James Walker

Featured in: Favicon

dev.to

thenewstack.io

Articles

Containerd vs. Docker

2 months ago | dev.to | James Walker

Containers have transformed modern software delivery, but the tools and terms can be confusing. Docker started the container revolution and remains the most popular container platform for developers. Yet the ecosystem is much more than just Docker, with containerd providing a crucial foundation for many technologies — including Docker, Kubernetes, and many more. Docker and containerd are closely related, but they’re separate projects with different specialisms.
Guide to Monitoring & Debugging with Docker Compose Logs

Jan 24, 2025 | dev.to | James Walker

Docker Compose simplifies the process of building and running multi-container applications. Compose lets you use a single command to start a stack of containers that are defined in a declarative config file. This is quicker and more repeatable than manually bringing each container up using standalone Docker commands. Compose also improves the Docker container logs experience.
Kubernetes with GitHub Actions

Jan 17, 2025 | dev.to | James Walker

Kubernetes orchestrates containerized app deployments in production environments, but you’re responsible for setting up a robust delivery pipeline that delivers code from your repositories to your cluster. GitHub Actions is a popular CI/CD service that comes integrated with GitHub projects. It’s an easy way to start releasing to Kubernetes by combining actions that build your container image and then deploy to Kubernetes.
Kubernetes Environment Variables

Dec 2, 2024 | dev.to | James Walker

A best practice when deploying applications in a Kubernetes environment is to securely handle sensitive data by utilizing environment variables and mounting secrets from external sources rather than hard-coding them within the application code or container image. In this guide, we’ll walk through how to set and manage Kubernetes environment variables so you can properly configure your deployments.
How to Run Environment Variables in a Docker Container

Nov 22, 2024 | dev.to | James Walker

Environment variables are a simple mechanism for separating configuration from code. They're key-value pairs that are set in your shell, ready for running applications to read. Processes don't necessarily execute directly in your shell, however: Docker allows you to package apps with their dependencies as separate self-contained environments. This requires a slightly different approach to environment variables because you must pass them through from your shell to your containers.
Kubectl Config Set-Context Command

Oct 31, 2024 | dev.to | James Walker

Kubectl is the official CLI for interacting with Kubernetes clusters. Because many users work across multiple clusters, the tool supports configuration contexts that store different groups of settings, letting you switch efficiently between them. A Kubectl context defines a cluster to target, the user to connect as, and the default namespace your Kubectl commands will apply to.
Kubernetes Multi-Cloud Multi-Cluster Strategy Overview

Oct 11, 2024 | dev.to | James Walker

This article will explain how Kubernetes aligns with multi-cloud using the multiple cluster model, where new clusters are created in each cloud. This allows you to achieve high availability and greater fault tolerance without having to set up the complicated inter-cloud host-level networking that's required for single clusters using nodes from several clouds. What is multi-cloud Kubernetes?
Looking holistically at cloud backup costs and ways to reduce them

Jun 4, 2024 | deploy.equinix.com | James Walker

A resilient cloud backup regimen keeps your data protected and lets you effectively recover from disasters. However, managing backups for cloud resources can be expensive because of the storage, networking and access costs involved. This guide will explain how these fees arise and uncover the hidden costs of backing up to the cloud.
Things scale-out apps tend to have in common

May 28, 2024 | deploy.equinix.com | James Walker

We call an application scalable when it can handle load variations without getting slow or failing altogether. There are some common patterns for designing apps and services to run undisturbed through gradual ramps or sudden spikes in usage. One strategy is horizontal scaling, or automatically adding new resources to the system, such as additional containers or compute nodes.
To Store in the Cloud or on Premises? How about Door No. 3?

Feb 28, 2024 | thenewstack.io | James Walker |Gorkem Ercan |Manish Kapur |Jonathan Ellis

A data platform is how a company stores, manages and analyzes its data, its most valuable asset. The more powerful and efficient the platform, the more effectively the data can be put to use. Data platforms enable conversion of data streams from sources of all kinds, from line-of-business apps to IoT platforms to AI tools, into plans of action for achieving business outcomes like product improvements, better processes and new commercial opportunities.