Dell at KubeCon Europe 2023
Fri, 14 Apr 2023 16:56:09 -0000
|Read Time: 0 minutes
Ever wondered why KubeCon happens twice a year? I think it has to do with the pace at which things are changing in the cloud-native world. Every six months it is amazing to see the number of new CNCF projects graduating (crossing the chasm!), the number of enterprises deploying containerized production workloads, and just how the DevOps ecosystem is evolving within the Kubernetes space. Four years ago, Dell started sponsoring KubeCon at the 2019 KubeCon in San Diego. Ever since, Dell has been a sponsor of this event even through the virtual editions during the pandemic. Next week, KubeCon is happening in Amsterdam!
First things first: Dell + Canonical community appreciation event (big party 😊): Register here.
Today the innovation engine at Dell Technologies is firing on all cylinders to deliver an infrastructure stack that suits Kubernetes deployments of any scale with extensive support for DevOps-centric workflows, particularly in the context of Kubernetes workloads. Customers can deploy and consume infrastructure for cloud-native applications anywhere they like with management ease and scalable performance. Let us see some key elements of how we are doing it with recent updates in the space.
Software-defined storage, unbounded
Scale is an essential element of cloud-native architecture, and software-defined storage is an ideal choice that allows incremental addition of capacity. There are a lot of software-defined storage solutions in the market including open source alternatives like Ceph. However, not all software-defined solutions are the same. Dell PowerFlex is an industry-leading solution that offers scalability of 1,000s of nodes with submillisecond latency and comes with all the integrations for a modern ops-driven workflow. In particular, I invite you to explore the Red Hat OpenShift validated solution for container workloads. We have a ton of resources all organized here for you to get into every detail of the architecture and the value it delivers. Also check out this great proof-of-concept deployment of Kubernetes as a service that has multicloud integration by our illustrious IaC Avengers team.
Advanced data services, CSM
Let’s dive to the kubectl level. Developers and DevOps teams building for Kubernetes want to make sure storage is well integrated into the Kubernetes layer. CSI and storage classes are table stakes. Dell Container Storage Modules (CSMs) are open-sourced data services that deliver value to business-critical Kubernetes deployments. CSM modules deliver great value along multiple dimensions:
- Delivering advanced storage data services of Dell platforms like data encryption and remote replication to enable migration and DR workflows. Here is the latest demo with PowerFlex.
- Integration with Kubernetes-native tools like Velero for app mobility and Prometheus for logging and observability. Here is an Observability module demo.
- Storage management across multiple Kubernetes clusters with the Authorization module. Watch this demo video.
- Resiliency against complete node failures with intelligent detection and failover. And here is a recent demo of how this works.
And, since the last KubeCon, we have added multiple features to make these modules work even better for you. Check out what’s new in CSM 1.5 and the latest CSM 1.6 release.
Infrastructure as Code (IaC): New Terraform integrations
What I love about IaC is that it brings cloud-like operational simplicity to any large-scale infrastructure deployment. We are super excited about the latest IaC integration that we recently launched for Dell infrastructure: Terraform providers. Check out what came out in version 1, and I am sure we will share many more updates in this space for the rest of the year. If you are someone in the infrastructure space, you might be interested in this brief history of infrastructure of code evolution.
Data protection
Backup and DR are boring until $!#? happens. This is where kube admins and DevOps engineers can collaborate with IT teams to get on the same page about the SLA requirements and implement the required data protection and recovery strategies. Built for any workload, any cloud, and any persona (aka IT Generalist), Dell PowerProtect Data Manager is an essential part of going mainstream with Kubernetes deployments. Check out this white paper that gives you a great start with Kubernetes data protection. In the same spirit, I hope you will find this series of blog posts on Amazon’s EKS Anywhere reference architecture and the thorough coverage of data protection and DR scenarios very enlightening.
Dell booth at KubeCon!
We would love to chat with you about all these things and anything Kubernetes-related at KubeCon. We have some great demos and new hands-on labs set up at the Dell booth. You can find us at the P14 booth: