#12: Optimizing for Sustainability

Tech thought leader and host of the Kubernetes Unpacked podcast Kristina Devochko joins nCast today to talk all things cloud cost optimization, Kubernetes and green tech. 
We start by talking about the fact that many companies aren’t even using HALF of their compute resources. But does slashing your AWS bill necessarily mean that you’re saving the plant? We delve into cost optimization and how it aligns (or not) with sustainability. 
Kristina shares her insights on measuring your cloud carbon footprint and the tools you need (KEDA, Karpenter, Kepler) to increase cloud sustainability. We discuss key practical ways to get started cutting unnecessary cloud waste, from eliminating orphaned resources to scheduling during off hours. 
Plus, we're revealing how nOps has managed to run our production on Spot instances — talk about recycling! 
0:00 - 1:09: Introduction
1:10 - 4:20: Sustainability at Kubecon Europe and other recent events
4:21 - 9:31: Is cost optimization the same as sustainability?
9:32 - 12:53: Green data centers and your carbon footprint
12:54 - 15:21: Portability and the downsides of over-committing to pricing plans
15:22 - 19:51: Measuring your organization’s cloud sustainability
19:53 - 26:51: KEDA, Karpenter, Kepler and the tools you need
26:52 - 31:12: Leveraging available Spot capacity and choosing instances
31:13 - 37:15: Running production environments on Spot 
37:15 - 44:46: Continual rightsizing and automated tools
44:47 - 48:18: Carbon-efficient Karpenter scaling
Show notes

GitHub issue for proposal of carbon-efficient design to Karpenter that needs some community support

Kepler project

Carbon-aware KEDA operator

Cloud Carbon Footprint open source tool

BoaviztAPI open source API for environmental impacts of ICT

APIs that provide electricity data, data on carbon emissions and electricity sources: https://app.electricitymaps.com and https://watttime.org

CNCF TAG Environmental Sustainability

Contact Kristina Devochko

Kristina Devochko’s Tech blog