Istio- it Is! & Optimizing DNS Queries

Join us at the Capital Factory for Food, Drinks, and Kubernetes on August 28, 2025!🎉

Everyone is invited to join! We hope to bring the latest news about the Kubernetes and CNCF projects. 

We have two special guests, Vishwa Gandhi and Goutam Tadi!

We will be meeting at Capital Factory! The address is 701 Brazos St, Austin, TX 78701. Upon arrival at the building, please proceed to the 1st floor.

We'll be in the Apollo Room (look for Capital Factory signs) after 5:45 pm.

We know parking in Downtown is tricky!

So, you can park in the building garage for just $8.00 (validation parking tickets will be distributed)! 

Street parking will still be an option. More information on parking here: https://www.capitalfactory.com/parking/

Thank you to Capital Factory for sponsoring Kubernetes Austin. Capital Factory is the center of gravity for entrepreneurs in Texas. They meet the best entrepreneurs in Texas and introduce them to their first investors, employees, mentors, and customers. To sign up for a Capital Factory membership, click here.

Vishwa Gandhi

Istio- it Is!

This talk shares the real-world journey of introducing Istio into production — the traffic control wins, the mTLS nightmares, and everything in between. You'll walk away with practical tips, war stories, and a brutally honest look at when Istio shines… and when it bites.

Goutam Tadi

Optimizing DNS queries

Optimizing Kubernetes DNS Resolution at Scale: Implementing NodeLocal DNS Cache

As Kubernetes clusters grow, DNS resolution becomes a critical bottleneck that impacts performance across your entire infrastructure. The default Kubernetes DNS solution—whether kube-dns or cloud provider implementations—often struggles under increased load, leading to resolution failures and service degradation.

This talk explores how to implement NodeLocal DNS Cache to dramatically improve DNS resolution performance and reliability in large-scale Kubernetes environments. We'll demonstrate practical strategies to reduce central DNS server load by up to 50% while significantly decreasing resolution latency.

Attendees will learn:

The DNS architecture challenges that emerge as clusters scale

Step-by-step implementation of NodeLocal DNS Cache

Key configuration optimizations for pods and deployments

Practical DNS caching strategies that reduce DNS traffic and improve reliability

Real-world metrics and performance improvements from production environments

Join us to discover how these targeted DNS optimizations can transform cluster performance and stability without requiring complex infrastructure changes.