KubeFM

Festus Owumi walks through his project of building a lightweight version of Kubernetes in Go. He removed etcd (replacing it with in-memory storage), skipped containers entirely, dropped authentication, and focused purely on the control plane mechanics. Through this process, he demonstrates how the reconciliation loop, API server concurrency handling, and scheduling logic actually work at their most basic level.You will learn:How the reconciliation loop works - The core concept of desired state vs current state that drives all Kubernetes operationsWhy the API server is the gateway to etcd - How Kubernetes prevents race conditions using optimistic concurrency control and why centralized validation mattersWhat the scheduler actually does - Beyond simple round-robin assignment, understanding node affinity, resource requirements, and the complex scoring algorithms that determine pod placementThe complete pod lifecycle - Step-by-step walkthrough from kubectl command to running pod, showing how independent components work together like an orchestraSponsorThis episode is sponsored by StormForge by CloudBolt — automatically rightsize your Kubernetes workloads with ML-powered optimizationMore infoFind all the links and info for this episode here: https://ku.bz/pf5kK9lQFInterested in sponsoring an episode? Learn more.

In this episode, Oleksii Kolodiazhnyi, a Senior Architect at Mirantis with a wealth of experience in Kubernetes, shares his insights on assessing complex systems. He introduces his 'Graphs in Your Head' approach, emphasizing top-down assessment strategies that begin with business needs. Oleksii discusses practical visualization tools like KubeView and K9s for understanding resource interactions. He also highlights documentation strategies for both technical teams and business stakeholders, ensuring seamless communication and onboarding.

Andrew Jeffree from SafetyCulture walks through their complete migration of 250+ microservices from a fragile Helm-based setup to GitOps with ArgoCD, all without any downtime. He explains how they replaced YAML configurations with a domain-specific language built in CUE, creating a better developer experience while adding stronger validation and reducing operational pain points.You will learn:Zero-downtime migration techniques using temporary deployments with prune-last sync options to ensure healthy services before removing legacy onesHow CUE lang improves on YAML by providing schema validation, early error detection, and a cleaner interface for developersHuman-centric platform engineering approaches that prioritize developer experience and reduce on-call burden through empathy-driven design decisionsSponsorThis episode is brought to you by Testkube—where teams run millions of performance tests in real Kubernetes infrastructure. From air-gapped environments to massive scale deployments, orchestrate every testing tool in one platform. Check it out at testkube.ioMore infoFind all the links and info for this episode here: https://ku.bz/Xvyp1_QcvInterested in sponsoring an episode? Learn more.

Mai Nishitani, Director of Enterprise Architecture at NTT Data and AWS Community Builder, demonstrates how Model Context Protocol (MCP) enables Claude to directly interact with Kubernetes clusters through natural language commands.You will learn:How MCP servers work and why they're significant for standardizing AI integration with DevOps tools, moving beyond custom integrations to a universal protocolThe practical capabilities and critical limitations of AI in Kubernetes operationsWhy fundamental troubleshooting skills matter more than ever as AI abstractions can fail in unexpected ways, especially during crisis scenarios and complex system failuresHow DevOps roles are evolving from manual administration toward strategic architecture and orchestrationSponsorThis episode is brought to you by Testkube—where teams run millions of performance tests in real Kubernetes infrastructure. From air-gapped environments to massive scale deployments, orchestrate every testing tool in one platform. Check it out at testkube.ioMore infoFind all the links and info for this episode here: https://ku.bz/3hWvQjXxpInterested in sponsoring an episode? Learn more.