15 Game-Changing Kubernetes and EKS Practices I Wish I Knew When Starting My DevOps Journey

Dear Kubernetes Enthusiasts,

After spending over 4 years in the Kubernetes and EKS trenches, I have compiled these 15 practices that transformed our micro-services architecture from a complex nightmare to a well-oiled machine. Each insight comes from real-world challenges and hard-won victories.

Optimize Your Docker Images Ruthlessly

The foundation of everything is efficient containers. Multi-stage Docker builds reduced our image sizes by up to 80%. Tools like Docker Slim helped us identify unnecessary components, and switching to distroless images dramatically improved our security posture. Our deployments went from minutes to seconds, and our security team finally stopped sending us angry emails.

Implementing the AWS ALB Ingress Controller

Remember manually configuring load balancers for every service? The AWS ALB Ingress Controller eliminated that tedious work, providing seamless integration with AWS infrastructure. We gained path-based routing, SSL termination, and authentication with minimal configuration. The time saved allowed us to focus on actual service improvements rather than infrastructure plumbing.

Switch from Raw Manifests to Helm

Managing dozens of YAML files across multiple environments was unsustainable. Helm charts transformed our deployment process with templating, versioning, and simplified rollbacks. Our onboarding time for new services dropped from days to hours, and configuration drift between environments became a thing of the past.

Invest in Proper Observability

You don't know what you can't see. Implementing Datadog (or Dynatrace) gave us unprecedented visibility into our infrastructure and applications. We caught performance issues before they impacted users and reduced our mean time to resolution (MTTR) by 70%. The data also helped us optimize resource allocation, saving thousands in cloud costs monthly.

Master EKS Upgrade Processes

Cluster upgrades were once nerve-wracking events that required weekend work. By developing systematic upgrade procedures and testing protocols, we transformed them into routine operations. Staying current with Kubernetes versions improved security and gave us access to new features that enhanced our platform capabilities.

Implement Zero-Downtime Deployment Strategies

Blue-green and canary deployments revolutionized our release process. We went from scheduled maintenance windows to continuous delivery during business hours without service interruptions. Customer satisfaction improved, and our development velocity increased as teams gained confidence in their deployment process.

Adopt Service Mesh for Complex Service Communication

As our service count grew beyond 20, point-to-point communication became unmanageable. Implementing Istio gave us centralized traffic management, security policies, and observability. The enhanced control allowed us to implement sophisticated routing strategies and strengthen our security posture with minimal code changes.

Configure Multi-Level Autoscaling

Manual scaling couldn't handle our variable workloads. Implementing Horizontal Pod Autoscaler (HPA) for services and Karpenter for cluster scaling created a responsive infrastructure that scaled with demand. We survived traffic spikes 10x our baseline without performance degradation while keeping costs optimized during low-traffic periods.

Implement Rigorous Cost Optimization

Cloud bills can spiral out of control without discipline. Right-sizing worker nodes, implementing spot instances for non-critical workloads, and setting appropriate resource quotas reduced our infrastructure costs by 35%. Regular cost reviews and clear ownership of resources prevented the creep of unused or oversized deployments.

Build Defense-in-Depth Security

Security breaches are expensive and reputation-damaging. Our comprehensive approach using Secrets Manager, KMS, IRSA, private networking, container scanning with Twistlock, and secure image repositories created multiple layers of protection. We passed security audits with flying colors and gained the confidence to handle sensitive workloads.

Adopt GitOps with ArgoCD

Manual changes and configuration drift were constant headaches. ArgoCD transformed our approach by ensuring our clusters always reflected our Git repositories' desired state. Audit trails became automatic, rollbacks simplified, and the "works on my machine" problem disappeared. Our operational burden decreased significantly while reliability improved.

Design for High Availability with Topology Constraints

Service disruptions became rare after implementing topology spread constraints and proper health probes. Our applications became truly resilient, automatically recovering from node failures and zone outages. This approach spread our workloads optimally across availability zones, minimizing the impact of infrastructure problems.

Implement CI/CD Pipelines for Everything

Automation eliminated human error from our deployment process. Our GitHub Actions pipelines handled everything from testing to deployment, ensuring consistent processes regardless of who pushed the code. The standardization improved code quality as automated tests caught issues early in the development cycle.

Master StatefulSet Management

Stateful applications require special consideration. Learning when and how to use StatefulSets properly allowed us to run databases, message queues, and other stateful workloads reliably on Kubernetes. Proper backup procedures and recovery testing gave us confidence that our data was safe even during major incidents.

Develop a Multi-Environment Strategy

Balancing cost with functionality across environments was challenging. We created a tiered approach with lightweight development environments, fully-featured staging clusters, and production-grade infrastructure. The consistent progression allowed developers to confidently build features that would work in production while controlling costs in lower environments.

Each of these practices emerged from real challenges and created measurable improvements in our platform's reliability, performance, and maintainability. The combined effect transformed our Kubernetes experience from constant firefighting to strategic platform evolution.

As Kubernetes continues to mature, the practices outlined above represent just a fraction of the knowledge our community has collectively built. The journey from basic container orchestration to a fully optimized, secure, and automated platform is ongoing, but each step brings tangible benefits to both your technical team and your business stakeholders.

Remember that Kubernetes expertise isn't built overnight. It's the result of continuous learning, experimentation, and sometimes learning from failures. What makes our community special is our willingness to share these experiences openly.

In our next issue, we'll be diving deeper into the world of FinOps for Kubernetes, exploring how to build cost transparency and accountability into your containerized infrastructure. Until then, keep experimenting, keep learning, and keep sharing your knowledge with others.

Happy containerizing!

Until next time,
Tech with Ajit