CNCF Graduates KEDA Autoscaler for Kubernetes Clusters

The Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) revealed today that the Kubernetes Event-Driven Autoscaling (KEDA) project has formally graduated.

KEDA is a single-purpose event-driven autoscaler for Kubernetes that makes it simpler to scale workloads or schedule long-running jobs. It is designed to provide an alternative to the standard Kubernetes autoscaler and horizontal pod autoscaling (HPA) using custom metrics or metrics defined by another system.

Step 1 of 7

14%

Which of the following best describes how you currently monitor and manage systems across your hybrid cloud environment?(Required)

Multiple separate tools for different environments

Multiple separate tools for different monitoring and management functions

Single consolidated dashboard

Custom built monitoring and management solution

No full monitoring and management solution

Don’t know

How valuable would it be for your monitoring and management solution to incorporate predictive analytics to help you identify and address system issues that are critical and not waste time or effort working through all the data and “noise” that is not critical?(Required)

Extremely valuable

Moderately valuable

Somewhat valuable

Slightly valuable

Not valuable

How do you most typically address potential system issues BEFORE they impact your operations?(Required)

Automated workflows and playbooks to remediate potential issues as soon as they are detected

An orchestrated response process that leverages automation, AI, and human expertise to rapidly respond to potential issues

Advanced monitoring tools such as predictive analytics and anomaly detection to proactively identify and address potential issues

Respond to issues as they arise, using manual processes and troubleshooting techniques

A combination of automated remediation, orchestrated response, and/or proactive monitoring to address potential system issues

Don’t know

Other

What methods does your organization use to control and monitor cloud/IT spending?(Required)

Centralized procurement processes

Pre-approved budget thresholds

Automated cost monitoring tools

Department-level spending controls

Regular cost audits and reviews

Cloud cost optimization platform

Approval workflows for resource provisioning

Native financial operations tools provided by the cloud provider

No formal controls in place

Don’t know

Other

Please specify:

Which methods do you rely on most to detect security vulnerabilities in your systems?(Required)

Automated scanning tools

Manual assessments

Vendor notifications

Threat modeling (for early detection)

None of these

Don’t know

Other

Please specify:

What are the TWO most common ways you prioritize vulnerabilities to address within your environment?(Required)

Based on potential impact

Based on exploitability

Regulatory compliance requirements

Based on CVSS scores

Risk-based analysis of multiple factors

First-in-first-out approach

No formal prioritization process

Don’t know

How do you typically handle system updates and security patches?(Required)

Automated updates and patches

Manually review and apply updates and patches on a regular schedule

A combination of automation and manual review

Apply updates and patches on an as-needed basis.

Outsourced update and patch management

No defined process

Don’t know

Other

Δ

Zbynek Roubalik, CTO at Kedify, a startup providing KEDA expertise and a maintainer of KEDA, said autoscaling enables IT teams to optimize processes more cost-efficiently. In addition, organizations are also using KEDA to reduce the amount of carbon being generated by Kubernetes clusters.

KEDA was originally started by Microsoft and Red Hat in 2019. It was accepted into the CNCF Sandbox in March 2020. Today, KEDA is used in production by more than 45 organizations, including FedEx, Grafana Labs, KPMG, Reddit and Xbox. It has added more than 60 scalers, or connectors, to external services and now supports nine authentication providers.

As Kubernetes clusters are more widely used within enterprises, more sophisticated cloud-native applications are being deployed. Many of those applications will require a tool like the KEDA autoscaler to efficiently invoke infrastructure resources, noted Roubalik.

Not every IT team is, of course, going to require KEDA when Kubernetes already has a built-in autoscaler and HPA capabilities. However, it’s becoming apparent the tooling available for Kubernetes clusters is becoming more robust. That’s proving crucial as IT teams increasingly find themselves managing multiple instances of Kubernetes clusters running a wide range of applications. In some cases, a handful of those clusters might be running the types of applications that require KEDA to scale up and, just as importantly, back down as fluidly as possible.

Like most open source projects, KEDA needs more contributors and maintainers to work on the project, noted Roubalik. The issue that many open source projects have is there are only so many individuals with the skills required. In fact, far too many projects are often maintained by only a relatively handful of committed developers, even though the number of organizations consuming that software is extensive.

Hopefully, in time, more enterprise IT organizations will see fit to make material and financial contributions to smaller open source projects that may not have the same level of passionate developers willing to contribute to larger projects like Linux.

In the meantime, enterprise IT organizations would be well-advised to familiarize themselves with the large assortment of open source projects being advanced under the auspices of the CNCF. That list may appear daunting at first, and many of these projects are still in the early stages of development. However, as these projects mature, there is a corresponding increase in the number of use cases for platforms such as Kubernetes. The challenge and the opportunity now is to move beyond Kubernetes itself to embrace a wide range of innovative open source technologies that ultimately help reduce the total cost of IT.