Cloud Jumping With Kubernetes

Kubernetes promises a degree of freedom from cloud vendor lock-in, providing an API and runtime for containers that most cloud providers support. Beyond the core of container orchestration, there are abstractions for load balancers, persistent storage and autoscaling, to name a few. With this in mind, when Manifold set out to switch cloud providers, we decided to do so by first using as many abstractions in the Kubernetes ecosystem as possible.

In this talk, we will explore how Manifold used Kubernetes to migrate between cloud providers. We will look at how to identify cloud specific services and APIs in use in your application, and how Manifold evaluated whether to uplift to a Kubernetes abstraction, translate to the other cloud provider’s service, or keep as is. Finally, we will discuss the challenges and successes of the actual migration between cloud providers.

Transcript

1. CLOUD JUMPING @jrbowes With Kubernetes!
2. FIND ME github.com/jbowes twitter.com/jrbowes James Bowes ABOUT ME • Technical Lead @ www.manifold.co • Overuses Makefiles • Underuses Shell scripts @jrbowes
3. @jrbowes The Agenda • Our infrastructure story • Why cloud jump? • How Kubernetes can help (and hurt) • Tips along the way • Some other talks you might enjoy
4. @jrbowes Photo by Daniel Hjalmarsson on Unsplash Growing our Infrastructure
5. @jrbowes Photo by frank mckenna on Unsplash Your Infrastructure
6. @jrbowes Our Infrastructure
7. @jrbowes Our Infrastructure • ~ 30 primary container images • ~ 10 secondary container images • ~ 70 pods • ~ 10 logical databases • ~ 10 nodes
8. @jrbowes
9. @jrbowes
10. @jrbowes Photo by whereslugo on Unsplash Why cloud jump?
11. @jrbowes
12. @jrbowes
13. @jrbowes
14. @jrbowes
15. AWS GCP Azure DIY Managed Control Plane Managed Nodes
16. Attend: How Atlassian Built Our Own Kube Clusters and Why You Shouldn’t Do the Same Nick Young https://sched.co/GrS7 @jrbowes
17. Tip: Cloud Jumping is not Multi / Hybrid Cloud You can make different choices for a shorter lifespan @jrbowes
18. This is not a success story. @jrbowes
19. @jrbowes
20. Migrating between cloud providers is hard It will take longer than you expect or want. Kubernetes helps -- a bit. @jrbowes
21. Tip: Get Help Consider professional services if you have the budget @jrbowes
22. @jrbowes Photo by Sergey Zolkin on Unsplash Defining your infrastructure
23. Pre Kubernetes Infrastructure @jrbowes
24. Kubernetes Infrastructure @jrbowes
25. Tip: Separate your application layer Your cluster assumes the cloud exists. Your applications can assume the cluster exists. @jrbowes
26. Tip: Use templates from the start Assume your YAML has to deploy to arbitrary clusters -- if it doesn’t, it will @jrbowes
27. Attend: Kustomize: Deploy Your App with Template Free YAML Ryan Cox https://sched.co/GrSn @jrbowes
28. @jrbowes What you get for free Photo by Bernard Hermant on Unsplash
29. @jrbowes A common API
30. @jrbowes A common API
31. @jrbowes A common API
32. Tip: Use Jobs for schema and data migrations You configure in-cluster connections already @jrbowes
33. Tip: Put your trust in Kubernetes NetworkPolicy works in cluster and is portable. @jrbowes
34. @jrbowes Buy in to the ecosystem Photo by Luca Bravo on Unsplash
35. @jrbowes Buy in to the ecosystem • Ingress • cert-manager • external-dns • ...and many more!
36. Tip: Override self-service during migration Many tools assume a single cluster. @jrbowes
37. @jrbowes Photo by James Coleman on Unsplash Decoupling your workloads from the cloud
38. @jrbowes Decoupling your workloads • object storage • message passing / queues • AI / ML (not too bad with TensorFlow)
39. @jrbowes Decoupling your workloads Knative eventing, Kubeflow, etc may help, some day
40. Standard API @jrbowes Managed Service
41. @jrbowes What to migrate, when Photo by Gary Bendig on Unsplash
42. @jrbowes High dependencies Low dependencies Business critical Low importance Start here
43. @jrbowes High dependencies Low dependencies Business critical Low importance Start here End here, too
44. Tip: You don’t have to migrate everything Even to Kubernetes. You’ll probably miss something regardless @jrbowes
45. Attend: Connecting Kubernetes Clusters Across Cloud Providers Thomas Graf https://sched.co/GrWc @jrbowes
46. @jrbowes The elephant in the room Photo by Harshil Gudka on Unsplash
47. @jrbowes The elephant in the room Photo by Harshil Gudka on Unsplash
48. @jrbowes State and data • We use a cloud provider managed PostgreSQL ◦ This limits our options for replication • Find help here • Maybe you can tolerate some downtime?
49. @jrbowes Photo by Vincent Botta on Unsplash Tiny data
50. Tip: Use shared ephemeral volumes in Pods Your state might not be as permanent as you think @jrbowes
51. Tip: Try mounted ConfigMaps You might not need a full volume. Mounted ConfigMaps automatically update. @jrbowes
52. Attend: Exploring Application Portability Across Public Cloud Providers Using K8s Erin Boyd & Ivan Font https://sched.co/GrWH @jrbowes
53. THE FOLLOWING PREVIEW HAS BEEN APPROVED FOR ALL AUDIENCES www.manifold.co
54. Deploying Rock Solid Applications with Kubernetes Jelmer Snoeck 11:40 am Tomorrow Ballroom 6E
55. TITLE ILLUSTRATION twitter.com/megthesmith FIND ME github.com/jbowes twitter.com/jrbowes Thank you! @jrbowes