Introduction
The world of cloud-native technologies continues to change and innovate as more and more organizations adopt microservices and migrate their application workloads from VMs to containers. Put on by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation, the primary event of the year for the folks developing these applications as well as those managing the underlying infrastructure is KubeCon. I was fortunate enough to be able to attend this year’s KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America 2023 event so this blog will be a review of the conference as well as my impressions and learnings.
The Venue
Having spent a lot of time in Chicago growing up, I have to admit I was skeptical of a conference being held on Chicago’s South side. Jim Croce even starts off his song Bad, Bad Leroy Brown with the lyrics “Well, the South side of Chicago is the baddest part of town.” I was really blown away by how much this part of town has improved since the ’90s. The conference was held at the McCormick Place Convention Center which is a very nice venue. It had plenty of space for keynotes, breakout sessions, an expo hall, and collaboration areas. In addition, there are plenty of good coffee shops, restaurants, and bars nearby. It turned out very well as a location for an event of this size.
Keynotes
KubeCon 2023 kicked off with a series of keynotes delivered by industry pioneers and visionaries. Attendees experienced insights into the latest Kubernetes developments, real-world use cases, and glimpses into the future of container orchestration. As the introduction to the conference, these keynotes set the tone for the days ahead, sparking conversations and laying the groundwork for collaborative conversations.
Technical Deep Dives and Workshops
One of the great things about Kubecon is the ability to really dive deep into the technology. There are deep dives into various technical areas as well as hands-on workshops. Attendees can really learn a topic and apply that knowledge through some practical workshops. If you are a practitioner, this is a great way to ramp up your skills in a new area.
Community Engagement and Networking
As with an IT conference, one of the main values is community engagement and networking with others in your field. KubeCon thrived on the strength of its community. Attendees had ample opportunities to connect with like-minded individuals, share experiences, and forge professional relationships. Boasting a diverse array of networking events, from themed social mixers to speed networking sessions, the conference facilitated meaningful connections that extended beyond the event, creating a supportive ecosystem for ongoing collaboration.
Exhibitor Showcase
One of my favorite activities at a show like KubeCon is walking around and talking to the vendors in the exhibitor showcase. Yes, they are trying to sell you their latest wares. However, it is a great way to stay up to speed on what the vendors in the space are working on, their latest advancements, and where the industry is going. From established industry giants to innovative startups, the expo floor offered a firsthand look at cutting-edge products and services that complemented Kubernetes deployments.
Key Themes
For me, the key themes from KubeCon revolved around networking improvements since that is my area of expertise. There have been a lot of advancements since last year’s Kubecon conference. Specifically, a lot of the attendees and vendors were talking about eBPF. Last year, I had to describe what eBPF was and how it might provide value when it comes to understanding the network traffic in a k8s pod. This year, most of the attendees asked me about eBPF. Isovalent has done a nice job of evangelizing this technology in the last 12 months. Sidecars are quickly becoming “old school” when it comes to telemetry in a k8s cluster.
Another refreshing theme was k8s for Service Providers. I expected to hear about their IT departments building private clusters for deploying OSS/BSS systems. Anyone who has been around the ISP or Telco sector for a while will know that in order to compete, modernization is needed in these areas. Network as a Service (NaaS) providers are stealing market share from carriers who are not doing this. What really surprised me was the amount of production workloads that are being deployed on Kubernetes. The Open RAN architecture within 5G mobility is highly containerized. It turns out, that this type of architecture lends itself very well to being deployed in a Kubernetes environment where you can scale up and down based on the demand being placed on the mobile network. No longer do the mobile carriers have to build the network to support Mother’s Day.
Conclusion
As KubeCon 2023 concluded in the heart of Chicago, the lasting effects of knowledge shared and connections made will continue to resonate throughout the cloud-native community. The Windy City, with its rich history and spirit, became the backdrop for an event pushing the evolution of Kubernetes and container orchestration. With newfound insights, enhanced skills, and a strengthened network, attendees departed with a sense of empowerment, having navigated the past and embraced the future of cloud-native technologies. If you were not able to attend, keep an eye on the event schedule. As the videos are processed, they will be posted on the page for each talk.
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