can be a daunting task, but it doesn't have to be. With kspacr's fully-managed namespaces, you can simplify your Kubernetes operations, allowing your team to focus on building great applications. So why not consider kspacr for your Kubernetes needs? It could be the solution you've been looking for.