Enterprises are moving to the cloud
The 2022 Thales Cloud Security Report, conducted by 451 Research, part of S&P Global Market Intelligence, reports that, globally cloud adoption and notably multi-cloud adoption, remains on the rise. According to the report, in 2021, organizations worldwide were using an average amount of 110 software as a service (SaaS) applications, compared with just eight in 2015, showcasing a startlingly rapid increase. Also, the report mentions that the use of multiple providers has almost doubled in the last year, with one in five (20%) of respondents reporting using three or more providers.
Multi-site/cloud/cluster is a reality happening across enterprises, as is the use of containerized applications and microservices with Kubernetes. While Kubernetes is great, in today’s world, enterprises and startups developing and operating Kubernetes across multiple cloud instances and providers, currently lack the necessary observability, security, and networking capabilities.
The Inter-Cluster Communication Challenge
Running Kubernetes in edge networks, hybrid clouds, across multiple clouds, or for geo-scale/redundancy requires inter-cluster communication. Of course, Kubernetes does not support this natively, which means integrating complex service meshes, load balancers, API gateways, and network/firewall automation tools. DevOps has to engage groups like CloudOps, NetOps, and/or SecOps to implement the necessary changes, driving up costs and dragging out release schedules with all the additional activity. But today’s applications, which often need to be updated multiple times per day, are far too dynamic to worry about such concerns.
Take Control: DevOps Self-Service for Multi-Cloud Kubernetes
But what if you, DevOps, could control multi-cluster services, like you do when pods are in the same cluster? Now you can, with a Multi-Cloud Application Network (MAN). A Multi-Cloud Application Network is a secure overlay network that allows DevOps to expose pods in selected namespaces across multiple clusters. Add Multi-Cloud Application Network agents to specified clusters and the overlay network extends Kubernetes wherever you need it, whether in private clouds, multiple cloud instances from the same provider, or across multiple cloud providers like AWS, GCP, or Azure.
What makes a Multi-Cloud Application Network so exciting is that it is controlled by the application team. Since it’s an overlay network, DevOps doesn’t have to be proficient with the underlying technology, or be dependent on NetOps or SecOps people who are. Instead, you get self-service multi-cloud application connectivity, decoupled from the networking and security details.
A Multi-Cloud Application Network high-level GUI provides central command and control, visualizing all containers, microservices, and connections from a single pane of glass. Application teams can view, distribute, balance, and securely connect application components across potentially hundreds of cloud instances and cloud providers as if they were in the same Kubernetes cluster.
Welcome to the new paradigm: faster updates and releases in a world where clouds and multi-clouds are proliferating, and where speed and agility are crucial. Adding to the simplicity is the way a Multi-Cloud Application Network is delivered. You don’t have to download software, integrate it into your operations, and support it thereafter. Instead, it’s software as a service (SaaS) — just sign up and get it.
Impact on DevOps Budgets, Delivery Times, and More
The ability to extend Kubernetes to multi-cloud networks with point and click simplicity translates to significant benefits for application teams. In customer surveys, developers score their Multi-Cloud Application Network deployment in four key areas. Results vary due to the variety of configurations where a Multi-Cloud Application Network is used, but even at the low end, improvements are still substantial.
Faster release of applications/updates (up to 80%) — i.e., once a week to once a day
– Self-service simplicity eliminates DevOps dependence on NetOps
Reduces application OpEx (up to 90%)
– No service mesh team needed
- Ability to distribute microservices and containers across multiple clouds where they run most cost- effectively
– One pod per Namespace or node (not one pod + one sidecar pod) reduces CPU/RAM required
Reduces application downtime (up to 90%)
– Multi-cloud load balancing eliminates single point of failure
– Centralized application visibility and management
Reduces cyberattacks (up to 66%)
– Comprehensive micro service security solution
– No-code security/simplicity
– Zero-trust networking
There’s another important benefit — perhaps the most important of all. That’s the ability of DevOps to focus on helping the business outcomes - i.e., out-experiment the competition or new software creation or innovation.
Try It for Free
Nethopper’s Multi-Cloud Application Network is the simple, secure way to connect and operate your Kubernetes application across multiple clouds and clusters. But don’t take my word for it — discover it for yourself and see what a difference it makes. The entry version is free! If you'd like to see it in action, watch this 23 minutes tech demo video. Got questions? Send me an email at multicloud@nethopper.io.
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