Are you running PostgreSQL on Kubernetes and need to choose the right operator? In this episode, David Pech, Staff Cloud Ops Engineer, shares his experience implementing database platforms on Kubernetes and guides teams through operator selection and platform requirements.

You will learn:

• The core requirements for a PostgreSQL platform on Kubernetes, including autopilot capabilities, security practices, and observability

• How to evaluate PostgreSQL operators based on their architecture — from single-instance deployments to cloud-native implementations

• What teams should consider before building their own database-as-a-service and common pitfalls to avoid

• The distinction between being production-ready (running single instances) versus platform-ready (operating at scale with proper tooling)

Sponsor

This episode is sponsored by Learnk8s — get started on your Kubernetes journey through comprehensive online, in-person or remote training.

More info

• Find all the links and info for this episode here: https://ku.bz/rGMF2ktdb

• Interested in sponsoring an episode? Learn more.

Stefan Roman shares his experience building Labs4Grabs, a platform that gives students root access to Kubernetes clusters. He discusses the journey from evaluating simple namespace-based isolation to implementing full VM-based isolation with KubeVirt.

You will learn:

• Why namespace isolation isn't sufficient for untrusted users and the limitations of tools like vCluster when running privileged workloads.

• How to use KubeVirt to achieve complete workload isolation and the trade-offs.

• Practical approaches to implementing network security with NetworkPolicies and managing resource allocation across multiple student environments.

Follow Stefan's journey from simple to complex isolation strategies, focusing on the technical decisions and trade-offs he encountered.

Sponsor

This episode is sponsored by Kusari — gain complete visibility into your software components and secure your supply chain through comprehensive tracking and analysis.

More info

• Find all the links and info for this episode here: https://ku.bz/Xz-TrmX2F

• Interested in sponsoring an episode? Learn more.

Michael Levan explains how specialized teams and smart abstractions can lead to better outcomes. Drawing from cognitive science and his experience in platform engineering, Michael presents practical strategies for building effective engineering organizations.

You will learn:

• Why specialized teams (or "silos") can improve productivity and why the real enemy is ego, not specialization.

• How to use Internal Developer Platforms (IDPs) and abstractions to empower teams without requiring everyone to be a Kubernetes expert.

• How to balance specialization and collaboration using platform engineering practices and smart abstractions

• Practical strategies for managing cognitive load in engineering teams and why not everyone needs to know YAML.

Sponsor

This episode is brought to you by Testkube — scale all of your tests with Kubernetes, integrate seamlessly with CI/CD and centralize test troubleshooting and reporting.

More info

• Find all the links and info for this episode here: https://ku.bz/qlZPfM-zr

• Interested in sponsoring an episode? Learn more.

Xe Iaso shares their journey in building a "compute as a faucet" home lab where infrastructure becomes invisible and tasks can be executed without manual intervention. The discussion covers everything from operating system selection to storage architecture and secure access patterns.

You will learn:

• How to evaluate operating systems for your home lab — from Rocky Linux to Talos Linux, and why minimal, immutable operating systems are gaining traction.

• How to implement a three-tier storage strategy combining Longhorn (replicated storage), NFS (bulk storage), and S3 (cloud storage) to handle different workload requirements.

• How to secure your home lab with certificate-based authentication, WireGuard VPN, and proper DNS configuration while protecting your home IP address.

Sponsor

This episode is sponsored by Nutanix — innovate faster with a complete and open cloud-native stack for all your apps and data anywhere.

More info

• Find all the links and info for this episode here: https://ku.bz/2kzj2MgfH

• Interested in sponsoring an episode? Learn more.

If you're trying to make sense of when to use Kubernetes and when to avoid it, this episode offers a practical perspective based on real-world experience running production workloads.

Paul Butler, founder of Jamsocket, discusses how to identify necessary vs unnecessary complexity in Kubernetes and explains how his team successfully runs production workloads by being selective about which features they use.

You will learn:

• The three compelling reasons to use Kubernetes are managing multiple services across machines, defining infrastructure as code, and leveraging built-in redundancy.

• Why to be cautious with features like CRDs, StatefulSets, and Helm and how to evaluate if you really need them.

• How to stay on the "happy path" in Kubernetes by focusing on stable and simple resources like Deployments, Services, and ConfigMaps.

• When to consider alternatives like Google Cloud Run for simpler deployments that don't need the full complexity of Kubernetes

Sponsor

This episode is sponsored by Syntasso, the creators of Kratix, a framework for building composable internal developer platforms

More info

• Find all the links and info for this episode here: https://ku.bz/VB-0WYqtb

• Interested in sponsoring an episode? Learn more.

This episode explores Admission Controllers and Webhooks with Gordon Myers, who shares his experience implementing webhook solutions in production. Gordon explains the lifecycle of Kubernetes API requests and how webhooks can intercept and modify resources before they are stored in etcd.

