Production-Ready Kubernetes: Security, Observability, Cost & Privilege Control
Details
March 28th at 6 pm at the Station Austin (formerly known as Capital Factory)
701 Brazos Street, 1st Floor, Apollo Room
Austin, 78701
Schedule:
6:00-6:30 - Food+Social
6:30-7:00 - Security + Observability + Cost Governance by Hari Krishna Pokala
7:00-7:30 - Kubernetes Cost Optimization by Nishanth Sirikonda
7:30-8:00 - Privileged Containers / Security by Deepak Verma
### 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 for the latest news about Kubernetes Austin:
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Everyone is invited to join! We hope to bring the latest news about the Kubernetes and CNCF projects.
Descriptions
Security + Observability + Cost Governance
Kubernetes gives teams speed and scale, but without the right guardrails it quickly creates three major gaps: security risk, poor production visibility, and rising cloud costs. This session explains how to close those gaps using practical Kubernetes-native patterns: layered security, OpenTelemetry-based observability, and FinOps practices like cost visibility, right-sizing, and governance. The key message is simple: Kubernetes is powerful, but it must be secured, instrumented, and governed intentionally to deliver real value.
Kubernetes Cost Optimization
Kubernetes can make cloud costs grow quickly when workloads are over-provisioned or scaling is not managed properly. This session shows practical, Kubernetes-native ways to reduce waste through right-sizing, better resource limits, effective autoscaling, spot/preemptible nodes, and smarter scheduling. Attendees will learn how to identify inefficient configurations and apply changes that can reduce cluster costs by 20–40% while maintaining performance and reliability.
Privileged Containers / Security
Privileged containers in Kubernetes are sometimes needed for low-level workloads like networking, storage, and monitoring agents, but they come with serious security risks because they can access host-level resources. This session explains why running containers as root or privileged has historically been dangerous, and how modern Kubernetes controls can reduce that risk. Attendees will learn how to manage privileged workloads safely using Pod Security Standards, RBAC, admission controllers, capability scoping, and rootless alternatives while avoiding unnecessary exposure in application workloads.
More information: k8saustin.com