Improve Developer Productivity with Kubernetes Integration

All software developers need a robust and efficient testing and development environment that enables them to perform thorough validation of the core functionality and features of Kubernetes within a controlled setting. Developers need to be able to extensively test message publishing, retrieval, partitioning, replication, and stay on top of all aspects that ensure that their Kubernetes environment is running optimally.

Those who work with Kubernetes know that, as more data is applied to more clusters, environments can get complex and unwieldy. At Acceldata, where many of our customers operate Kubernetes environments that are operating at petabyte scale, it’s clear that, in order to test accurately and ship code fast, a larger development environment is needed.

So, we created one. All Acceldata employees now have access to a massive Kubernetes testing and development environment that enables them to access and operate within something we call KAASMOS, which is our version of “Kubernetes as a Service.”

This Kubernetes testing and development environment creates a completely new developer experience for our internal team, empowering them to streamline their workflows and significantly enhance productivity. KAASMOS offers a dedicated space to efficiently manage and deploy applications, providing a true-to-life reflection of a Kubernetes cluster. Through this environment, our developers gain a powerful tool to comprehensively evaluate application behavior, scalability, and efficiency within the Kubernetes ecosystem. They can fine-tune critical configurations like pods, services, namespaces, and resource allocations with ease, allowing for optimal resource utilization and peak application performance. 

KAASMOS profoundly enriches the developer user experience. Without the operational obstacles of capacity or performance limitations, developers can channel their energy into innovation, unimpeded by technical constraints. KAASMOS is a critical asset that not only accelerates development cycles but also cultivates a culture of excellence, enabling our teams to deliver high-quality applications and drive the success of our business forward.

Developers are well aware of the need to simulate cluster scaling events at varying loads. Doing so allows them to evaluate how Kubernetes handles scalability and load by deliberately inducing changes in the cluster size and load conditions. This includes testing auto-scaling features and assessing Kubernetes' response to increased demand.

In terms of integration testing, the environment facilitates the integration of different components and microservices within the Kubernetes ecosystem. This, of course, helps to ensure seamless communication and proper functioning of the integrated components.

The benefits are huge for internal developers, sales engineers, and even our customer-facing teams. They have the opportunity to see actual instances of how our platform performs through things like  intentional fault induction. We want them to be able to beat up the environment, kick the tires, and really disrupt the testing network, induce node failures, and simulate faults to observe how Kubernetes manages these situations and maintains application availability and integrity.

The environment keeps things simple and highly usable so developers can move quickly, but still access accurate data to inform their work. Here’s a snapshot into the process for testing a pipeline deployment:

Exploring storage and networking features is made easier within this environment. Developers can experiment with various storage classes, network policies, and networking solutions supported by Kubernetes to determine the most suitable options for their applications.

In terms of product direction, the ability to predict and optimize for production is invaluable as we continue to build out our product roadmap. By replicating production-like conditions and load, developers can anticipate how their Kubernetes-based applications will perform in real production environments. This foresight enables proactive optimization and adjustments before deployment, reducing potential production issues.

KAASMOS helps the Acceldata team get better so we can fortify our platform. The more we use this environment, the more aware our developers become at how to automate testing processes, which speeds up the development lifecycle, ensuring consistent testing, and helps identify errors early in the development stages.

Facilitating collaboration and improving workflow gives our team a significant advantage. It provides our developers with a massively scalable platform with which to experiment, test, validate configurations, assess performance, and ensure application robustness within the Kubernetes ecosystem. By providing a centralized space for knowledge sharing, troubleshooting, and collaborative problem-solving, the environment encourages efficient collaboration among Acceldata developers.

Interested in applying your developer skills to the most exciting space in the data field? We’re hiring software developers, DevOps engineers, backend developers, and a host of other roles that are critical to building the most important platform in data. Come join us.

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