Running data on Kubernetes is becoming an industry standard, but DreamWorks was among the few very early adopters – starting in 2017 – that started the trend. DreamWorks currently runs 370 databases on over Kubernetes 1,200 pods making it one of the largest stateful infrastructures running on top of Kubernetes.

Interviewed by DoKC Head of Content Sylvain Kalache, DreamWorks’ Data Service Lead Ara Zarifian discusses how the company manages stateful workloads on Kubernetes, key benefits, and challenges. Ara shares the innovative standards they developed for Kubernetes operators, a key element of running stateful workloads on Kubernetes. This innovation allowed them to grow the number of databases hosted on Kubernetes without needing to increase their DBAs headcount exponentially.