Category Archives: Infrastructure

Expanding GitOps Beyond K8s

GitOps is a really important way of collaborating and communicating about infrastructure.

But can GitOps escape from Kubernetes? While we did talk about Kubernetes too, we mainly talked about what it takes to implement GitOps outside of Kubernetes. We considered building a GitOps architecture and then having people understand and use it. We also cover the fundamental parts of GitOps like having a reconciler and a bunch of tools that drive clusters.

Transcript: otter.ai/u/oq4D06Sd_rtUvXBVXC0Wx3KA2sQ
Image: www.pexels.com/photo/people-with…popcorns-7234318/

Rob’s Hot Take:

In the March 8th DevOps Lunch and Learn session on GitOps, Rob Hirschfeld emphasizes the crucial role of immutability in operations. The concept of specifying a fixed state, configuration set, or resource transforms how automation, infrastructure building, and system maintenance are approached. The investment in immutable components enhances change resilience, making it easier to adapt and keep up with changes while ensuring stability. Join the ongoing conversations and roundtables at the2030.cloud to contribute to discussions on these transformative concepts.

Is Web3 Legit?

Today’s episode is about Web3. By now hopefully you’ve heard of Web3, but… what is Web3 really!?!

That’s exactly what this conversation is about! We really talked about how Web3 is more than tech bros marketing Bitcoin. There actually are real legitimate business interests around Web3. Uses like breaking transaction log jams when a small number of providers are actually controlling and running the internet. Or looking at ways to decentralize infrastructure and remove bottlenecks within transactions flows.

You will be surprised at how much of the evolution of the Internet is captured in what Web3 could be.

Transcript: otter.ai/u/j9LW8BlgtDoCMw5JyweGiyGIS5o
Photo: www.pexels.com/photo/three-gray-…ntroller-2106215/

Rob’s Hot Take:

In the February 10th episode of the Cloud 2030 Podcast, Rob Hirschfeld explores the concept of web3, initially skeptical but finding it to be a potential evolution of the Internet toward its decentralized roots. Acknowledging the current dominance of a few major players in shaping the Internet, web3 aims to reclaim control and decentralize influence. Hirschfeld emphasizes the importance of shifting the balance of power back to consumers, fostering discussions beyond cryptocurrency investments, and invites engagement at the2030.cloud to delve deeper into these transformative conversations.

https://videopress.com/v/pnWqZPdY?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true

Can DevOps Be More Collaborative / MSFT & Activision

We have a lot of questions about improving collaboration in organizations:
How do we deal with change in organizations
How can we get organizations to work together better?
How do we encourage collaboration around the automation spaces that we’re trying to build in DevOps.

In our discussion, a lot came back to something as simple as version control!

We also discuss how we handle coupling between systems. In order to collaborate, we have to couple systems. But if we couple them, we create complexity.

This podcast includes our warm up conversation about Microsoft acquiring Activision because that is ALSO about how you integrate to organizations and business plans! This was news of the day and I think you’ll be very interested in our take on it.

Transcript: otter.ai/u/itNrmoL9MgG980D8CZdo9XWd-xI
Image: www.pexels.com/photo/a-woman-pla…ith-kids-7176471/

Building Green(er) Data Centers

What is a “green datacenter?” Can we make the IT infrastructure we use more environmentally sound?

Maybe, but… it’s a challenging problem because fundamentally running servers uses power.

We went into how data centers use power with an eye to making them more efficient. But that’s only part of the story. We discussed ways to incent people to give up resources, CPU cycles, and idle servers. Those are the items that really help with savings.

Ultimately, building a next generation infrastructure is more about the behaviors of the users as the efficiency of the equipment. In that case, what’s holding us back?

Transcript: otter.ai/u/RbDO1zLmb3JbEcmm6bsw6pihvQE
Photo: www.pexels.com/photo/three-brown…n-surface-799465/

Rob’s Hot Take:

Rob Hirschfeld, CEO and co-founder of RackN and host of the Cloud 2030 Podcast, shares insights from the January 27th discussion on data center efficiency and greening. While addressing the challenge of using power more efficiently and exploring cleaner locations for data centers, Hirschfeld emphasizes that the primary obstacle is a human behavior problem. He advocates for immediate improvements in resource utilization, portability, and supply chain performance, asserting that the benefits are pervasive and can positively impact both businesses and the environment. Hirschfeld encourages listeners to check out the full episode at the2030.cloud for a comprehensive exploration of creating greener data centers.

Is Edge HCI Necessary?

To explore HCI at the edge, we started with SUSE’s Harvester. It’s an HCI integration of Kubernetes, KubeVirt, and Longhorn (their storage system) plus some PXE booting magic they threw in there. From there we explored how Kubernetes can fit into Edge HCI.

That really morphed into Edge operations more generally. It’s not clear if hyperconverged infrastructure can or can’t fit. We covered items like AWS Outpost which is Amazon’s edge. We included items for the cloud to edge migration from an application development perspective.

There are a lot of fascinating ops and development topics throughout the conversation.

Transcript: otter.ai/u/Y2OH7SuJhPp4VRQSBAJk31-0_eI
Photo: www.pexels.com/photo/crop-person…ontainer-4498143/

Rob’s Hot Take:

Rob Hirschfeld, CEO and co-founder of RackN and host of the Cloud 2030 Podcast, provides insights from the January 4th discussion on hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) for the edge. The conversation explores the operational desire for clean and simple architectures with modular building blocks for easy implementation. However, it challenges the notion that platforms like Kubernetes can create a straightforward, self-building architectural solution for edge clusters, emphasizing the associated cost considerations. Hirschfeld suggests exploring the full episode at the2030.cloud for a comprehensive discussion on the complexities and potential solutions in the realm of hyper-converged infrastructure for the edge.

