Polycrate CLI 0.29.6 released: API Client Type Fix
Polycrate CLI 0.29.6 addresses a critical JSON deserialization error: K8sApp objects can now be correctly synchronized with the API again.
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Discover our latest articles about cloud-native technologies, Kubernetes, DevOps, and modern software development. From practical tutorials to in-depth analyses.
Latest Blog Posts
Stay up to date with our latest articles about cloud-native technologies, Kubernetes, and DevOps.
1210 posts
Polycrate API 0.11.5 released: Bugfixes & UX Improvements
Polycrate API 0.11.5 addresses CLI compatibility, enhances auto-refresh to 10s, and enables deep-linking for objects.
Polycrate API 0.11.4 released: Dynamic Tables, Info Drawer & UI Improvements
Polycrate API 0.11.4 introduces Dynamic Tables with auto-refresh, a unified Info Drawer, and a collapsible sidebar for enhanced clarity.
True Digital Sovereignty: Reclaim Cloud Freedom with Polycrate
The promise of the cloud has always been flexibility. Yet, the reality in many IT departments is different: **Vendor Lock-in**. Those who build their entire automation exclusively on AWS APIs, Azure-specific scripts, or Google Cloud tools find themselves in a "golden trap." Switching providers or even distributing workloads to a European provider like STACKIT or Hetzner becomes an unaffordable mammoth task.
How Polycrate Tames Heterogeneous Tool Stacks
Operating a modern IT infrastructure today often feels like being a mechanic who needs a different workshop for every screw. We use **Terraform** for cloud resources, **Ansible** for server configuration, **Helm** for Kubernetes apps, and a handful of **Bash scripts** to somehow hold everything together.
External Secrets Operator: The Reference Architecture for Hybrid Secrets Management
Secrets (API keys, database passwords) do not belong in Git code, but their runtime provisioning is often complex. Integrating AWS Secrets Manager directly into your application (via SDK) creates a hard vendor lock-in in the source code. The External Secrets Operator (ESO) solves this dilemma. It acts as a bridge, synchronizing secrets from external sources (AWS, Azure, Vault) and providing them as native Kubernetes Secrets. The result: The application remains cloud-agnostic and clean.
ClickHouse: The Reference Architecture for Real-Time Analytics & Big Data
Data is the new oil, but traditional data warehouses (like AWS Redshift) are often expensive, sluggish refineries. ClickHouse has revolutionized the OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) market. With columnar storage and vectorized query execution, it delivers answers to questions over billions of records in milliseconds. While cloud services tie costs to data volume, ClickHouse decouples performance from price through extreme compression and tiering.
Cilium: The Reference Architecture for High-Performance Networking & Security
Kubernetes networking has long been a bottleneck, hindered by outdated Linux technologies (iptables). While AWS provides a solid base connectivity with the VPC CNI plugin, it quickly hits limits in security and visibility (IP-based instead of identity-based). Cilium revolutionizes this layer by using eBPF. It enables high-performance networking, transparent encryption, and deep observability (Hubble) without needing to change application code—portable across any cloud.
Cert-Manager: The Reference Architecture for Automated Certificate Management in Kubernetes
Encryption is mandatory, but managing it is often a nightmare. While AWS Certificate Manager (ACM) offers free certificates, they are technically tied to the AWS infrastructure (no key export). Cert-manager establishes an open standard, automating the issuance, renewal, and use of certificates via Kubernetes CRDs. This ensures that the cryptographic identity of your applications remains portable and belongs to you—not the cloud provider.
Ceph: The Reference Architecture for Scalable Cloud-Native Storage
Storage has traditionally been the heaviest "anchor element" in cloud architecture. Using AWS EBS or S3 ties your data physically and economically to a provider. Ceph breaks this model as a "Unified Storage Solution" (Block, File, Object). It runs on standard hardware and scales linearly into the exabyte range. With full S3 compatibility and Kubernetes integration, Ceph enables true data portability without reliance on proprietary cloud storage systems.
Authentik: The Reference Architecture for Sovereign Identity & Access Management (IAM)
Authentik redefines identity management: moving away from proprietary cloud silos towards a unified identity layer. As an open-source solution, it integrates authentication, enrollment, and authorization in a highly flexible engine. Unlike cloud providers that lock user data in closed "user pools," Authentik ensures full data sovereignty and portability of digital identities across all infrastructure boundaries.
