Hosting Capabilities OnPrem or Public-Cloud? Kubernetes, PaaS, or Serverless Thorsten Hans @ThorstenHans Cloud-Native Consultant

Consultant @ Thinktecture #Azure #Kubernetes #CloudNative #Docker [email protected] thinktecture.com thorsten-hans.com @ThorstenHans Microsoft MVP | Docker Captain Thorsten Hans

What we won’t cover • Managing virtual machines • Both On-Premises and in some sort of cloud • This includes solutions like Hyper-V, vSphere, etc • Azure Functions • Opinionated serverless programming model that could be used as additive platform for dedicated workloads of a bigger system Non-Scope

• Introduction • Implementing a decision model • Hosting Guidance • Conclusion Agenda

• Introduction • Implementing a decision model • Hosting Guidance • Conclusion Agenda

The goal of this talk is to provide you with enough information to choose the correct hosting platform for your (cloud-native) application.* * In this talk, public cloud means Azure Introduction – The Goal

Developers and Architects should choose the desired application platform wisely, because altering the infrastructure and application platform later in the project lifecycle will become cumbersome, pricey, and time intense. Introduction

Questions raised in the context of hosting cloud-native apps • Do I have to use the public cloud? • Should I use Containers, or am I good without Containers? • Cloud-Native means Kubernetes, right? Introduction

How to digest through the vast amount of platforms, services, abstractions, and products especially those, offered by public cloud-vendors? Introduction

• Introduction • Implementing a decision model • Hosting Guidance • Conclusion Agenda

• Introduction • Implementing a decision model • Hosting Guidance • Conclusion Agenda

• Every team / decision maker should implement a model to verify & compare potential hosting platforms to host their application(s) • Finding and selecting the best hosting platform is not a one-time- shot Implementing a decision model

Ask yourself if your decision could be affected by regulatory compliance? • Regulatory Compliance may be introduced by: • Your actual application • Your domain (vertical) • Your organization • Your customers • Regulatory Compliance will impact / limit selection process Implementing a decision model

Identify key criterias that drive your decision • Location (OnPrem|Cloud) • Expenditure Model (CapEx|OpEx) • Infrastructure Security Responsibility (User|Vendor) • Platform Upgrades (User|Vendor) Implementing a decision model

Identify key criterias that drive your decision • Maintenance • Responsibility • Control • Deployment Model • Complexity • Vendor Lock-In • Scalability • Availability • Automation • Freshness Implementing a decision model

Identitfy actual Hosting opportunities • Mixed-Mode (Containers & Binaries) • Docker-Compose • Self-Hosted Kubernetes • Managed-Kubernetes • Platform as a Service • Serverless Implementing a decision model

Hosting Platform Decision Model - Let’s do a Demo in 🤯 Excel (sorry 😁) Demo

• Introduction • Implementing a decision model • Hosting Guidance • Conclusion Agenda

• Introduction • Implementing a decision model • Hosting Guidance • Conclusion Agenda

Cloud-Native apps On-Premises • First of all, it is possible • Actually, your apps and/or components are not complicated to run/host, the dependencies are • Dependencies use different technology stacks which you may not want to maintain • E.g. Python, Go, Rust, Ruby, .NET, Scala, … • Leveraging Containers makes running those dependencies a easier • Your apps and/or components could still be hosted on metal (IIS | Self-Host | Service) Hosting Guidance

Kubernetes On-Premises • You can install and run Kubernetes On-Premises (obviously) • You should do that only if you’ve an experienced Ops-Team • It is smart to use a managed Kubernetes distribution (like Tanzu, Rancher) if you really want to run Kubernetes on your metal • It is even smarter to rent Kubernetes in a private datacenter (check with your private cloud vendor, we see more and more managed Kubernetes offerings in private clouds) Hosting Guidance

Hosting Cloud-Native apps in Azure Let’s digest through some Azure Services that we could use to run cloud-native applications • Azure App Services • Azure Web App • Azure Web App for Containers • Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) • Azure Container Instance (ACI) • Azure Container Apps (ACA) Hosting Guidance

