Nowadays, Kubernetes has become one of the most popular platforms for many workloads; from databases, to data streaming systems, to microservices-based applications. However, managing these workloads using only the Kubernetes native resources is not easy. Especially when it comes to day 2 operations like upgrades and scaling. Helm charts can help to a certain extent, but they don’t solve all the potential problems.
What you need is an operator, not a human one, looking after your Kubernetes workloads 365/24/7. In the end, this is how the internal mechanics of a Kubernetes cluster works, so why not use the same approach for your own applications?
During this session we’ll explore what the “operator pattern” is and how a software-based operator, with the necessary domain-specific knowledge, can take care of your Kubernetes workloads; helping with installation, upgrades, certificate management, and reducing the need for human intervention. We’ll also demonstrate a real operator in practice - the open-source Java-based operator Strimzi which manages Apache Kafka clusters in a cloud-native way.
Alongside development, Kate has a passion for presenting and sharing knowledge. She has presented at conferences around the world, including Devoxx Belgium, Kafka Summit in San Francisco and Jfokus in Sweden. She has authored two LinkedIn Learning courses on MicroProfile and Apache Kafka, and written an eBook on writing microservices with Java. She has also written a book on Kafka Connect which was published in 2023.