What is Longhorn? How to Install and Use It in Kubernetes

What is Longhorn? Longhorn is a lightweight, distributed block storage system designed for Kubernetes. Created by Rancher Labs, it’s built specifically for cloud-native environments and enables highly available persistent volumes using standard Kubernetes interfaces. Key Features Cloud-native: Designed specifically for Kubernetes. Highly Available: Replicates volumes across nodes. UI and CLI Tools: Easily manage storage through web interface or CLI. Incremental Snapshots and Backups: Built-in support. Easy to Deploy and Use: Helm and YAML options available. Why Use Longhorn? Kubernetes does not manage storage on its own — it needs a CSI (Container Storage Interface) driver. Longhorn is a popular open-source choice that offers: ...

August 20, 2025 · 2 min · 318 words · John Cena

Helm vs Kustomize: Which One Should You Choose?

Helm vs Kustomize: Which One Should You Choose? When deploying applications in Kubernetes, two of the most popular tools for managing configuration are Helm and Kustomize. Both aim to make deploying manifests more manageable, but they follow different philosophies and offer distinct features. Table of Contents What is Helm? What is Kustomize? Key Differences Pros and Cons Use Cases and Recommendations Example Configurations Conclusion 1. What is Helm? Helm is a package manager for Kubernetes. It lets you define, install, and upgrade even the most complex Kubernetes applications using Helm charts. ...

August 19, 2025 · 2 min · 322 words · John Cena

Self-Signed Certificates in DevOps and Kubernetes: What They Are and How to Use Them

What is a Self-Signed Certificate? A self-signed certificate is a TLS/SSL certificate that is signed by the same entity whose identity it certifies. Unlike certificates signed by Certificate Authorities (CAs), self-signed certificates are not inherently trusted by clients or browsers. When to Use Self-Signed Certificates Development environments Internal testing and staging setups Internal services in private networks (e.g., Kubernetes clusters) ⚠️ Avoid using self-signed certificates in production for public-facing services unless you manage client trust manually. ...

August 19, 2025 · 2 min · 241 words · John Cena

How to Move K3s Data to a New Location

How to Move K3s Data to a New Location Sometimes, you need to move K3s data to a different disk or partition — for example, when you run out of space or want to use a faster storage device. Here’s a safe way to do it. ⚠️ Prerequisites Root or sudo access Disk or mount point already prepared (e.g., /datadrive) 📦 What Will Be Moved We will migrate the following directories: ...

August 18, 2025 · 1 min · 192 words · John Cena

Vertical Pod Autoscaler in Kubernetes: Pros, Cons, and Limitations

Kubernetes provides several autoscaling mechanisms, and one of them is the Vertical Pod Autoscaler (VPA). Unlike the Horizontal Pod Autoscaler (HPA) which scales the number of pods, VPA adjusts CPU and memory requests/limits for individual pods. This article breaks down when VPA makes sense, what advantages it brings, and the critical limitations you must understand before deploying it in production. 1. What Is Vertical Pod Autoscaler? VPA automatically adjusts resource requests and limits for containers based on historical usage. ...

August 16, 2025 · 2 min · 378 words · DevOps Insights