Cloud Knowledge Blog
Simplyblock's blog brings you the latest of storage, cloud, and thought leadership
Chris Engelbert
Oct 23rd, 2024 | 12 min read
Serverless Compute Need Serverless Storage
The use of serverless infrastructures is steeply increasing. As the Datadog “State of Serverless 2023” survey shows, more than half of all cloud customers have already adopted a serverless environ
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Chris Engelbert
Oct 10th, 2024 | 11 min read
AWS Storage Optimization: Avoid EBS Over-provisioning
“Cloud is expensive” is an often repeated phrase among IT professionals. What makes the cloud so expensive, though? One element that significantly drives cloud costs is storage over-provisioni
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Chris Engelbert
Oct 02nd, 2024 | 20 min read
Why would you run PostgreSQL in Kubernetes, and how?
Running PostgreSQL in Kubernetes When you need a PostgreSQL service in the cloud, there are two common ways to achieve this. The initial thought is going for one of the many hosted databases, such as
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Michael Schmidt
Sep 19th, 2024 | 9 min read
Simplyblock for AWS: Environments with many gp2 or gp3 Volumes
When operating your stateful workloads in Amazon EC2 and Amazon EKS, data is commonly stored on Amazon’s EBS volumes. AWS supports a set of different volume types which offer different performance r
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Rahil Parekh
Sep 18th, 2024 | 9 min read
KubeCon + CloudNativeCon NA 2024: Your Salt Lake City Guide
In preparation for KubeCon + CloudNativeCon, we at simplyblock figured it was essential to create a guide beyond the conference halls, highlighting the best spots to truly experience Salt Lake City. A
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Chris Engelbert
Sep 17th, 2024 | 5 min read
Best Open Source Tools For Kubernetes
The Kubernetes ecosystem is vibrant and ever-expanding, driven by a community of developers who are committed to enhancing the way we manage and deploy applications. Open-source tools have become an e
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Rob Pankow
Sep 12th, 2024 | 14 min read
The True Cost of Database Management: RDS vs. EKS
Databases can make up a significant portion of the costs for a variety of businesses and enterprises, and in particular for SaaS, Fintech, or E-commerce & Retail verticals. Choosing the right data
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Rob Pankow
Sep 12th, 2024 | 7 min read
AWS Migration: How to Migrate into the Cloud? Data Storage Perspective.
Migrating to the cloud can be daunting, but it becomes a manageable and rewarding process with the right approach and understanding of the storage perspective. Amazon Web Services (AWS) offers a compr
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Rob Pankow
Sep 12th, 2024 | 6 min read
What is the AWS Workload Migration Program and how simplyblock can help you with cloud migration?
What is the AWS Workload Migration Program? The AWS Workload Migration Program is a comprehensive framework designed to help organizations migrate their workloads to the AWS cloud efficiently and effe
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Michael Schmidt
Sep 10th, 2024 | 5 min read
Ransomware Attack Recovery with Simplyblock
In 2023, the number of victims of Ransomware attacks more than doubled, with 2024 off to an even stronger start. A Ransomware attack encrypts your local data. Additionally, the attackers demand a rans
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Michael Schmidt
Sep 06th, 2024 | 6 min read
Disaster Recovery with Simplyblock in AWS
When disaster strikes, a great recovery strategy is required. Oftentimes, deficiencies are only discovered when it’s already too late. Simplyblock provides comprehensive disaster recovery support fo
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Rob Pankow
Aug 27th, 2024 | 6 min read
Avoiding Storage Lock-in: Block Storage Migration with Simplyblock
Storage and particularly block storage is generally easy to migrate. It doesn’t create vendor lock-in, which is very different from most database systems. Therefore, it’s worth to briefly line out
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Chris Engelbert
Aug 22nd, 2024 | 6 min read
Kubernetes 1.31: Day of the Storage
On August 13, the Kubernetes team released Kubernetes 1.31, a release also known as “Elli”. The release follows about a month after the release of 1.30 (Uwubernetes) which also marked the
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Rahil Parekh
Aug 21st, 2024 | 10 min read
Understanding Functional (“Black Box”) Testing: A Developer’s Guide [2024]
Introduction: the Importance of Functional Testing As developers, it’s crucial for us to ensure that our applications function as intended. Functional testing, in the past, often referred to as
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Rahil Parekh
Aug 21st, 2024 | 8 min read
Understanding Clear Box (“White Box”) Testing: A Developer’s Guide [2024]
Introduction: the Importance of Clear Box Testing As developers, we play a crucial role in ensuring that applications run smoothly and meet user expectations. Clear box testing, also known as white bo
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Rob Pankow
Aug 07th, 2024 | 9 min read
What is AWS Marketplace?
