Microservices and Orchestration with Kubernetes and Docker

The ObjectSharp Podcast

This month we’re talking with Shane Castle and Gui Martins about Kubernetes: how it’s enabling the effective orchestration and management of cloud-first microservices and architectures like service mesh, and what that means for your business.

Minutes

• 0:30 - Introduction to the show
• 0:53 - Gui Martins and Shane Castle introduce themselves
• 1:50 - Jeff gives an overview of the podcast
• 2:15 - Jeff introduces the topic of Microservices and Kubernetes
• 3:00 - Shane discusses what Microservices are and why they came to be influential vs monolith approaches to applications
• 4:14 - Shane discusses why Microservices became so popular, discussing the example of Netflix vs Blockbuster
• 6:20 - Gui discusses the technical problems solved by Microservices with a funny analogy of pets vs. cattle - you don’t have to change everything to deliver a new service; your changes can be much smaller, which allows you to go to market faster
• 9:30 - Gui answers a question from Jeff re the end of maintenance windows and discusses how Microservices allow for greater application resiliency because there can be multiple instances of services running simultaneously and scaled up or down on demand
• 11:15 - Nick asks Gui and Shane to discuss the core technologies that are relevant to developing and orchestrating Microservices today given the fast pace of developments in this area
• 12:00 - Shane discusses container technology and how it changed the game from virtual machines
• 13:45 - Shane discusses the role that Kubernetes plays in managing Docker and other containers - it’s the operating system for multiple machines
• 14:33 - Gui talks about the problems that Kubernetes specifically aims to solve - the publication and communication of many Microservices across regions, etc.
• 16:15 - Gui talks about the additional layer of complexity that comes with managing Microservices with Kubernetes
• 17:30 - Gui talks about the open source nature of Kubernetes and how all of the main cloud players are now supporting it
• 18:22 - Shane talks about the end of the “orchestration wars” and how Kubernetes has now emerged as the clear winner
• 20:00 - Shane and Gui discuss some of the ways companies are applying Kubernetes in the real world today
• 21:20 - Gui talks about service mesh and general practices about moving from monolithic / SOA architectures to a service mesh architecture
• 22:30 - Shane talks about how migration to Microservices works for most companies, specifically by Docker-izing a core application and moving it into a Kubernetes cluster
• 23:55 - Shane talks about service mesh and mentions the comparison to Serverless architecture
• 24:30 - Shane discusses the difference between Serverless (PaaS) and Kubernetes and why you might choose one vs the other
• 26:00 - Shane discusses how Azure Functions are available on Kubernetes now
• 27:00 - Shane and Nick talk about what the fact that Azure Functions are available on Kubernetes means for issues of vendor lock-in
• 28:00 - Reality check - Nick asks the panel to discuss common pain points and stumbling blocks, etc. in working with Kubernetes and what are some strategies being used to overcome them in the real world
• 29:00 - Gui talks about the ease of deploying through Kubernetes and how without careful management and governance of Microservices that can lead to issues with security, cost overruns, etc.
• 32:00 - Shane talks about the issue of observability and the need for good instrumentation, metrics, analytics and dashboards
• 32:30 - Nick and Jeff wrap up the show