Migrating To Kubernetes

Kubernetes: what and why

Kubernetes is an open-source container management system for automating the deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications.

Step one: containerization

If your workloads haven’t run in a container yet, step 1 in your life will be to change this, and you probably want to use Docker. Docker is not the only container shipping method, but it is usually the obvious choice given that it is intuitive, well-used, and widely used. When creating containers, you need to develop application dependencies. At the same time, you will plan how the containers will work together in the Kubernetes cluster.

You are using Docker to generate images. Anything that can be done in the Docker registry (which can be proprietary). You are ready to move on to using Kubernetes.

Step two: travel to Kubernetes

The main tasks in developing applications to run Kubernetes are redundancy, fault tolerance, services, networking, monitoring, and persistence.

Kubernetes needs to have a cluster. All that is needed for this is to start this cluster.

These are infrastructure issues.

Using a cloud provider with a Kubernetes offering is generally the best choice for where to work. What is a cloud provider?

Beyond the infrastructure layer, you need to plan for redundancy at the application layer. How many replicas do you need for a given module? Kubernetes, how to run your pods using Deployment and/or StatefulSets.

Database migration is most difficult when moving from an on-premises environment. Cloud providers do have tools that can help move information around.

Migration from cloud platforms as services

If you use the services, then you have several solutions. For example, CosmosDB or DynamoDB if you are building a cluster in the same cloud as your existing application. Given the ubiquity of Kubernetes and the fact that this is not common with any providers, you may want to consider dropping private dependencies.

We in Tenendo offer a clear migration plan, based on which all changes will go smoothly and predictably:

1. Migrate existing applications into containers with a long-term vision in mind
2. Try breaking up your application into smaller logical services
3. Consider whether to start with an older application
4. Make sure troubleshooting data is available if the container itself isn’t.
5. Create a migration framework

Those five steps give you an idea of factors to consider, including:

1. Pilot: Identify candidate use cases for microservices and container technology validation; prototype candidate use cases as containers with Kubernetes orchestration.
2. Establish foundational elements: Benchmark current DevOps methodology and setup CI/CD model
3. Modularize: Add new functionalities; optimize business flows, code, and query call for better performance; refactor code, update dependencies. 
4. Containerize: Migrate grouped modules into single microservice; enable service telemetry/log streams; set up service registry and discovery.
5. Optimize and scale: Optimize code and benchmark microservices performance; perform business flow optimization and query performance; a benchmark for scale.

Cloud Services: