Disaster Recovery for your Kubernetes Clusters [I] - Andy Goldstein & Steve Kriss, Heptio

Step-by-Step Tutorial: Disaster Recovery for Kubernetes Clusters

1. Understanding Disaster Recovery for Kubernetes Clusters:

   • Disaster recovery for Kubernetes involves strategies to recover from failures in your cluster.
   • Identify critical components like etcd and persistent volumes that need robust backup strategies.

2. Traditional IT Setting vs. Kubernetes Environment:

   • In traditional IT, applications were tied to specific servers, requiring full backups for disaster recovery.
   • In Kubernetes, components like etcd, masters, and nodes are more stateless, allowing for easier recovery approaches.

3. Key Components in a Kubernetes Cluster:

   • Understand the key components like etcd, masters, nodes, and persistent volumes in a Kubernetes cluster that require backup strategies.

4. Tools for Disaster Recovery in Kubernetes:

   • Utilize tools like kubectl drain and kubectl cordon to mark nodes unschedulable and evacuate pods during recovery processes.

5. Automating Recovery and Provisioning:

   • Automate the provisioning of new masters, nodes, or clusters to quickly recover from failures using tools like Ansible while preserving necessary state like certificates.

6. Disaster Recovery for etcd:

   • Explore methods like taking backups at the block level, using etcdctl snapshots, or leveraging Kubernetes APIs to recover etcd data in case of failures.

7. Backup Strategies for Persistent Volumes:

   • Implement backup strategies for persistent volumes using tools like heptio-ark to backup and restore Kubernetes API objects and persistent volumes.

8. Using Heptio Ark for Disaster Recovery:

   • Deploy and configure heptio-ark to backup and restore Kubernetes resources, including scheduled backups, complex filtering, and support for cloud provider volumes.

9. Extending Heptio Ark Functionality:

   • Extend heptio-ark functionality through hooks for pre/post-backup actions, plugins for cloud providers, and item actions for custom logic during backup and restore processes.

10. Demo and Community Engagement:

    • Engage with the heptio-ark open-source community, participate in discussions, provide feedback, and explore future enhancements like faster restores, load balancer support, and integration with external resources like DNS.

11. Handling Conflicts and Restores:

    • Address potential conflicts during restores, manage conflicts with pre-existing resources, and explore options for handling resources managed outside of Kubernetes, such as DNS updates.

12. Continuous Improvement and Collaboration:

    • Collaborate with the community to enhance disaster recovery capabilities, improve backup and restore processes, and integrate with external systems for a more comprehensive disaster recovery solution.

By following these steps, you can effectively implement disaster recovery strategies for your Kubernetes clusters using tools like heptio-ark and ensure the resilience and reliability of your infrastructure.