By Platform engineering teams managing existing EKS clusters and RDS instances cannot afford to tear down working infrastructure to adopt new data service tooling. The integration path has to meet the stack where it already is, fitting into established CI/CD pipelines and Kubernetes provisioning workflows without disruption. Migration tooling that cannot read existing topology and generate accurate metadata creates more toil than it eliminates.
In this interview on TFiR, Julian Fischer, CEO at anynines, walks through how Klutch installs into existing application clusters, what AWS integrations ship today, and what the RDS migration tooling in development can already do.
Guest: Julian Fischer, CEO at anynines
Show: TFiR
Here is what every platform engineer and Kubernetes operator needs to know.
Technical Deep Dive
Q: How does Klutch install into an existing Kubernetes application cluster?
Julian Fischer, CEO at anynines, explains that Klutch installs as a set of CRDs directly into the application cluster. Fischer confirms that teams can use a Helm chart or integrate the installation through Kustomize, making it compatible with any existing CI/CD pipeline without requiring changes to the underlying cluster provisioning process.
“Installing the Klutch extension to an application cluster is quite simple.” — Julian Fischer, CEO, anynines
Q: What infrastructure is required for the a9s Hub control plane and the Klutch control plane?
Fischer explains that both the a9s Hub control plane and the Klutch control plane require a Kubernetes cluster that is managed or maintained in some form. Once that cluster exists, installing Klutch there is sufficient to get the control planes running. There is no specialized infrastructure requirement beyond a standard managed Kubernetes cluster.
“For the a9s Hub control plane and the Klutch control plane, you just need a Kubernetes cluster that is somehow managed or maintained. You install Klutch there and there you go.” — Julian Fischer, CEO, anynines
Q: Which AWS data service integrations ship with anynines today?
Fischer states that anynines ships Klutch integrations for the most popular Amazon Web Services data services out of the box. Teams running anynines data services get these AWS integrations without additional configuration work, covering the common AWS data service footprint most organizations already have in production.
“For anynines data services, we ship the Klutch integrations already. For Amazon Web Services, the most popular ones, we ship integrations already.” — Julian Fischer, CEO, anynines
Q: How does the RDS migration tooling work for teams with large existing RDS deployments?
Fischer describes migration scripts in development that read the structure of existing RDS instances and import the topology into a9s Hub. The tooling is designed to work with infrastructure already aligned to the AWS Well-Architected Framework, allowing it to reflect on the existing Amazon topology, generate metadata automatically, and import that data into the hub. Fischer notes first feasibility studies have been completed and results are promising.
“As long as it is within those best practices, we are basically able to slurp in, reflect on the existing Amazon topology and read it and create and generate the metadata and import this into a9s Hub.” — Julian Fischer, CEO, anynines
Q: What is the current status of the RDS migration tooling and when will it be available?
Fischer confirms the RDS migration tooling is currently in development. Initial feasibility studies have been completed and the results look promising, but the tooling is not yet generally available. Teams with large RDS footprints should monitor anynines for release updates as the migration capability matures.
“This is currently in the making, but we have first feasibility studies undertaken and it looks very promising.” — Julian Fischer, CEO, anynines
Resources & Documentation
- anynines, developer of the Klutch platform extension and anynines data services for Kubernetes
- AWS Well-Architected Framework, the architectural best practices framework referenced as a compatibility baseline for the RDS migration tooling
- Amazon RDS, the AWS managed relational database service that the anynines migration tooling targets for import into a9s Hub
- Helm, Kubernetes package manager supported for Klutch installation
- Kustomize, Kubernetes configuration management tool supported for Klutch installation
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👇 Click to Read Full Raw Transcript
Swapnil Bhartiya: Let’s talk about the technical architecture behind pledge. How does it plug into existing workflows? Because you’re not talking about greenfield deployments here. Teams already have systems in place.
Julian Fischer: Well, in the end it’s just a couple of CIDs you install in the application cluster. Most people would, I don’t know, assume there’s a helm chart or you can integrate it using Kustomize and your favorite CI CD pipeline. So installing the Klutch extension to an application cluster is quite simple. We also assume that most of the organizations have ways of provisioning their EKS clusters or their Kubernetes clusters. And you know, installing the Klutch extension is simple. For the NNI hub control plane and the Klutch control plane, you just need a Kubernetes cluster that’s, you know, somehow managed or maintained. You install Klutch there and there you go. So for Anyland’s data service, we ship the plush integrations already. For Amazon Web Services, the most popular ones, we ship integrations already. If you have already, let’s say a lot of RDS instances, we are working on migration scripts that help you to read the structure and as long as it is within those best practices like say you’re using the well architected framework, we’re basically able to slurp in, reflect on, on the existing Amazon topology and read it and create and generate the metadata and import this into Ambunions hub. This is currently in the making, but we have first feasibility studies undertaken and it looks very promising.