You will learn:

• How the Kubernetes API processes requests through authentication, authorization, and Admission Controllers.

• The difference between Validating and Mutating webhooks and how to implement them using JSON Patch.

• Best practices for testing webhooks and avoiding common pitfalls that can break cluster deployments.

• Real-world examples of webhook implementations, including injecting secrets from HashiCorp Vault into containers.

Sponsor

This episode is sponsored by Learnk8s — get started on your Kubernetes journey through comprehensive online, in-person or remote training.

More info

• Find all the links and info for this episode here: https://ku.bz/Dmn93dd7M

• Interested in sponsoring an episode? Learn more.

Are you facing challenges with pre-production environments in Kubernetes?

This KubeFM episode shows how to implement efficient deployment previews and solve data seeding bottlenecks.

Nick Nikitas, Senior Platform Engineer at Blueground, shares how his team transformed their static pre-production environments into dynamic previews using ArgoCD Application Sets, Wave and Velero.

He explains their journey from managing informal environment sharing between teams to implementing a scalable preview system that reduced environment creation time from 19 minutes to 25 seconds.

You will learn:

• How to implement GitOps-based preview environments with Argo CD Application Sets and PR generators for automatic environment creation and cleanup.

• How to control cloud costs with TTL-based termination and FIFO queues to manage the number of active preview environments.

• How to optimize data seeding using Velero, AWS EBS snapshots, and Kubernetes PVC management to achieve near-instant environment creation.

Sponsor

This episode is sponsored by Loft Labs — simplify Kubernetes with vCluster, the leading solution for Kubernetes multi-tenancy and cost savings.

More info

• Find all the links and info for this episode here: https://ku.bz/tt4VFslxD

• Interested in sponsoring an episode? Learn more.

Discover how a seemingly simple 502 error in Kubernetes can uncover complex interactions between Go and containerized environments.

Emin Laletović, a solution architect at Hybird Technologies, shares his experience debugging a production issue in which a specific API endpoint failed due to out-of-memory errors.

He walks through the systematic investigation process, from initial log checks to uncovering the root cause in Go's memory management within Kubernetes.

You will learn:

• How Go's garbage collector interacts with Kubernetes resource limits, potentially leading to unexpected OOMKilled errors.

• The importance of the GOMEMLIMIT environment variable in Go 1.19+ for managing memory usage in containerized environments.

• Debugging techniques for memory-related issues in Kubernetes, including GODEBUG for garbage collector tracing.

• Considerations for optimizing Go applications in Kubernetes, balancing performance and resource utilization.

Sponsor

This episode is sponsored by StormForge – Double your Kubernetes resource utilization and unburden developers from sizing complexity with the first HPA-compatible vertical pod rightsizing solution. Try it for free.

More info

• Find all the links and info for this episode here: https://ku.bz/7fnF-tJ8R

• Interested in sponsoring an episode? Learn more.

This episode offers a rare glimpse into the design decisions that shaped the world's most popular container orchestration platform.

Brian Grant, CTO of ConfigHub and former tech lead on Google's Borg team discusses the Kubernetes Resource Model (KRM) and its profound impact on the Kubernetes ecosystem.

He explains how KRM's resource-centric API patterns enable Kubernetes' flexibility and extensibility and influence the entire cloud native landscape.

You will learn:

• How the Kubernetes API evolved from inconsistency to a uniform structure, enabling support for thousands of resource types.

• Why Kubernetes' self-describing resources and Server-side Apply simplify client implementations and configuration management.

• The evolution of Kubernetes configuration tools like Helm, Kustomize, and GitOps solutions.

• Current trends and future directions in Kubernetes configuration, including potential AI-driven enhancements.

Sponsor

This episode is sponsored by StormForge – Double your Kubernetes resource utilization and unburden developers from sizing complexity with the first HPA-compatible vertical pod rightsizing solution. Try it for free.

More info

• Find all the links and info for this episode here: https://ku.bz/_ZLj6ZV-9

• Interested in sponsoring an episode? Learn more.

Dive into the world of GitOps and compare two of the most popular tools in the CNCF landscape: Argo CD and Flux CD.

Andrei Kvapil, CEO and Founder of Aenix, breaks down the strengths and weaknesses of Argo CD and Flux CD, helping you understand which tool might best fit your team's needs.

You will learn:

• The different philosophies behind the tools.

• How they handle access control and deployment restrictions.

• Their trade-offs in usability and conformance to infrastructure as code.

• Why there is no one-size-fits-all in the GitOps world.

Sponsor

This episode is sponsored by DigitalOcean — learn how GPUs for DigitalOcean Kubernetes can enable your AI/ML workloads.

More info

• Find all the links and info for this episode here: https://ku.bz/0mvh5s4Ld

• Interested in sponsoring an episode? Learn more.