Kubernetes and Helm have become the backbone of modern DevOps practices, powering everything from small startups to enterprise-scale production environments. But the learning curve can feel steep, especially if you’re new. That’s why I’ve designed this 10-post series (starting from 0 as mentioned in the title, so effectively 11) to guide you step by step—from absolute foundations to advanced, production-ready strategies—so that both beginners and seasoned engineers can level up.
Why This Series?
- For beginners: you’ll get clear definitions, simple labs, and practical examples that build confidence quickly.
- For advanced engineers: you’ll find deeper dives, edge-case discussions, and proven practices used in real-world production clusters.
- For everyone: each post has hands-on labs, cheat sheets, and a wrap-up that connects naturally to the next topic.
Series Structure
**Post 0 — Foundations: Zero to Base Setup
Get comfortable with the mental model of Kubernetes, YAML hygiene, kubectl basics, local clusters (kind/minikube), and Helm chart structure.
Post 1 — Multi-Tenancy & Security Baseline
Learn how Namespaces, ResourceQuotas, NetworkPolicies, and Pod Security Admission set the foundation for safe, shared clusters.
Post 2 — Reliability by Design: Probes, PDBs & Topology Spread
Design applications that survive rollouts, disruptions, and node failures with probes, PodDisruptionBudgets, and spread constraints.
Post 3 — Upgrades & Feature Gates: Safe Cadence
Master upgrade strategies, manage version skew, and safely evaluate new features.
Post 4 — Smart Scaling & Cost Control: HPA, KEDA & Karpenter
Balance elasticity and efficiency using Horizontal Pod Autoscaling, event-driven scaling, Cluster Autoscaler, and Karpenter.
Post 5 — Modern Traffic Management with Gateway API
Move beyond Ingress with the Gateway API: flexible routing, retries, mirroring, and multi-tenant gateways.
Post 6 — Helm Fundamentals Done Right
Build clean, reusable charts with sane defaults, values schema validation, library charts, and overlays.
Post 7 — Helm in CI/CD: Lint, Tests, Diff & Supply Chain Security
Treat charts as code: enforce linting, add unit tests, integrate diffs, push to OCI registries, and secure with provenance.
Post 8 — Progressive Delivery & GitOps
Ship confidently with Blue/Green and Canary patterns, GitOps controllers like Argo CD and Flux, and drift detection.
Post 9 — Operator’s Toolkit: Debugging & Power Moves
Sharpen your day-to-day: ephemeral debug containers, kubectl power tips, and Helm Day-2 operations.
Post 10 — What’s Next: Sidecars, eBPF, AI Gateways & Supply Chain Maturity
Explore the trends shaping Kubernetes: stable sidecars, eBPF-powered networking, AI routing, and SLSA supply-chain practices.
How to Follow Along
- Start at Post 0 if you’re new, or jump in at any point if you’re experienced.
- Each post builds on the previous, but they also stand alone as practical guides.
- Expect plenty of copy-pasteable commands, diagrams to cement understanding, and mini-labs that run in less than 30 minutes.
Bottom line: by the end of this series, you’ll not only understand Kubernetes and Helm—you’ll be confident running, scaling, securing, and modernizing clusters in production. Start's September 23rd, 2025
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