Azure Services Compared: Azure App Services • Most mature Azure service to run cloud-native workloads • Windows and Linux workloads supported • Linux-based App Services always run behind a reverse proxy and always leverage containers • Windows-based Azure App Services are twice as expensive as Linux-based • Does not support things like Dapr Hosting Guidance

Azure Services Compared: Azure App Services • Observability • Users typically intergrate workloads running in Azure App Services with Azure Application Insights and Azure Monitor (Azure Log Analytics Workspace) • Scalability • Users can configure custom scaling behavior ( using existing metrics exposed by Azure itself ) Hosting Guidance

Azure Services Compared: Azure Kubernetes Service • Managed Kubernetes offering • Microsoft runs the Kubernetes Control Plane for you • Control Plane is free with an optional fee (~ $80 per Month) to get SLA • Fasted growing Azure Service ever • Integrations with AzureAD, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Azure Policy etc are Azure-specific Hosting Guidance

Azure Services Compared: Azure Kubernetes Service • Observability • AKS supports all popular observability stacks. • Altough your app runs in Azure, you don’t have to use Azure Monitor (Azure Log Analtytics integration) • Scalability • Horizontal Scaling on infrastructure level (AKS cluster itself) is configured on the level of the Node Pool • Actual scaling behavior can be customized • Horizontal Scaling of application components is achieved using standardized Kubernetes patterns e.g. HorizontalPodAutoscaler Hosting Guidance

Azure Services Compared: Azure Container Instances • Serverless Container Platform • Good to run background-jobs that are not time-intense • ACI can run Windows and Linux Containers • Configuration Data, Storage etc is linked to the container upon deployment Hosting Guidance

Azure Services Compared: Azure Container Instances • Observability • Users typically intergrate workloads running in Azure Container Instances with Azure Application Insights and Azure Monitor (Azure Log Analytics Workspace) • Scalability • Users can not scale containers in ACI • However multiple containers can be deployed at the same point in time Hosting Guidance

Azure Services Compared: Azure Container Apps • Serverless Cotnainer Runtime • Based on top of Azure Kubernetes Service, KEDA, DAPR, and Envoy Proxy • Hides Kubernetes complexity from the user • Consumption based pricing model • Seamless integration with many other Azure Services Hosting Guidance

Azure Services Compared: Azure Container Apps • Observability • Azure Container Apps stream service and application logs to Azure Log Analytics Workspace • Native Azure Monitor integration has just landed in public preview • Scalability • Users can configure individual scaling per container using KEDA scaling rules Hosting Guidance

Automate your Hosting Platform Demo

Categorize Azure Services by cloud layer • Platform as a Service • Azure App Services • Azure Web App • Azure Web App for Containers • Managed Kubernetes • Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) • Serverless • Azure Container Instance (ACI) • Azure Container Apps (ACA) Hosting Guidance

Categorize Azure Serivces by type of distributable • Compilation Artifacts • Azure App Services • Azure Web App • Container Images • Azure App Services • Azure Web App for Containers • Managed Kubernetes • Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) • Serverless • Azure Container Instance (ACI) • Azure Container Apps (ACA) Hosting Guidance

Cloud-Native apps in Azure • Use Kubernetes only if there is a actual need for it • For many applications Azure Container Apps is more than enough • Keep in mind, that non-Kubernetes opportunities lead to a cloud-vendor-lock-in • App Services with Containers (Azure Web App for Containers) may need some special treatment (sometimes) • There are quotas that constraint the number of container groups you can deploy to Azure Container Instances (ACI) per Hour (actually 300 -> could be increased by filing a support request) Hosting Guidance

Common Azure Service compared - Deploy .NET workloads to different Azure services Demo

• Introduction • Implementing a decision model • Hosting Guidance • Conclusion Agenda

• Introduction • Implementing a decision model • Hosting Guidance • Conclusion Agenda

• Check Regulatory Compliance as early as possible because they will affect your decision • If you have to do multi-cloud use Kubernetes • Use Kubernetes only if you have to! • Consider running Kubernetes on your own only when you’ve a team that knows Kubernetes and takes care about it • Consider building you app as cloud-agnostic as possible • Ask the “run vs rent” question for every dependency Conclusion

Thanks for your attention @ThorstenHans