Kubernetes Best Practices for Production Deployments
Essential practices and patterns for running Kubernetes in production environments, from security to monitoring and scaling.
Marcus is a DevOps engineer and cloud architecture specialist with a passion for automation and infr...
Kubernetes Best Practices for Production Deployments
Kubernetes has become the de facto standard for container orchestration, but running it in production requires careful planning and adherence to best practices.
Security First
Network Policies
Implement network policies to control traffic between pods and namespaces. This is your first line of defense against lateral movement in case of a breach.
RBAC Configuration
Properly configure Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) to ensure users and service accounts have only the permissions they need.
Image Security
Scan container images for vulnerabilities and use trusted registries. Implement image signing to verify authenticity.
Resource Management
Resource Limits
Always set resource requests and limits for your containers. This prevents resource starvation and helps with cluster capacity planning.
resources:
requests:
memory: "64Mi"
cpu: "250m"
limits:
memory: "128Mi"
cpu: "500m"
Horizontal Pod Autoscaling
Configure HPA to automatically scale your applications based on CPU, memory, or custom metrics.
Monitoring and Observability
- Use Prometheus for metrics collection
- Implement distributed tracing with Jaeger or Zipkin
- Centralize logs with ELK or Loki
- Set up alerting for critical issues
Conclusion
Running Kubernetes in production is a journey. Start with these fundamentals, iterate based on your specific needs, and always prioritize security and observability.