Introduction to AWS Marketplace Overview of AWS Marketplace AWS Marketplace is a digital catalog that allows customers to find, buy, and deploy software and services that run on Amazon Web Services (A
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Chris Engelbert
Jul 26th, 2024 | 9 min read
Say Goodbye to High Data Access-Latency Cloud Storage with Simplyblock’s Local NVMe SSD Caching
When using persistent storage on cloud providers, there are two options: locally attached (like AWS’ Instance Store or GCP Local SSD) or remote (like Amazon EBS or Google Persistent Disks). Bot
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Rob Pankow
Jul 24th, 2024 | 5 min read
Rockset alternatives: migrate with simplyblock
The Rockset Transition: what you need to know On June 21, 2024, Rockset announced its acquisition by OpenAI , setting off a countdown for many organizations using their database. If you’re a Roc
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Rob Pankow
Jul 22nd, 2024 | 8 min read
What is the AWS Savings Plan? Guide to AWS Discount Programs
As cloud computing continues to transform how businesses operate, Amazon Web Services (AWS) remains the largest cloud provider globally, offering scalable and cost-effective solutions for organization
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Chris Engelbert
Jul 19th, 2024 | 15 min read
Image Recognition with Neural Networks: A Beginner’s Guide
If you’re anything like me, you must be anxious to understand how computers can do image recognition. Certainly, it can’t be magic—we know that for a fact—but how does it work? As a disclaimer
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Chris Engelbert
Jul 15th, 2024 | 9 min read
Neo4j in Cloud and Kubernetes: Advantages, Cypher Queries, and Use Cases
Introduction: In the era of big data, managing complex relationships is crucial. Neo4j , a leading graph database, excels at handling intricate data connections, making it indispensable for modern app
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Rob Pankow
Jun 28th, 2024 | 9 min read
How to reduce AWS cloud costs with AWS marketplace products?
The AWS Marketplace is a comprehensive catalog consisting of thousands of offerings that help organizations find, purchase, deploy and manage third-party software and services to optimize their cloud
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Chris Engelbert
Jun 20th, 2024 | 23 min read
How I designed PostgreSQL High Availability with Shaun Thomas from Tembo (video + interview)
This interview is part of the simplyblock’s Cloud Commute Podcast, available on Youtube , Spotify , iTunes/Apple Podcasts , Pandora , Samsung Podcasts, and our show site. In this installment , w
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Chris Engelbert
Jun 14th, 2024 | 18 min read
Easy Developer Namespaces with Multi-tenant Kubernetes with Alessandro Vozza from Kubespaces
This interview is part of the simplyblock’s Cloud Commute Podcast, available on Youtube , Spotify , iTunes/Apple Podcasts , Pandora , Samsung Podcasts, and our show site . In this installment of
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Rob Pankow
Jun 13th, 2024 | 6 min read
How to benefit from AWS Enterprise Discount Program (EDP)
What is the AWS Enterprise Discount Program (EDP)? The AWS Enterprise Discount Program (EDP) is a discount initiative designed for organizations spending at least $1m per year on AWS cloud services an
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Chris Engelbert
Jun 06th, 2024 | 9 min read
How to choose your Kubernetes Postgres Operator?
A Postgres Operator for Kubernetes eases the management of PostgreSQL clusters inside the Kubernetes (k8s) environment. It watches changes (additions, updates, deletes) of PostgreSQL related CRD (cust
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Chris Engelbert
May 31st, 2024 | 19 min read
Your CI/CD Pipeline is a Production system with Stefan Prodan from ControlPlane (video + interview)
This interview is part of the simplyblock’s Cloud Commute Podcast, available on Youtube , Spotify , iTunes/Apple Podcasts , Pandora , Samsung Podcasts, and our show site. In this installment of
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Chris Engelbert
May 29th, 2024 | 6 min read
What is Software-Defined Storage (SDS)?
Software-defined (block) storage solutions, or SDS, decouple the software storage layer from the underlying hardware. This allows for centralized management and automation of storage resources through
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Michael Schmidt
May 22nd, 2024 | 10 min read
How We Built Our Distributed Data Placement Algorithm
Modern cloud applications demand more from their storage than ever before – ultra-low latency, predictable performance, and bulletproof reliability. Simplyblock’s storage cluster technolog
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Chris Engelbert
May 15th, 2024 | 7 min read
What is Block Storage?
The term Block storage describes a technology that controls how data is stored on storage devices. The name is derived from the fact that block storage splits any kind of information, such as files or
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Chris Engelbert
May 10th, 2024 | 20 min read
Automated Vulnerability Detection throughout your Pipeline with Brian Vermeer from Snyk
This interview is part of the simplyblock’s Cloud Commute Podcast, available on Youtube , Spotify , iTunes/Apple Podcasts , Pandora , Samsung Podcasts, and our show site . In this installment of
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Chris Engelbert
May 08th, 2024 | 7 min read
What is NVMe Storage?
