theCronJob

The retirement of NGINX Ingress might sound like just another Kubernetes update, but it reveals a much bigger shift.As teams start asking what replaces it, deeper questions come up about how traffic should be managed, who owns it, and what “modern” infrastructure actually looks like.Omer and Mark cover the rise of NGINX, why it became the default for so long, and what changed. They explore the growing ecosystem of alternatives like Traefik and Caddy, the move toward service meshes, and how Gateway API is shaping the next generation of Kubernetes networking.

In this episode, Omer and Mark reflect on AWS re:Invent and what it reveals about the current state of cloud infrastructure, with AI and agentic systems clearly dominating the narrative. They discuss how these trends intersect with DevOps, cost management, and operational complexity, and share reactions to a few standout announcements.

In a special episode, Omer and Mark look back on the themes that defined their year - from the growing influence of AI to the ongoing challenges of cloud infrastructure. The conversation covers shifts in AWS commitments and pricing models, including the move from ARISE to savings plans, and what these changes mean for engineering teams.The discussion also explores emerging image-streaming technologies like StarGZ and SOCI, along with their impact on running AI and containerized workloads in Kubernetes. Throughout, the episode highlights the need for flexibility as cloud and AI continue to evolve.

In this episode, Omer and Mark discuss the recent outages affecting major internet services like Cloudflare and AWS, exploring the implications of AI on infrastructure reliability, the centralization of internet services, and the risks associated with automation in DevOps. They also delve into the challenges of DNS management and the future of AI in operational roles, concluding with reflections on the resilience of internet services.

In this episode, our host Omer and special guest Tzachi Tzafrir discuss the complexities of testing in Kubernetes, exploring various strategies for effective quality assurance. Tzachi shares insights on balancing fast testing environments with realistic production-like scenarios, the significance of chaos engineering, and the processes involved in testing new features. They also delve into the role of AI in development and testing, emphasizing the importance of integration and collaboration among developers.

In this episode of The Crown Job, Omer and Mark delve into the spooky side of technology, sharing horror stories from their experiences in the tech industry. They discuss the recent AWS outage and its bizarre effects on smart mattresses, a ghostly incident in a production environment, a certificate authority crisis, and the challenges of managing cloud infrastructure. 

In this episode, Omer and Mark discuss the importance of integrating security into the DevOps culture, specifically focusing on DevSecOps. They explore the responsibilities of developers in ensuring application security, the significance of understanding the OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities, and the need for actionable security practices. The conversation also touches on the unique challenges of Kubernetes security and concludes with recommendations for improving security awareness and practices among engineers.

In this episode of the Cron Job podcast, hosts Omer and Mark delve into the intricacies of Kubernetes, focusing on common mistakes in resource allocation and container management. They discuss the importance of right-sizing resources, monitoring, and the potential pitfalls of over-provisioning. The conversation also touches on the philosophical aspects of infrastructure management and the role of AI in optimizing Kubernetes operations.

In this episode, Omer and Mark delve into the intricacies of using Spot Instances versus On-Demand Instances in cloud computing. They discuss the mechanics behind Spot Instances, the importance of building applications that can adapt to the volatility of these instances, and the various strategies for effectively integrating them into production environments. The conversation also touches on innovative solutions for managing Spot Instances and optimizing costs in cloud infrastructure.

In this episode, Omer and Mark discuss the complexities and considerations surrounding multi-cloud environments, particularly in light of recent AWS outages. They explore the implications of cloud strategies, disaster recovery, and the economics of maintaining infrastructure across multiple cloud providers. The conversation emphasizes the challenges of data management and the potential pitfalls of multi-cloud deployments, ultimately questioning the necessity and practicality of such strategies for most organizations.

In this episode, Omer and Mark discuss the future of Kubernetes, exploring various upcoming features and enhancements. They delve into the significance of streaming list responses, the management of pod lifecycles, dynamic resource allocation, and improvements to the horizontal pod autoscaler. The conversation also touches on the balance between stability and complexity in Kubernetes, as well as innovations in init containers.

