EC2 to EKS Migration: Transforming Infrastructure for Efficiency and Growth
Migrating from EC2 to EKS has been a critical step in modernizing client infrastructure, improving performance, and reducing operational costs. This transition not only streamlined how we manage applications but also delivered tangible business benefits, including a 40% cost reduction and enhanced security and monitoring.
Old Infrastructure: Scaling Challenges and Complexity
Dedicated Instances per Service: Each microservice required its own EC2 instance, leading to redundancy and resource over-provisioning.
Additional Overhead: Separate EC2 instances were necessary for monitoring, DevOps tools, and GitLab runners, increasing costs and complexity.
Scaling Inefficiencies: Despite using autoscaling groups, scaling was not as flexible as needed, often replicating entire instances unnecessarily.
New Infrastructure: EKS for Streamlined Deployment and Management
Node Groups and Namespaces: Created for each application to maintain the autonomy of different microservices, improving security and management.
Cluster Autoscaler: More dynamic scaling of pods based on actual workloads, optimizing resource use.
Monitoring and DevOps Tools Integration: Containerized infrastructure including Prometheus, Grafana, and security tools streamlined within the EKS cluster.
Data Migration from EBS to EFS
Data was moved from EBS to EFS for scalable storage, involving mounting EFS file systems to EC2, copying data over, and updating applications to use EFS, enhancing integration with the EKS environment.
Migration Process: Step-by-Step
Created the EKS Cluster and Node Groups dedicated to each application and tool.
Provisioned EFS for scalable and dynamic data storage needs.
Containerized Applications for efficient running in the EKS cluster.
Implemented ArgoCD for continuous deployment and connected it to GitLab for direct application updates.
Used weighted routing in Route 53 for seamless domain transition to minimize downtime.
Set up comprehensive monitoring and alerting with tools like Pingdom and PagerDuty.
Technological Benefits
ArgoCD, Prometheus, Grafana, Alertmanager: Facilitate continuous delivery and robust monitoring.
Elasticsearch, Kibana, NGINX, CoreDNS: Provide centralized logging, efficient routing, and DNS resolution.
Qualys, Pingdom, PagerDuty: Enhance security monitoring and ensure rapid response to incidents.
Business Benefits
Cost Reduction: 40% savings by optimizing resource use and reducing the need for dedicated EC2 instances.
Enhanced Security and Monitoring: Improved security posture and continuous monitoring capabilities.
Simplified Management: Reduced hands-on management allowing teams to focus more on development.
Scalability & Flexibility: Greater flexibility in scaling applications with Kubernetes’ native features.
Conclusion: Migrating from EC2 to EKS has significantly enhanced operational efficiency, security, and cost-effectiveness, positioning the organization for future growth and scalability.
