We, as dedicated cloud-native enthusiasts, couldn’t miss KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe 2023. Our team spent four engaging days at the RAI Convention Centre in Amsterdam, connecting with brilliant minds, exploring innovative projects, and attending inspirational talks. Here, we summarise the essential insights from this remarkable event.
Highlights from KubeCon 2023
KubeCon is more than technology; it thrives on community and collaboration. The focus at this event shifted towards application delivery and enhancing user experiences. Notably, TAG App Delivery produced impactful guidance and best practices for CNCF projects and end-users alike.
The surge in GitOps adoption was evident, with numerous talks highlighting its importance. AI’s integration within Kubernetes showcased future shifts toward greater automation. Technologies like eBPF and WASM continue to grow, promising more use cases in the near future. eBPF, in particular, was a favourite, forming the backbone of many emerging tools and projects.
Must-see sessions at KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe
Security and Compliance
- Zero privilege architectures
Thijs Ebbers and Diana Iordan presented an insightful session, suggesting that “least privilege” and “zero trust” approaches need modernisation. They introduced a new security model that made perfect sense for current challenges. - Trusting container scanners
Ian Coldwater and team highlighted the limitations of current scanning tools. They demonstrated how small Dockerfile changes could lead to false compliance across different scanners. - EU compliance for Kubernetes
Robert Ficcaglia and Anders Eknert explained how to build cloud-native Kubernetes apps compliant with the EU Cybersecurity Scheme (EUCS). Their live demo showed OPA’s effectiveness for policy management.
Innovative Technology
- Confidential containers (CoCo)
Intel and Red Hat detailed how CoCo enhances data security for Kubernetes. They explained how it integrates with Kata containers to secure data from CPU to user level. - Quantum computing in cloud-native
Paul Schweigert and Michael Maximilien discussed how quantum computing will affect cloud-native tech. They explained how Kubernetes will manage future quantum workloads, highlighting quantum serverless as a significant development.
Practical Demonstrations
- Interactive Kubernetes security
Madhu Akula’s session featured Kubernetes Goat, a vulnerable-by-design cluster to teach Kubernetes security. Attendees learned about potential vulnerabilities and how to defend against them. - Live Kubernetes hacking
Fabian Kammel and James Cleverley-Prance demonstrated real-world attacks on Kubernetes clusters. They showcased scenarios like compromising a container to hijack an entire cluster. - Cyber Resilience Act impacts
The panel led by Gabriele Columbro discussed the EU Cyber Resilience Act. They explored how it impacts the software supply chain and open-source projects.
Exciting projects at KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe
Observability and Sustainability
- OpenTelemetry (OTel)
OpenTelemetry was highly discussed, aiming to standardise observability. Its collaboration with Elastic on a common schema was a major highlight. - Kepler for sustainability
Kepler uses eBPF to measure energy consumption, exporting data as Prometheus metrics. This tool supports sustainability as a measurable KPI.
Developer Tools and Management
- OpenFeature
OpenFeature provides a vendor-agnostic API for feature flagging, integrating easily with existing management tools. - Spacelift for CI/CD
Spacelift is a platform supporting infrastructure-as-code tools like Terraform and Kubernetes. It helps streamline complex, large-scale deployments. - Port for service management
Port simplifies managing services and IT landscapes. Its no-code interface enables developers to document and deploy services efficiently.
Security and Edge Solutions
- Chainguard Dev
Chainguard Dev offers ZERO CVE containers and images, boosting development security. Its commitment to open source encourages collaboration. - WASM and Edge applications
WasmEdge is designed for low-resource IoT devices, enabling full applications at the edge with minimal overhead. - Rook for Kubernetes storage
Rook turns distributed storage systems into self-managing services. It automates tasks like deployment and disaster recovery.
Curious to discover more Cloud Native technologies?
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What can you expect from this edition?
The 150 difference-making technologies that matter, six industry-shaking trends that every tech expert should be aware of and six client use cases who have successfully met their digital challenges.