Observability 2.0: Gaining Deep Insights with eBPF
Until now, monitoring was often a compromise: Those who wanted to know exactly what was happening in their applications had to install "agents" or instrument the code with libraries (SDKs). This costs performance, makes the containers heavier, and annoys developers.
No More Idle Time: Rightsizing Tools for Efficient Kubernetes Clusters
In the traditional server world, the mantra was: "Better too much RAM than too little." In Kubernetes, this mindset leads directly to a bloated cloud bill. Since Kubernetes schedules Pods based on their **Resource Requests**, you pay for the space you reserve—regardless of whether your application actually uses it.
FinOps: Cloud Exchange - Safely Using Spot Instances in Kubernetes
Imagine getting the same computing power for **70% to 90% less cost**. The catch? The cloud provider can take the server away from you at any time with just two minutes' notice (AWS) or even just 30 seconds (Azure).
ArgoCD: The Reference Architecture for Declarative GitOps on Kubernetes
ArgoCD has established itself as the industry standard for Continuous Delivery in Kubernetes. By implementing the GitOps paradigm, it transforms infrastructure management from imperative pipelines to declarative state management. This enables automated synchronization ("Self-Healing"), seamless auditability, and a strict separation of CI (Continuous Integration) and CD (Continuous Delivery).
FinOps in Kubernetes - 20 Answers
**1. Why is the standard cloud bill for Kubernetes costs unusable?** Cloud providers issue bills for instances (VMs). However, Kubernetes distributes these instances across many teams and apps. Without K8s-native tools, you only see the total sum, but not which service is causing the costs.
Event-Driven Scaling with KEDA: When the Message Queue Controls the Cluster
The classic Horizontal Pod Autoscaler (HPA) of Kubernetes is like a thermostat: When the room gets too warm (CPU > 80%), the air conditioning kicks in. This works well for standard web apps but fails in modern, event-driven architectures.
Vault, External Secrets & CSI: The Ultimate Guide to Secret Management in K8s
"Base64 is not encryption." This phrase should be displayed prominently in every platform engineering team. Default Kubernetes Secrets are merely encoded, not encrypted. Anyone with access to the API or the etcd backend can read passwords, API keys, and certificates in plain text.
Policy-as-Code: Automating Compliance Enforcement
In 2026, compliance is no longer a "paper tiger." With regulations like the Cyber Resilience Act or certifications such as ISO 27001 and TISAX, IT leaders face a daunting task: proving that security policies not only exist but are enforced seamlessly and continuously in their Kubernetes clusters.
Old Iron, New Shell: How to Modernize Legacy Monoliths with Kubernetes Sidecars
"We can't move that to the cloud, it's a monolith." We hear this sentence often. However, modernization in 2026 doesn't necessarily mean breaking down a mature Java or .NET application into tiny microservices (refactoring). Often, the faster and more economical route is **re-platforming** using the **sidecar pattern**.
K8s at the Point of Sale: Why Manufacturing and Retail are Turning to Edge Clusters
For a long time, Kubernetes was considered the operating system for the "big" data center. But in 2026, the most exciting developments are happening at the network's edge. Whether it's image processing in a factory's quality control or inventory management in hundreds of retail stores, centralized cloud solutions are reaching their limits.
Developer Experience (DevEx): Why Your Platform Fails If It Doesn't 'Deliver'
When companies invest in Platform Engineering, 90% of resources often go into technology: Kubernetes clusters, CI/CD pipelines, and security scanners. However, the success of a platform is determined not by uptime, but by the **Developer Experience (DevEx)**.
What Does an API Call Cost? Unit Economics for IT Decision Makers
In the traditional IT world, budgeting was simple: you bought a server, depreciated it over five years, and recorded the costs as a fixed expense. In the Cloud-Native world of 2026, this predictability is gone. Cloud bills are dynamic, complex, and often decoupled from actual business success.
Supply Chain Security with SBOM and Sigstore
Imagine buying a ready-made meal at the supermarket without an ingredient list. For years, this was the standard in software development: we download container images from the internet and trust that what's inside matches the label. However, incidents like *Log4j* have shown that a single compromised library in the supply chain can cripple global infrastructures.