Istio - it Is! & Optimizing DNS Queries

August 28th at 6pm at Capital Factory

We will meet in the Apollo Room on the 1st Floor! Our schedule is as follows:

6:00-6:30 - Food/Social!
6:30-7:15 - Istio- it Is!
7:15-8:00 - "Optimizing DNS Queries"

Please RSVP at
https://community.cncf.io/events/details/cncf-kubernetes-austin-presents-istio-it-is-amp-chain-attack-on-k8s-clusters/

ATTENTION: WE KNOW PARKING IN DOWNTOWN IS TRICKY!

So, you can park in the building garage for just $8.00 (validation parking tickets will be distributed)!
Street parking will still be an option. More information on parking here: https://www.capitalfactory.com/parking/

Please RSVP here, and please make sure you follow our official social media platforms and stay tuned with the latest news about Kubernetes Austin:

https://linkedin.com/company/k8sAustin
https://instagram.com/k8sAustin
https://x.com/k8sAustin

Everyone is invited to join! We hope to bring the latest news about the Kubernetes and CNCF projects. We had a last-minute speaker change; instead of K8s security, the second slot will be about Optimizing DNS Queries.

Descriptions

### Vishwa Gandhi, from Oracle

"Istio, It is!"
This talk shares the real-world journey of introducing Istio into production — the traffic control wins, the mTLS nightmares, and everything in between. You'll walk away with practical tips, war stories, and a brutally honest look at when Istio shines… and when it bites.

### Goutam Tadi, Astronomer.io. Infra Engineering, Staff Software Engineer

Optimizing DNS queries
Optimizing Kubernetes DNS Resolution at Scale: Implementing NodeLocal DNS Cache
As Kubernetes clusters grow, DNS resolution becomes a critical bottleneck that impacts performance across your entire infrastructure. The default Kubernetes DNS solution—whether kube-dns or cloud provider implementations—often struggles under increased load, leading to resolution failures and service degradation.
This talk explores how to implement NodeLocal DNS Cache to dramatically improve DNS resolution performance and reliability in large-scale Kubernetes environments. We'll demonstrate practical strategies to reduce central DNS server load by up to 50% while significantly decreasing resolution latency.
Attendees will learn:
The DNS architecture challenges that emerge as clusters scale
Step-by-step implementation of NodeLocal DNS Cache
Key configuration optimizations for pods and deployments
Practical DNS caching strategies that reduce DNS traffic and improve reliability
Real-world metrics and performance improvements from production environments
Join us to discover how these targeted DNS optimizations can transform cluster performance and stability without requiring complex infrastructure changes.
More information: k8saustin.com