If you’re just getting started with Kubernetes, it’s a good idea to start small. Kubernetes was built for “web-scale”, but chances are you’re going to want to learn to walk before you run. To do that, you’re going to need a proof-of-concept that is small enough to allow your team to build their skills without unnecessary risk to the business but big enough to have real business impact. As a friend of mine puts it, “Small enough that no one will notice if you fail, but big enough that EVERYONE will notice when you succeed.”
But what does that look like? How do you build a POC that demonstrates Kubernetes’ capabilities without overcomplicating things?
When I started investigating Kubernetes, I was confronted with this exact question. I wasn’t sure what a “goldilocks-sized” POC should look like. Then I began to think about a Continuous Integration & Continuous Delivery project I led several years ago and the similar scoping issues we faced. Then it hit me: Why not introduce Kubernetes to our existing CI and CD process? Why not leverage our existing CI tools to automate the creation of pods and services instead of our existing VM provisioning scripts?
Why not, indeed!
The video below is a recording of a tech demo I did for my employer where I describe and demonstrate the solution. The demo was run in Google Cloud/Google Container Engine, but could be adapted to work in any Kubernetes environment.
If you need a starting point for your Kubernetes evaluation, I’d encourage you to try leveraging it for your existing CI/CD process. Not only will it build your confidence in administering and using Kubernetes, but it will yield tangible results for your development teams.