A Pathway to Standardization

This episode was a fun and interesting ride from boring standards to locking APIs via NFTs!

We started talking about “civilization technology” where standards and regulations are applied to infrastructure. We are expecting this to happen in cloud (eventually) because it allows us to create ecosystems around the infrastructure. The historical patterns that we see in railroads, buildings and electricity will emerge in IT too.

Or maybe they won’t! We haven’t yet seen standards emerging in cloud or open source. And we had some really significant conversations around the interactions between these systems that would drive or resist standardization.

Transcript: otter.ai/u/-hhn6VEjtIQDl3UAHaCPUxCUaXo
Photo: www.pexels.com/photo/slatted-woo…en-trees-1423827/

A Pathway to Green Data Centers?

How do we make data centers green because, fundamentally, they are going to use electricity. But the sources of that electricity, how we respond to shortages of electricity and cost signals about that electricity are all critical to consider. These are the questions that lead us to how a green data center or green infrastructure gets created.

Our discussion also includes how infrastructure at the edge can play a role. Overall, there are A LOT of the factors that go into building and creating green infrastructure, including the motivations and signals that will hopefully change the market.

Transcript: otter.ai/u/9eirv3Rs292n7M1m8d1VaRPPRgA
Image: www.pexels.com/photo/clear-light…ray-rock-1108572/

Rob’s Hot Take:

Rob Hirschfeld, CEO and co-founder of RackN and host of the Cloud 2030 Podcast, discusses the importance of green infrastructure in today’s episode. He emphasizes the need to understand the impacts of power availability on the cost and design of applications and infrastructure. Hirschfeld stresses that building for the future requires consideration of unreliable power, whether due to cost, availability, or shifting dynamics, and encourages listeners to explore the comprehensive discussion in the full podcast at the2030.cloud.

Broader Impacts of AWS Outage

We discussed the Amazon outage of December 7. Instead of simply blaming Amazon, we went looking for how the outage impacted people globally. We considered how hyper scalars are being treated and how these outages can be avoided or understood. We focused on who is impacted and what companies who are building on top of Cloud providers can do going forward.

We really took a classic Cloud 2030 approach for a very important and timely topic. Enjoy our discussion about the business impacts, understanding of the market and forward looking approach.

Transcript: otter.ai/u/cY4fk8mWIovIfkwfT4LDw2uy4QY
Image: www.pexels.com/photo/a-person-ho…ked-eggs-7719168/

Rob’s Hot Take:


Rob Hirschfeld, CEO and co-founder of RackN and host of the Cloud 2030 Podcast, provides insights on the December 9th discussion regarding the Amazon outage on December 7th. Fresh from the outage’s impact, Hirschfeld highlights the industry’s reliance on cloud providers as utilities and underscores the need to acknowledge their business interests, which may not always align with customer needs during disruptions. He advocates for building resilience both at the provider and consumer levels, emphasizing the importance of understanding and mitigating the risks associated with hyperscale infrastructures. Hirschfeld invites listeners to explore the comprehensive conversation at the2030.cloud, focusing on industry-wide reflections rather than attributing blame to specific providers.

What is Platform Engineering?

What is platform engineering? And why is it necessary and how to make it work compared to DevOps.

In this conversation, we really hit on the challenges of creating automation teams for building automation in scalable ways. Frustratingly, we never really came up with a particularly good answer to “what is a platform team” and why you should care. Strangely, your organization is probably building one.

Transcript otter.ai/u/zJeQbqXIyD8kZUxfKQdvQAfQGog
Image: www.pexels.com/photo/building-co…chnology-9617733/

Rob’s Hot Take:

Rob Hirschfeld, CEO and co-founder of RackN and host of the Cloud 2030 Podcast, reflects on the November 9th DevOps Lunch and Learn session focused on platform engineering. He highlights the challenge of executing platform engineering initiatives despite the straightforward concept of improving automation and tooling at an architectural level. Hirschfeld emphasizes the importance of defining success metrics, empowering teams to enforce standards, and adopting consistent, repeatable patterns and practices to advance the industry’s maturity. He encourages listeners to explore the insightful discussion at the2030.cloud for a deeper understanding of platform engineering’s significance.

Edge Networking: Facebook, BGP and 5G

Edge networking is hard! Because before we can talk about edge networking, we actually have to talk about edge management and edge control, and what it takes to build resilient infrastructure and train people to use it.

In the first half, we’re talking about the challenges of managing infrastructure, using the Facebook outage of the week we recorded as a starting point for how challenging it is to build resilient infrastructure.

In the second, we talk about edge networking with solid insights about how challenging edge networking really is not just creating networks in edge locations, but what does it take to sustain an edge network and the integration and technologies over the course of multiple technology generations?

Caption: otter.ai/u/U6PvW4S34DUi1Awiu4gcYMLp-pk
Photo by Tony Mucci from Pexels [ID 5367334]

Rob’s Hot Take:

Rob Hirschfeld, CEO and co-founder of RackN and host of the Cloud 2030 Podcast, reflects on the October 5th discussion about edge networking, highlighting the conversation’s focus on the long lifecycle expectancy of edge technologies and the challenges associated with their maintenance and evolution. He emphasizes the need to address these critical topics in edge networking discussions, inviting listeners to explore the in-depth conversation at the2030.cloud.