Karpenter is an open-source, high-performance tool designed to improve workload scaling. Karpenter recently achieved General Availability (GA) with its 1.0 release in August 2024. It is in the process of being donated to the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF).

At Kubecon, nOps debuts the Karpenter Lab — the industry’s first hands-on, self-paced learning experience that gives participants practical experience with the capabilities of this next-generation autoscaler. The lab provides all the infrastructure needed, allowing participants to explore extensive Karpenter functionality on their own time and without any cost.

For those using Cluster Autoscaler and looking to transition to Karpenter, this lab streamlines the migration, making it simple to get up to speed with Karpenter.

Introducing the nOps Karpenter Lab

As the first installment in a four-part series, Karpenter 101 covers:

  • Intro to Karpenter: Learn how Karpenter simplifies autoscaling, and its key differences from Cluster Autoscaler.
  • Running Karpenter in Your AWS Environment: Set up IAM roles, install, and configure Karpenter on an EKS cluster.
  • Understanding Node Classes & Node Pools: Gain control over node provisioning and optimize scaling with Spot and On-Demand instances by configuring Node Classes and Node Pools.
  • Deploying a Service into a Cluster & Monitor Scaling Events: How to deploy services and exploring Karpenter’s interaction with EC2 instances in real-time.

Upon completion, attendees will receive a Karpenter 101 certification badge through Credly (coming soon), recognizing their foundational knowledge of Karpenter’s basic configurations and how to scale workloads. 

The Karpenter Lab is being rolled out on a limited basis — register in advance with nOps and visit Booth #S25 at Kubecon to pick up your exclusive access code.

Executive interest in Karpenter was growing as we looked to optimize instance utilization and reduce compute costs. Unlike other programs that require participants to manage their own infrastructure, the nOps Karpenter Lab offers a fully provisioned environment, eliminating that hurdle and speeding up the PoC process. This program took us from zero prior knowledge to expert, offering a complete, real-world Karpenter experience available at our own pace and provided immediately transferable knowledge to craft the solution that fit our infrastructure.” – Waylan Wong, DevOps Engineer at Zest.ai

nOps’ Extensive Support for Karpenter

nOps has consistently demonstrated its commitment to enhancing the capabilities of Karpenter by providing advanced tools and automation for cost-efficient Kubernetes autoscaling. nOps adds critical functions to this groundbreaking technology such as holistic orchestration of Spot best practices, Spot market monitoring, Reserved Instance and Savings Plan awareness, and EKS visibility. By integrating seamlessly with Karpenter, nOps helps organizations fully unlock its potential, for better overall performance and cost management in complex Kubernetes environments.

Join nOps at KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America 2024

nOps will be participating in several key activities during KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America 2024:

Friday, November 15 at 11:00 AM: James Wilson, VP of Engineering at nOps, leads the panel discussion, “The State of Kubernetes Optimization and the Role of AI,” alongside industry leaders from Apple, Microsoft, Square, and Sonos.

Tuesday, November 12 – Friday, November 15: Visit nOps at Booth #S25 on the expo show floor where experts will be available to discuss the company’s cloud cost optimization solutions and demonstrate the benefits of Karpenter in managing cloud resources effectively.

Additional Resources

Learn more about nOps.

Learn more about how nOps enhances Karpenter.

About nOps

nOps is a holistic AWS and Kubernetes cost optimization platform designed to simplify and automate the tracking, allocation, and optimization of cloud resources, commitments, and costs. It offers insights, identifies inefficiencies, and enables resource optimization through built-in automation or single-click changes.