In a bustling little town, there was a chef named Carlo, famous for his hearty meals cooked on a simple stove. One day, inspired by the glamorous cooking shows featuring high-end restaurants, he decided to upgrade his kitchen. He bought the latest, high-tech ovens—sleek machines that promised faster cooking, multitasking, and scaling up at the press of a button.
At first, Carlo was excited. With 40 dishes to prepare every day, he thought these miracle machines would make his restaurant run like clockwork. So, he went all in and bought 40 of them, imagining efficiency like never before. But soon, his dream kitchen turned into a nightmare. The machines needed precise settings, frequent maintenance, and often clashed with each other. Instead of saving time, Carlo found himself buried in errors and losing the special touch that made his food so loved. Frustrated, he shut down the gadgets and returned to his trusty stove, muttering, “These fancy tools are useless!”—without stopping to think that the real problem wasn’t the machines but how he had set up his kitchen.
This story came to mind when I read a blog titled I Stopped Using Kubernetes. Our DevOps Team Is Happier Than Ever. The title immediately grabbed my attention, and as I read, the writer’s journey felt a lot like Carlo’s. They described their struggles with Kubernetes, and as someone who’s used it for deploying applications, I could relate to many of the challenges. The storytelling was engaging, and the examples struck a chord with my own experience as a DevOps practitioner.
However, as I got deeper into the blog, it became clear that the problem wasn’t Kubernetes itself but how it had been used. The writer’s team had made choices that didn’t align with how Kubernetes is designed to work. For example, they managed 47 separate clusters—something that’s not only unnecessary but also makes managing everything a lot harder. Kubernetes is built to:
- Handle many workloads within a single cluster
- Provide tools for dividing and isolating resources
- Simplify deployments, not complicate them
Abandoning Kubernetes because of these challenges felt like burning down a house because you couldn’t figure out how to use the stove.
The Core Issues
The team made several decisions that caused more problems than they solved:
Too Many Clusters
- Creating a separate cluster for every service and environment caused a logistical mess. Most companies manage thousands of services with just a few clusters by using:
* Namespaces to separate workloads
* Rules to control access and resources
* Specialized node setups for different tasks
- Complex Multi-Cloud Setup
* Running their systems across three different cloud providers added layers of unnecessary complexity.
- Ignoring Built-In Features
* Kubernetes has powerful tools for isolating workloads, like namespaces and network rules, but these weren’t used effectively.
The Real Lesson
The blog isn’t really about the flaws of Kubernetes—it’s about the consequences of using a tool without understanding how it’s meant to work. Their challenges reflect more on their approach than on the platform itself.
Advice for Teams Starting with Kubernetes
If you’re considering Kubernetes, here are a few tips to avoid the same mistakes:
* Learn the Basics: Take the time to understand how Kubernetes works.
* Start Small: Begin with a single, well-planned cluster and scale up as needed.
* Use the Built-In Features: Kubernetes has tools for handling growth and isolation—use them instead of over-complicating things.
* Go Step by Step: Don’t try to change everything at once; migrate gradually.
* Invest in Skills: Make sure your team knows how to use the platform effectively.
What Happens When You Don’t Plan Well
The team’s approach led to several problems:
* More Work for the Team: Managing 47 clusters with unique setups made everything more complicated and error-prone.
* Higher Costs: Maintaining so many separate systems wasted money on unnecessary infrastructure.
* Lost Confidence: These missteps made it harder for others to trust the team’s decisions in the future.
Final Thoughts
While the blog offers some helpful insights about technological change, its critique of Kubernetes needs to be taken with a grain of salt. The challenges they faced highlight the importance of good planning and understanding, not the shortcomings of Kubernetes itself.
Kubernetes is a powerful tool when used wisely. It’s true that it offers a lot of features, and it’s tempting to try and use them all—but that’s not always the best approach. Sometimes, keeping it simple is the smartest choice. This is why I often prefer writing my own deployment scripts over relying on tools like Helm, which can add unnecessary complexity