Container Orchestration & SQL Server Integration with AKS for an Insurance Provider

The client and its subsidiaries are one of the world’s leading providers of reinsurance and specialty insurance.

The client was developing a new line of business application, having modern, microservices architecture. During the development phase, the microservices were packed in Docker containers and run on the local server. However, for production deployment, the client IT team determined that container orchestration was imperative. For orchestration, Kubernetes was the obvious choice for its features, low-cost, and dominance in the market.

The client IT team concluded that maintenance of an on-premises Kubernetes cluster was not practical. The hardware and the maintenance cost, lack of cluster auto-scale capacity and simply not having the internal know-how.

Another significant requirement of the client was integration with SQL Server and file share data services running in an on-premises data center.

SNP Technologies identified Azure Kubernetes Services (AKS) for a pilot implementation as it met all the orchestration requirements of the customer, included virtual network and Azure Identity integration as a managed service. AKS shifted the cluster maintenance responsibility from the client team to Microsoft.

Another captivating feature of Azure Kubernetes Services was its Azure Monitor integration for observing the health and performance of both the cluster and the running containers. To get the client production ready, SNP leveraged a host of other technologies like Azure DevOps for Continuous Integration (CI)/Continuous Deployment (CD) pipelines, Azure Container Registry, and Azure Key Vault.

With SNP’s solution in place, the customer achieved the foundation for its on-going implementation of modern, cloud-native applications. Now the client is in a firm position with AKS to rapidly evolve its digital experiences and compete in reinsurance market.

• Container Orchestration: Kubernetes automates the deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications. This is especially crucial for microservices architectures, where numerous services need to interact seamlessly.
• Scalability: Kubernetes provides powerful scaling capabilities, allowing the client to easily adjust the number of running containers based on demand. This elasticity ensures that the application can handle varying loads efficiently.
• High Availability: Kubernetes enhances availability through self-healing mechanisms. If a container fails, Kubernetes automatically restarts it, ensuring minimal downtime and better service reliability.
• Load Balancing: It can distribute traffic across containers, optimizing resource utilization and ensuring that no single container becomes a bottleneck.
• Resource Efficiency: Kubernetes allows for better resource management by optimizing the allocation of CPU and memory resources, which can lead to cost savings.
• Infrastructure Agnosticism: Kubernetes can run on various platforms, whether on-premises, public cloud, or hybrid environments, providing flexibility in deployment options.
• Microservices Management: With its support for service discovery, configuration management, and inter-service communication, Kubernetes simplifies the complexity of managing microservices.
• CI/CD Integration: Kubernetes works well with continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines, enabling faster release cycles and automated testing, which aligns with agile development practices.

By adopting Kubernetes for container orchestration, the client is well-positioned to support their modern, microservices-based application architecture. This approach not only streamlines deployment but also enhances scalability, reliability, and operational efficiency. If you’d like more insights on specific Kubernetes features or implementation tips, just let us know!