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Evolution of a Legacy Solution: From VMs to Kubernetes

Building upon our previous journey of modernizing a legacy SD-WAN solution, this article explores the next phase of our DevOps transformation. While our initial strategic approach laid important groundwork, we discovered that true scalability and maintainability required a more comprehensive solution leveraging modern container orchestration and GitOps practices.

The Need for Evolution

Our previous strategic solution, while an improvement, revealed several limitations:

  • Limited scalability with traditional VM deployments
  • Manual intervention points in deployment processes
  • Fragmented repository structure
  • Suboptimal artifact management
  • Complex environment isolation
  • Basic monitoring capabilities

The New Strategic Vision

The evolution demanded a complete rethink of our infrastructure and deployment strategy, centered around:

  • Kubernetes for container orchestration
  • GitOps for declarative infrastructure
  • Automated edge device management
  • Streamlined repository structure
  • Enhanced security measures
  • Improved monitoring and observability

Key Components of the Transformation

Infrastructure Modernization

Kubernetes Infrastructure
New Kubernetes-based Infrastructure
  • Kubernetes Adoption: Leveraging OVH Cloud's managed Kubernetes service
    • Namespace-based isolation for environments
    • Resource quotas and limits
    • Built-in high availability
    • Simplified scaling operations

GitOps Implementation

  • ArgoCD Integration:
    • Declarative deployments
    • Automated sync between Git and cluster state
    • Environment-specific configurations
    • Rollback capabilities

Security Enhancements

  • Identity and Access Management:

    • Keycloak integration with OIDC
    • Role-based access control (RBAC)
    • Environment isolation
    • Kubernetes secrets management

  • HashiCorp Vault Integration:

    • Secrets management
    • Dynamic credentials
    • Environment-specific secret stores

Repository and Artifact Management

  • Repository Consolidation:

    • Streamlined repository structure
    • Clear separation of concerns
    • Improved version control
    • Standardized CI/CD pipelines

  • Artifact Management:

    • Updated Nexus repository
    • S3 integration for artifact storage
    • Cost-optimized storage solutions

Edge Device Automation

  • Ansible Automation:
    • Templated configurations
    • Automated deployments
    • Consistent state management
    • Reduced human error

Monitoring and Observability

  • Netdata Implementation:
    • Real-time monitoring
    • Simplified deployment
    • Reduced overhead compared to Prometheus/Grafana
    • Enhanced visibility into system health

Results and Benefits

  1. Improved Scalability:

    • Elastic scaling based on demand
    • Environment isolation without resource waste
    • Simplified capacity management

  2. Enhanced Security:

    • Clear security boundaries
    • Automated secret rotation
    • Comprehensive audit trails
    • Standardized access controls

  3. Operational Efficiency:

    • Reduced deployment times
    • Automated rollbacks
    • Simplified troubleshooting
    • Clear deployment trails

  4. Cost Optimization:

    • Resource sharing through Kubernetes
    • Optimized storage usage
    • Environment-specific resource allocation

Lessons Learned

  1. Importance of Platform Selection: The choice of OVH Cloud's managed Kubernetes service provided the right balance of control and maintenance overhead.

  2. Value of GitOps: ArgoCD's declarative approach significantly reduced deployment errors and improved reliability.

  3. Security Integration: Early integration of security tools and practices prevented future complications.

  4. Monitoring Strategy: Choosing Netdata over traditional solutions proved beneficial for our use case.

Conclusion

This transformation represents not just a technical upgrade but a fundamental shift in how we approach infrastructure and deployments. The combination of Kubernetes, GitOps, and automated edge management has created a more resilient, scalable, and maintainable platform.

The success of this project also contributed to achieving the CKAD certification, demonstrating the practical value of hands-on experience with Kubernetes in real-world scenarios.

What's Next?

  • Further optimization of monitoring and alerting strategies
  • Enhanced automation for edge device management- Evaluation of k3s , lightweight Kubernetes solution!
  • Exploration of advanced Kubernetes features - security guardrails, network policies, and more in deployment(argocd)
  • Continued refinement of GitOps practices

This evolution shows that modernization is an ongoing journey, not a destination, and staying current with technology trends while maintaining security and stability is key to long-term success.