As Kubernetes reaches its 10-year milestone, it has grown from a novel idea into a crucial technology that has changed how containers are managed and how infrastructure is organized in various settings. In this episode, Rob Hirschfeld, CEO and Co-Founder of RackN, reflects on Kubernetes’ 10th anniversary and its impact, the challenges of the ecosystem and RackN’s key focuses with the technology. On discussing the biggest challenges the CNCF ecosystem faces, he says, “You know if anybody says, What’s wrong with Kubernetes, the word Complexity is sort of the answer, which is not a very satisfying answer.”

Kubernetes’ 10th anniversary and its impact

• Hirschfeld recalls when Kubernetes was first announced, noting that it was initially seen as a clunky but interesting idea that involved a lot of YAML. He talks about the market at the time.
• Hirschfeld tells us what set Kubernetes apart in the early days, citing that it captured the zeitgeist by offering a simple description of applications that the system could execute, similar to Docker containers, but with greater flexibility.

Kubernetes’ evolution and the challenges of the ecosystem

• Hirschfeld explains how Kubernetes has evolved from its inception to its current state, highlighting that while some aspects of Kubernetes have stayed true to the original vision, there have been significant evolutions.
• The introduction of Custom Resource Definitions (CRDs) has been a surprising yet essential development, and Hirschfeld discusses the profound impact it has had on how applications are built and managed.
• Hirschfeld discusses the major challenges facing the Kubernetes CNCF cloud ecosystem in production, citing complexity as a primary problem.
• The Kubernetes ecosystem can be confusing due to the multitude of projects and vendor opinions. While CNCF projects can gain traction Hirschfeld believes that this leads to uncertainty about which components are essential.

Kubernetes’ future and what are RackN’s key Kubernetes’ focuses

• Hirschfeld discusses Kubernetes’ future, saying it is increasingly being adopted as the primary infrastructure control plane in various environments, including AI training clusters, edge deployments, and more.
• Hirschfeld believes there are significant opportunities for independent software vendors (ISVs) to leverage Kubernetes’ ubiquity to deliver and maintain applications, especially as the need to protect and manage data grows
• RackN has been involved in the Kubernetes community from the early days, developing various Kubernetes installation processes and tools.
• RackN currently focuses on improving bare metal automation and integrating with OpenShift and Red Hat container OS. The company is investing in a CAPI provider to enhance operational controls for customers managing their own Kubernetes infrastructure.

Guest: Rob Hirschfeld (LinkedIn)
Company: RackN (Twitter)
Show: Let’s Talk

This summary was written by Emily Nicholls.