Our client, a manufacturing company in the Outdoor Living sector, faced the challenge of making their in-house solutions more future-ready and efficient. The company produces a modular system that can be customized with distribution partners, with various components tailored to end customers. To maintain this flexibility, while simultaneously modernizing their technology infrastructure, the question arose: which platform is best suited for their applications, and how can interfaces be optimally configured? Additionally, the requirements for new software components and the expectations of potential new hires needed to be addressed. The Head of Development put it succinctly: "How do we attract young, dynamic developers to join us and stay?"
It quickly became apparent that a Kubernetes environment was needed. The developers had already evaluated various alternatives and recognized the complexity involved in deployment and Day-2 operations. Sascha Schwunk, Lead Architect at comdivision for this client, was well aware of these challenges. He began by conducting a workshop to bring the IT-Ops and Dev-Ops teams to a base knowledge level. The focus was on topics such as cloud-native applications, Kubernetes, and extensions. Mr. Schwunk also explained the different options for deploying and maintaining a stable Kubernetes cluster over the long term.
At the outset, neither the IT-Ops nor Dev-Ops teams had experience with Kubernetes as a platform. However, the IT manager placed great importance on security and lifecycle management of the products used. Additionally, each user needed to work with an individual account on the systems.
Following the workshop, a solution was needed that the IT-Ops team could manage, handling permissions, security, networking, and resources without requiring them to learn an entirely new environment. The goal was to reduce administrative overhead. Meanwhile, the Dev-Ops team required the flexibility to independently create, expand, and manage Kubernetes clusters, including backups and restores.
The client opted for a Proof of Concept (PoC) with VMware Tanzu Standard, conducted in collaboration with VMware and comdivision. The PoC used vSphere in conjunction with Tanzu to quickly and easily provide a Tanzu Kubernetes cluster with full control. Tanzu Mission Control was deployed as a centralized, cloud-based control plane for managing all Kubernetes clusters.
The PoC included an extended design workshop where the network design was coordinated with both the IT-Ops and Dev-Ops teams. The interaction with NSX Advanced Load Balancer for the supervisor and Kubernetes clusters and services was also thoroughly discussed.
Once all questions were addressed with the IT-Ops, network, security, and development teams, the environment installation began. After a successful setup, a namespace was created in vSphere, configuration options were reviewed, and a Tanzu Kubernetes Grid cluster was deployed. Enhancements requested by the Dev-Ops team, such as the Harbor image repository, were introduced via Tanzu Packages. An existing container application was successfully converted to a Kubernetes application and tested on a TKG cluster.
Each developer was given their own namespace in vSphere, enabling them to create and manage their own Kubernetes clusters and applications independently through an account in Tanzu Mission Control.
Finally, the teams were given ample time for testing, with support and consultation from comdivision’s cloud-native experts.
Following the PoC phase, the client was thoroughly convinced and is currently planning their future Kubernetes projects with VMware Tanzu.
