About the webinar
This webinar was delivered by Prakarsh, a Solutions Architect at Devtron. The presentation focused on ephemeral environments in Kubernetes, challenging common misconceptions, and sharing practical strategies for cost optimization in non-production environments. Prakarsh provided detailed insights into how Devtron implements ephemeral environments and shared real-world examples of cost optimization techniques, including a live demonstration of their auto-scaling solution.
Prakarsh
Speaker
Prakarsh is a seasoned Lead Solutions Architect and maintainer of an open-source project Devtron, a comprehensive DevOps platform for Kubernetes. With 12+ years of experience in cloud-native technologies, he plays a pivotal role in enhancing Devtron’s capabilities as a comprehensive tool integration platform for Kubernetes.
Key Takeaways
- Ephemeral Environments in Kubernetes: Unlike traditional approaches, Kubernetes namespaces don't incur costs when empty. It's more efficient to maintain pre-configured namespaces and scale workloads down rather than destroying and recreating environments. Devtron maintains 25-30 pre-configured environments that scale down when inactive
- Cost Optimization Through Infrastructure: Use spot instances and preemptible VMs for non-production environments. Consider VM sizing carefully - larger VMs can be more cost-effective than many smaller ones. Monitor and optimize data transfer costs between availability zones.
- Smart Deployment Strategies: Choose deployment strategies based on actual needs rather than defaulting to complex options. Recreate deployments can be more cost-effective than rolling or blue-green deployments in non-production. Right-size workloads and consider self-managed solutions for non-production databases.
- Automated Scaling Solutions: Implement request-based scaling using the KEDA HTTP add-on. Use time-based scaling for predictable usage patterns (e.g., scaling down on weekends). Devtron’s "Winter Soldier" tool allows scheduled scaling of environments based on time and usage patterns.
- Build and Deployment Efficiency: Optimize build and deployment systems to reduce developer wait times. Consider the hidden costs of inefficient processes across the organization. Implement efficient scaling mechanisms that balance cost with developer productivity.