Client Overview

Roche is a renowned multinational pharmaceutical company committed to advancing healthcare through innovative research and development. Their microservices architecture, including authentication services, forms the backbone of their digital ecosystem. Roche sought our expertise to enhance the security, reliability, and scalability of their microservices, ensuring seamless operations and uninterrupted access for their users.

Challenges Faced

Our initial assessment revealed several challenges within Roche's microservices environment, specifically concerning their authentication services. These challenges encompassed troubleshooting EKS issues, managing Kubernetes deployment restart and failures, addressing internal Helm chart development and upgrade concerns, and resolving issues related to third-party Helm charts such as cert-manager and Velero.io for backups.

Solutions

1. Managing Authentication Microservices on Amazon EKS: We began by thoroughly understanding Roche's requirements and analyzing their existing infrastructure. Leveraging our deep expertise in containerization and orchestration, we architected a robust solution centered around Amazon EKS. By utilizing EKS, we ensured the scalability, high availability, and ease of management required for Roche's authentication microservices.
2. Troubleshooting EKS Issues: Roche's authentication microservices experienced occasional performance and availability issues. With our in-depth understanding of EKS, we swiftly identified and resolved the root causes of these issues. We optimized resource allocation, adjusted pod scaling parameters, and fine-tuned networking configurations, resulting in improved stability and performance of the microservices.
3. Kubernetes Deployment Restart and Failure Management: We implemented comprehensive strategies to address Kubernetes deployment restart and failure scenarios. By closely monitoring the microservices and leveraging Kubernetes liveness and readiness probes, we proactively detected and remedied deployment failures. We also established automated restart mechanisms, ensuring minimal downtime and maximizing service availability.
4. Internal Helm Chart Development and Upgrade: To enhance the flexibility and maintainability of Roche's microservices, we developed custom Helm charts for their internal authentication services. These charts encapsulated the deployment logic, configurations, and dependencies required for seamless deployment and management. Additionally, we facilitated Helm chart upgrades, enabling Roche to adopt the latest features and security patches without disruption.
5. Third-Party Helm Chart Issues: Roche relied on third-party Helm charts like cert-manager and Velero.io for critical functionalities such as certificate management and backups. We extensively worked with these charts, addressing issues related to their installation, configuration, and integration with Roche's microservices. Our expertise in Helm chart customization and troubleshooting enabled us to resolve these challenges efficiently, ensuring a seamless and secure operational environment.
6. Transition to GitOps Deployment Approach using FluxCD:To further streamline Roche's deployment processes and enhance operational agility, we recommended and implemented a GitOps deployment approach using FluxCD. This approach allowed Roche to manage their Kubernetes manifests and configuration files through version control, enabling auditable and reproducible deployments. With GitOps, Roche gained greater control, visibility, and traceability of changes made to their microservices environment.

Results and Benefits

1. Improved Stability and Performance: Through meticulous troubleshooting, optimization, and proactive monitoring, we significantly improved the stability and performance of Roche's authentication microservices. This resulted in a seamless user experience and reduced service disruptions, bolstering Roche's digital ecosystem's reliability.
2. Enhanced Scalability and Resilience: By leveraging Amazon EKS and implementing best practices, we ensured Roche's microservices could seamlessly scale to handle increased traffic and workload demands. We implemented fault-tolerant deployment strategies, reducing the impact of failures and enhancing the overall resilience of their microservices infrastructure.
3. Streamlined Deployment Processes: The adoption of Helm charts and the GitOps deployment approach using FluxCD enabled Roche to streamline their deployment processes. With version-controlled configurations and auditable changes, Roche gained greater control and confidence in their deployments while reducing the potential for human errors.
4. Expert Support and Knowledge Transfer: Throughout the engagement, we provided Roche with expert guidance, knowledge transfer, and ongoing support. We equipped their teams with the necessary skills and best practices, empowering them to maintain and evolve their microservices environment independently.

End Results

Our partnership with Roche exemplifies our competence and proficiency in containerization and orchestration, specifically in managing and orchestrating microservices on Amazon EKS. By addressing various challenges related to troubleshooting, Helm chart development, and GitOps adoption, we empowered Roche to enhance the security, reliability, and scalability of their microservices architecture. Our expertise, combined with a client-centric approach, enabled us to deliver a robust solution that aligned with Roche's business goals and exceeded their expectations.