Not Forking Around - Leveraging NRI To Extend Kubernetes at Scale

Learn how to extend Kubernetes at scale without forking the core platform in this conference talk from KubeCon + CloudNativeCon. Discover Uber's migration strategy for transitioning over 200,000 database workloads from proprietary infrastructure to Kubernetes using the Node Resource Interface (NRI). Explore the business requirements that demanded features not yet supported by Kubernetes and understand how NRI served as a powerful interface to add custom functionality while maintaining a clear path to eventual deprecation. Examine the specific missing features that drove NRI adoption, the successful migration completion process, and Uber's strategic plans to phase out NRI in favor of a fully vanilla Kubernetes stack. Gain practical insights and key lessons from this large-scale infrastructure transformation that others can apply to their own Kubernetes adoption journeys.