NVMe, or Non-Volatile Memory Express, is a modern access and storage protocol for flash-based solid-state storage. Designed for low overhead, latency, and response times, it aims for the highest achie
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Chris Engelbert
May 02nd, 2024 | 15 min read
PostgreSQL mistakes and how to avoid them with Jimmy Angelakos
This interview is part of the simplyblock’s Cloud Commute Podcast, available on Youtube , Spotify , iTunes/Apple Podcasts , Pandora , Samsung Podcasts, and our show site . In this installment of
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Chris Engelbert
Apr 24th, 2024 | 13 min read
IOPS vs Throughput vs Latency – Storage Performance Metrics
IOPS, throughput, and latency are interrelated metrics that provide insight into the read, write, and access performance of storage entities and network interconnects. Measuring the performance of a s
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Chris Engelbert
Apr 19th, 2024 | 19 min read
Improve Security with API Gateways, Nicolas Fränkel
In this installment of the podcast, we talked to Nicolas Fränkel (X/Twitter) from API7.ai, the creator of Apache APISIX, a high-performance open-source API gateway, discusses the significance of choo
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Rob Pankow
Apr 17th, 2024 | 7 min read
Block Storage Volume Pooling for the Cloud-Age
If you have services running in the AWS, you’ll eventually need block storage to store data. Services like Amazon EBS (Elastic Block Storage) provide block storage to be used in your EC2 instances,
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Chris Engelbert
Apr 10th, 2024 | 9 min read
Kubernetes: Future or Fad?
Kubernetes has pretty much become synonymous with container orchestration, and all competition is either assimilated (or rewritten to be based on Kubernetes, see Openshift), or basically disappeared i
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Chris Engelbert
Apr 05th, 2024 | 25 min read
Production-grade Kubernetes PostgreSQL, Álvaro Hernández
In this episode of the Cloud Commute podcast, Chris Engelbert is joined by Álvaro Hernández Tortosa, a prominent figure in the PostgreSQL community and CEO of OnGres. Álvaro shares his deep insight
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Chris Engelbert
Apr 03rd, 2024 | 7 min read
What is a Kubernetes Persistent Volume?
A persistent volume is a slice of storage provisioned by a Kubernetes administrator that can be attached and mounted to pods. Like everything in Kubernetes, it is a resource inside the cluster, and it
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Steven Sklar (Guest Author, QuestDB)
Mar 29th, 2024 | 13 min read
How the CSI (Container Storage Interface) Works
If you work with persistent storage in Kubernetes, maybe you’ve seen articles about how to migrate from in-tree to CSI volumes, but aren’t sure what all the fuss is about? Or perhaps you&#
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Chris Engelbert
Mar 27th, 2024 | 7 min read
Kubernetes CSI: Container Attached Storage
Containerized services must be stateless, a doctrine that was widely used in the early days of containerization, which came hand-in-hand with microservices. While it makes elasticity easy, these days,
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Chris Engelbert
Mar 22nd, 2024 | 25 min read
Kubernetes for AI, GKE, and serverless with Abdellfetah Sghiouar from Google (interview)
This interview is part of the simplyblock Cloud Commute Podcast, available on Youtube , Spotify , iTunes/Apple Podcasts , Pandora , Samsung Podcasts, and our show site . In this installment, we’
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Chris Engelbert
Mar 20th, 2024 | 4 min read
What is Kubernetes: The Components and The Beast
During the last decade containerized services have emerged as the game-changer in terms of deployment simplicity, scalability, and componentization or modularization. Kubernetes is at the forefront of
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Chris Engelbert
Mar 15th, 2024 | 20 min read
Confidential Computing with Moritz Eckert from Edgeless Systems (interview)
This interview is part of the simplyblock Cloud Commute Podcast, available on Youtube , Spotify , iTunes/Apple Podcasts , Pandora , Samsung Podcasts, and our show site . In this installment , we’
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Chris Engelbert
Mar 06th, 2024 | 8 min read
What is Erasure Coding: A Shield Against Data Loss
Erasure Coding (erasure code) is a data protection mechanism that protects against data loss by breaking data items, such as files, into fragments, calculating additional data pieces (parity informati
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Chris Engelbert
Feb 28th, 2024 | 8 min read
AWS EBS Pricing: A Comprehensive Guide
In the vast landscape of cloud computing, Amazon Elastic Block Store (Amazon EBS) stands out as a crucial component for storage in AWS’ Amazon EKS (Elastic Kubernetes Service), as well as other AWS
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