Kubernetes & Orchestration
Running and scaling many containers across many machines.
Backend Engineer track
Junior
Write correct code, ship small changes safely, ask good questions.
- Health CheckAn endpoint reporting whether the service is alive and ready.
Mid-level
Own a feature end to end without hand-holding.
Core: start here
- KubernetesThe dominant container orchestration platform.
16 more mid-level concepts
- ConfigMap and SecretConfiguration and sensitive values injected into pods.
- Container OrchestrationAutomating the deployment, scaling and healing of containers.
- CrashLoopBackOffA pod that keeps crashing and restarting.
- DeploymentDeclares how many replicas of a pod should run and how to update them.
- Graceful ShutdownFinishing in-flight work before exiting on SIGTERM.
- HelmA package manager for Kubernetes.
- IngressRouting external HTTP traffic into the cluster.
- Job and CronJobRunning one-off and scheduled tasks in Kubernetes.
- kubectlThe command-line tool for Kubernetes.
- Liveness and Readiness ProbesHow Kubernetes checks whether a container is healthy.
- Liveness vs Readiness"Am I running?" vs "Can I take traffic?"
- NamespaceDividing cluster resources between teams or apps.
- NodeA machine in the cluster that runs pods.
- PodThe smallest deployable unit in Kubernetes: one or more containers.
- ReplicaSetKeeps a set number of identical pods running.
- ServiceA stable network address for a set of pods.
Senior
Own a system, its failure modes, and its trade-offs.
- Control PlaneThe components that manage cluster state.
- DaemonSetRunning one pod on every node.
- Horizontal Pod AutoscalerAdding pods automatically based on load.
- Managed Kubernetes (EKS, GKE, AKS)Kubernetes with a cloud-run control plane.
- Network PoliciesFirewall rules between pods.
- Node Affinity and Topology SpreadControlling which nodes pods run on and how they spread out.
- Persistent VolumeStorage that survives pod restarts.
- Pod Disruption BudgetLimiting how many pods can be down during maintenance.
- Pod Priority and PreemptionEvicting less important pods to make room for important ones.
- Requests and LimitsHow much CPU and memory a pod reserves and is allowed to use.
- Resource QuotasCapping what a namespace can use.
- StatefulSetRunning stateful apps with stable identity and storage.
- Taints and TolerationsKeeping pods off nodes unless they explicitly allow it.
- Vertical Pod AutoscalerAdjusting a pod's CPU and memory requests automatically.
Staff
Shape how many teams build, across systems.
- Custom Resource DefinitionTeaching Kubernetes new kinds of objects.
- Do You Need Kubernetes?Weighing its power against its operational cost.
- Multi-Cluster ManagementRunning workloads across several Kubernetes clusters.
- OperatorA custom controller that automates running complex software.
Principal
Set technical direction for the organization.
Nothing here yet.
Data Engineer track
Junior
Build and fix pipelines from clear specs; write correct SQL.
Nothing here yet.
Mid-level
Own pipelines and models end to end, including their quality.
- ConfigMap and SecretConfiguration and sensitive values injected into pods.
- Container OrchestrationAutomating the deployment, scaling and healing of containers.
- CrashLoopBackOffA pod that keeps crashing and restarting.
- DeploymentDeclares how many replicas of a pod should run and how to update them.
- Graceful ShutdownFinishing in-flight work before exiting on SIGTERM.
- HelmA package manager for Kubernetes.
- IngressRouting external HTTP traffic into the cluster.
- Job and CronJobRunning one-off and scheduled tasks in Kubernetes.
- kubectlThe command-line tool for Kubernetes.
- KubernetesThe dominant container orchestration platform.
- Liveness and Readiness ProbesHow Kubernetes checks whether a container is healthy.
- Liveness vs Readiness"Am I running?" vs "Can I take traffic?"
- NamespaceDividing cluster resources between teams or apps.
- NodeA machine in the cluster that runs pods.
- PodThe smallest deployable unit in Kubernetes: one or more containers.
- ReplicaSetKeeps a set number of identical pods running.
- ServiceA stable network address for a set of pods.
Senior
Design the platform's storage, processing and modeling choices.
- Control PlaneThe components that manage cluster state.
- DaemonSetRunning one pod on every node.
- Horizontal Pod AutoscalerAdding pods automatically based on load.
- Managed Kubernetes (EKS, GKE, AKS)Kubernetes with a cloud-run control plane.
- Network PoliciesFirewall rules between pods.
- Node Affinity and Topology SpreadControlling which nodes pods run on and how they spread out.
- Persistent VolumeStorage that survives pod restarts.
- Pod Disruption BudgetLimiting how many pods can be down during maintenance.
- Pod Priority and PreemptionEvicting less important pods to make room for important ones.
- Requests and LimitsHow much CPU and memory a pod reserves and is allowed to use.
- Resource QuotasCapping what a namespace can use.
- StatefulSetRunning stateful apps with stable identity and storage.
- Taints and TolerationsKeeping pods off nodes unless they explicitly allow it.
- Vertical Pod AutoscalerAdjusting a pod's CPU and memory requests automatically.
Staff
Shape how the whole organization produces and uses data.
- Custom Resource DefinitionTeaching Kubernetes new kinds of objects.
- Do You Need Kubernetes?Weighing its power against its operational cost.
- Multi-Cluster ManagementRunning workloads across several Kubernetes clusters.
- OperatorA custom controller that automates running complex software.
Principal
Set data strategy and architecture across the company.
Nothing here yet.
Frontend Engineer track
Junior
Build UI that works, ship small changes safely, ask good questions.
Nothing here yet.
Mid-level
Own a feature end to end without hand-holding.
Nothing here yet.
Senior
Own an app's architecture, performance, and failure modes.
- KubernetesThe dominant container orchestration platform.
Staff
Shape how many teams build, across apps.
Nothing here yet.
Principal
Set technical direction for the organization.
Nothing here yet.