In this episode, the hosts and their guest Ido Slonimsky delve into the ongoing debate about the best programming language for Kubernetes. They explore various languages, including Go and Rust, discussing their advantages and disadvantages in the context of Kubernetes development. The conversation highlights the importance of familiarity with tools, the impact of language choice on maintainability, and real-world experiences in selecting languages for production environments. 

In this episode, Omer and Mark share their personal horror stories from the world of engineering, focusing on challenges faced in Kubernetes, DNS issues, security breaches, and the costs associated with cloud infrastructure. They discuss the importance of proper DNS configuration, the risks of exposing sensitive information in front-end code, and the unexpected costs of zombie EC2 instances. The conversation also highlights the significance of implementing security measures in CI/CD processes to prevent embarrassing mistakes.

In this episode of theCronJob podcast, hosts Omer and Mark engage in a lively discussion about various hot takes in the tech industry, focusing on Kubernetes, DevOps, AI, and multi-cloud strategies. They explore the effectiveness of horizontal pod autoscaling, the risks associated with VPNs, the evolution of DevOps culture, and the implications of AI in infrastructure management. 

In this episode of The Cron Job, Omer and Mark delve into the complexities of right sizing in Kubernetes, discussing the differences between horizontal and vertical scaling, the challenges of automating resource management, and the potential conflicts between Horizontal Pod Autoscaler (HPA) and Vertical Pod Autoscaler (VPA). They explore alternative scaling solutions and emphasize the importance of best practices in resource allocation to ensure stability and efficiency in cloud infrastructure.

In this episode, Omer and Mark discuss the challenges of deploying applications on Kubernetes, using a movie aggregator application as a case study. They explore the importance of understanding Kubernetes components, scaling, monitoring, and the benefits of using managed services to streamline deployment and reduce maintenance overhead.The twelve-factor app  mentioned in this episode:https://12factor.net/

In this episode of The Cron Job, Omer and Mark delve into the topic of bad architecture in software development, sharing real-world examples and discussing the implications of poor design choices. They explore the evolution of architectures, the importance of security, and the challenges posed by regulations. The conversation also highlights common pitfalls in cloud storage management, particularly with AWS S3, and concludes with best practices to avoid architectural mistakes.

In this episode, Omer and Mark discuss the complexities of trusting open source software, particularly in the context of Kubernetes and other popular projects. They explore the evaluation process for open source projects, the risks associated with licensing changes, and the security concerns that arise from supply chain attacks. The conversation highlights Kubernetes as a gold standard for open source management and emphasizes the necessity of having a robust evaluation process for enterprises considering open source solutions.

You're not alone!In this candid episode of theCronJob, hosts Omer Hamerman and Mark Serdze dive into the messy side of infrastructure engineering by sharing real-world DevOps mishaps. From small misconfigurations to entire systems going sideways, they unpack how even seasoned pros can make mistakes—and more importantly, how to learn from them. Expect honest stories, practical lessons on prevention and recovery, and a few laughs along the way as they explore what happens when your systems catch fire in production - and how not to let them.Check out more testimonials on: https://zesty.co/lp/devops-anonymous

This episode delves into the essential decision facing DevOps engineers and infrastructure architects: choosing between  EKS and ECS. The hosts explore real-world tradeoffs between the two, EKS’s flexibility and portability as a Kubernetes-based solution versus ECS’s simplicity, tight AWS integration, and lower management overhead. They unpack when each service makes sense, balancing complexity, cost, scalability, and ecosystem maturity, offering listeners clarity for making infrastructure choices that align with their technical goals. Tune in for grounded insights, without the jargon.

Can AI render the DevOps role obsolete, or is it the ultimate augmentation tool? In Episode 2 of theCronJob, hosts Omer Hamerman and Mark Serdze put the provocative question ‘Will AI Kill DevOps?’ under the microscope. Expect a deep dive into how machine learning, generative AI, and automation are reshaping pipelines, troubleshooting, and observability, not by replacing engineers, but by transforming the way they work. Discover whether to fear AI or forge ahead with it.

Enjoy living DevOps nightmares? Tune into theCronJob’s first episode, DevOps Horror Story of the Week, where Omer Hamerman and Mark Serdze unravel a real production disaster—laced with Kubernetes quirks, runaway costs, and reliability gone rogue. Brace yourself: this is DevOps served straight from the chaos.