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Mac Chaffee, a platform engineer and security champion, dives into the underestimated complexities of running modern applications. He discusses how overconfidence can lead to costly mistakes, particularly when teams reject proven tools like Kubernetes. Mac highlights the tipping point where DIY solutions become burdensome and stresses the importance of mentorship in preventing poor technical decisions. He advocates for transparency in technology, urging teams to establish effective guardrails rather than hiding complexity.

Marc Campora, a systems consultant with experience in high-throughput platforms, shares his analysis of a real customer deployment with 500+ microservices. He breaks down the cost implications, technical constraints, and operational trade-offs between Kubernetes containers and AWS Lambda functions based on actual production data and migration assessments.You will learn:Cost analysis frameworks for comparing Lambda vs Kubernetes across different traffic patterns, including specific examples of 3x savings potential and the 80/20 rule for service utilizationMigration complexity factors when moving existing microservices to Lambda, including cold start issues, runtime model changes, and why it's often a complete rewrite rather than a simple portDecision criteria for choosing between platforms based on traffic consistency, computational requirements, and operational overhead toleranceSponsorThis episode is sponsored by Learnk8s — get started on your Kubernetes journey through comprehensive online, in-person or remote training.More infoFind all the links and info for this episode here: https://ku.bz/5gMTkzLhVInterested in sponsoring an episode? Learn more.

Molly Sheets, Director of Engineering for Kubernetes at Zynga, leads platform engineering behind popular games like Words with Friends. She discusses how her team shifted from a one-cluster-per-team model to a more efficient multi-tenant architecture. Molly highlights the dangers of slowing deployment speeds and shares practical strategies for resource allocation and SLOs. She also delves into the unique challenges of Kubernetes in the gaming sector and candidly addresses the balance between technical roles and her journey as a new parent.

David Pech, a Staff Cloud Ops Engineer at Wrike with all CNCF certifications, shares his insights on cloud-native adoption challenges. He recounts how a sophisticated GitLab CI/CD setup was overtaken by simple FTP due to cultural resistance. David discusses the hidden costs of complex tooling and the importance of team readiness over technical superiority. He offers practical strategies for gradual cloud transitions, emphasizing in-house expertise and management advocacy, while also reflecting on his own journey through cloud technologies and Docker misconceptions.