Enhancing Observability in Cloud Based Educational Linux Lab Environment – Isu Kim, Dankook University
In this presentation, researcher Kim will share practices and experiences related to achieving observability within an educational Linux lab environment built on Kubernetes using eBPF technology. Significant efforts have been channeled towards transitioning from the conventional single-machine SSH server system to a cloud-based SSH server infrastructure implemented with Kubernetes, which introduces the challenges around the visibility and monitoring of users. To enhance observability inside our cloud system, we seek to find solutions well-suited for our environment based upon following three critical aspects 1) obtaining real time resource usage data, 2) observing detailed insights on each user’s behaviors within their containerized environments, such as detecting system calls and monitoring user command, and 3) minimizing performance overhead to ensure optimal system operation. Over the past year, we embarked on a journey to find solution for high observability. Our exploration encompassed various open-source monitoring tools, ranging from the ELK stack, Prometheus + Grafana, to eBPF-based solutions like Tetragon. Among those alternatives, we think that eBPF-based solutions were the most well-suited for our system, primarily due to: 1) minimal performance overhead and 2) the ability to capture in-depth information on system events inside user’s containerized environments.
