What is our primary use case?
There are migration projects where we need to migrate some on-premise services to Kubernetes. In that case, we have used Amazon EKS to migrate our workload. There are two production services that we need to deploy on the cloud, so we chose to use Amazon EKS to deploy them on the servers.
There are multiple node clusters that we have within Amazon EKS. We have different node groups that we have used. Some of them are high performance, some have high-speed hard disks, and some have high CPU. There are multiple node groups that we have provisioned and also enable the scaling within the pod level and within the cluster level. There are multiple features that we have used along with node management.
For streamline, we need to apply GitOps within Amazon EKS. Whenever there is a commit in the deployment-related stuff, we need to deploy the new image on the image repository, and from there, we need to update the kubectl YAML files with the new image tag. We can also choose the Helm charts based, and we can also choose Argo CD for the automated deployments.
We have implemented two things with Amazon EKS. First of all, OIDC-based connectivity between the AWS services to the Kubernetes workload. Additionally, we implemented RBAC. We have used RBAC to provision IAM users to have proper security and a constrained environment so that read-only users can only read the things.
We have used Amazon EKS Anywhere for on-premises deployments, and within Amazon EKS, it has an air-gapped environment where we can deploy the things and manage the local type of Kubernetes.
What is most valuable?
Managing the production workload in Amazon EKS is highly valuable. It has many features, for example, self-healing, automatic deployment, rollouts, and better management. It is an Amazon managed service, so we need to just focus on the cloud itself.
We have installed Prometheus and Grafana within our Amazon EKS, and we have used DataDog operators as well to have proper production workload management and monitoring management system. We can see the logs, alerts, and everything related to it. We have integrated Slack and email addresses through SES. This is how we are monitoring our production workloads and get alerts based on problems within our production.
The main benefits from using Amazon EKS include it being a well-tested product that we can use to deploy our workload. Its management system is very efficient. We can deploy things very easily and resolve our issues efficiently. It has deep AWS integration and a managed control plane. It has built-in IRSA-based security model for IAM roles. We have flexibility and portability. We can use Helm, Argo CD, Flux CD, Istio, and Linkerd. We can use multiple EC2 machines, such as spot instances and Graviton-based instances that are GPU-powered. These features help us use Amazon EKS for our production environments.
What needs improvement?
I would appreciate seeing integration between the other services in Amazon EKS. For example, there are now more managed Prometheus and managed Grafana services available last year. I would appreciate knowing more about how AI-based services get integrated with Amazon EKS and what kind of AI automation, healing, or troubleshooting services Amazon will introduce in upcoming releases.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with Amazon EKS for three to four years.
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What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
The setup of the Amazon EKS environment is quite fairly simple, and we can easily automate them using Terraform as well.
Once everything is set and done, there is no maintenance required, which is a very good point.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I did not see any crashes, downtime, or performance issues with Amazon EKS.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have enabled the cluster-level enablement and auto-scaling in Amazon EKS, and that helped us significantly. Whenever we have peak time, it will automatically manage the node for us, and there are more nodes to manage our workload.
For a few of the cluster upgrades that got stuck, we connect with Amazon tech support, as we have business support with Amazon. We connect with them, and we figure out the problem. They help us to troubleshoot the issue, and we run commands related to Cordon or Taint. With this, we complete our upgrades process.
How are customer service and support?
On a scale of one to 10, I would rate the technical support and customer service of AWS as eight to nine. They are very technical, and they can easily fix things within 20 to 30 minutes.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I worked with on-premise Kubernetes, and I also worked with Azure Kubernetes, AKS.
How was the initial setup?
I have worked extensively with Amazon EKS, and I have automation scripts ready. Whenever a new client comes to me, I request them to see my previous portfolio, and I show them my Amazon EKS work and how quickly I can set up their Amazon EKS and run the CI/CD so that their workload can get migrated to Amazon EKS. It is quite easy for me now to advocate for Amazon EKS.
What was our ROI?
We have a big business up and running in Amazon, and we have different AWS accounts: dev, test, and prod. Based on that, there is a root account who is paying the prices for us. The workload and the profit that we are getting, we are satisfied with what it is offering.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing of Amazon EKS depends upon the node group that we are choosing and what kind of auto-scaling that we have implemented. It is totally dependent on those things, including what kind of network bandwidth that we are consuming.
I find the pricing of Amazon EKS reasonable. We actually are going to pay a yearly advanced payment, which helps us save on cost.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Amazon EKS has strong integration with its services. In Azure Kubernetes, it does not have strong, deep integration with its services, for example, Active Directory, Azure Registry, Azure Monitor. Both have their managed control plane and node management. Amazon EKS has a different pricing model - it is per cluster control plane level, whereas AKS is not on the control plane fleet's history. Regarding security, Amazon EKS provides IRSA-based, IAM role-based security, whereas AKS provides directory, Azure Active Directory.
What other advice do I have?
It is a very well-known product, and there are many clients in the market who are using Amazon EKS, so it is the best service offered from AWS. I rate it a nine out of ten.
At the moment, whatever is required in Amazon EKS is already there.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.