Kubernetes has rapidly become the de facto standard for container orchestration, enabling organizations to efficiently manage, scale, and deploy containerized applications. As businesses continue to adopt Kubernetes, the need for sophisticated autoscaling mechanisms becomes increasingly critical. Traditional autoscaling techniques rely on metrics like CPU and memory usage and often need to catch up in dynamic environments where real-time events drive the demand for resources. This is where Kubernetes Event-driven autoscaling, often referred to as KEDA, comes into play.
The Limitations of Traditional Autoscaling
The basic technique of autoscaling in Kubernetes is horizontal autoscaling, which the Horizontal Pod Autoscaler or HPA performs, and it is based on some resource utilization metrics, such as CPU and memory. This approach is suitable in cases where a resource is required predictably; however, it may not be efficient where a resource is called upon due to event occurrence. For instance, an e-commerce app may witness high loads during flash sales, or a data processing app may require different loads depending on data feed rates. In such instances, the heavy reliance on resource metrics will mean scaled responses are slower, translating to application performance and user experience.
However, relative to this, simple autoscaling does not consider other events or additional metrics that might better signify application needs. In this regime, the event-driven autoscaling concept provides a more efficient and effective approach to application scalability.
Embracing Event-Driven Autoscaling
Event-based autoscaling is a shift from conventional autoscaling applications in the Kubernetes environment. Unlike most scaling approaches, which focus on resource metrics, this one involves real-time events as scaling indicators. Such events can be an HTTP request arriving, a message in a queue, or a metric generated by an application monitoring system. In this way, Kubernetes can adapt to these events and scale applications more effectively since application usage determines how resources are allocated instead of using fixed rules.
KEDA – Kubernetes Event Driven Autoscaling – is an open-source project that extends the Kubernetes platform with event-driven characteristics. Integration with Kubernetes is tight: KEDA uses custom resource definitions (CRDs) to define event sources and scaling behavior. KEDA stands for Kubernetes Event Driven Autoscaling, and when it is used, applications can scale based on some of the following event sources: message queues, HTTP endpoints, and Prometheus metrics, among others.
In this part, the author introduces one of KEDA’s main strengths: flexibility. With KEDA, developers can specify the conditions for responding to several event sources and obtain a complete set of tools for adjusting an application’s scalability. For example, an application may need more resources to handle HTTP requests and other messages in a queue and distribute the workload efficiently.
Real-world applications of Event-Driven Autoscaling
Event-driven autoscaling is gaining popularity in various industries because of the desire for a more effective scalability approach. In the e-commerce industry, enterprises are utilizing KEDA to manage bursts of load during online sales or discounts. Thus, thanks to scaling applications according to the number of arriving HTTP requests, e-commerce platforms can guarantee their users fast and uninterrupted work at any time, including during intervals of high traffic.
In the financial services industry, the type of autoscaling known as event-driven autoscaling is used to control data processing applications’ scalability. Such applications can receive data in different volumes at different times depending on events occurring in the real world, like stock exchange or transaction records. According to the provided example, by using KEDA to scale based on custom metrics from data processing pipelines, financial institutions can make sure that their applications are still fast and reactive and, at the same time, optimally loaded.
Event-driven autoscaling has also been adopted in the healthcare industry to address applications that deal with patient information. When scaled on top of real-time events like patient records or continuous telemetry data from attached biomedical equipment, healthcare organizations can guarantee that their systems remain upright and responsive always, even during peak traffic.
Conclusion
As the demand for more responsive and efficient autoscaling solutions grows, event-driven autoscaling is emerging as a game-changer in the Kubernetes ecosystem. By leveraging real-time events to manage application scalability, organizations can ensure their applications remain performant and responsive, even in dynamic and unpredictable environments.
Ingrid Maldine is a business writer, editor and management consultant with extensive experience writing and consulting for both start-ups and long established companies. She has ten years management and leadership experience gained at BSkyB in London and Viva Travel Guides in Quito, Ecuador, giving her a depth of insight into innovation in international business. With an MBA from the University of Hull and many years of experience running her own business consultancy, Ingrid’s background allows her to connect with a diverse range of clients, including cutting edge technology and web-based start-ups but also multinationals in need of assistance. Ingrid has played a defining role in shaping organizational strategy for a wide range of different organizations, including for-profit, NGOs and charities. Ingrid has also served on the Board of Directors for the South American Explorers Club in Quito, Ecuador.
