Import External Kubernetes Clusters 

We’re excited to announce the import cluster feature for CloudWorks, enabling users to import existing external Kubernetes (Generic K8s) clusters into Taikun CloudWorks using a simple kubeconfig file. This feature supports three different import management options, which can be used for different operational needs. Important Note: external clusters are imported as projects inside CloudWorks

1. Read-Only Cluster Import
     – Overview: Import external Kubernetes clusters into Taikun CloudWorks for monitoring and visibility without making any changes.
     – Use Case: Observe workloads, track resource usage, and access performance metrics securely and non-intrusively.
2. Host Cluster Only Import
     Overview: Import Kubernetes clusters as a host cluster (cloud credential) within Taikun CloudWorks which does not allow users to change its configuration.
     – Use Case: Import an external Kubernetes cluster running on bare metal servers. This bare metal cluster or cluster(s) act as the host for users to deploy virtual clusters inside and applications inside the virtual clusters. .
     – Key Limitation: In this mode, you can only create vClusters inside the imported cluster. Virtual clusters are lightweight fully featured K8’s clusters that enable host cluster multi-tenancy and application and user isolation while sharing the installed Kubernetes services of the host cluster.
3. Fully Managed Cluster Import
     – Overview: Import external Kubernetes clusters into Taikun CloudWorks and provide the ability to deploy additional management services like observability and application backup inside the cluster .
     – Use Case: Enable users self service access to Kubernetes services like, monitoring, application backup, AI troubleshooting assistant, and policy profiles in addition to being able to deploy applications and virtual clusters. 

Notes: 

• The Import Cluster feature currently only supports generic Kubernetes clusters.
• The import cluster feature is Kubernetes distribution agnostic and has been tested with K8s, K3s, RKE2, K0s & Exoscale Kubernetes 
• CloudWorks uses the Kubernetes API to perform operations in imported clusters. For any cluster you want to import it must have a publicly reachable API endpoint.
  

Proxmox Provider: Storage Local path Support

We’re thrilled to introduce local storage support for Proxmox providers in Taikun CloudWorks.

– Overview: This feature allows users to utilize local storage paths as a storage backend for projects deployed on Proxmox infrastructure.

– Use Case: Simplify and enhance storage management by enabling local storage options, reducing reliance on external storage solutions.

– Benefits:
  – Cost-efficient by leveraging local disks.
  – Improved performance for storage-heavy workloads.
  – Seamless integration with existing Taikun CloudWorks storage management features.

Policy Profiles Enhancements

1. Forbid nodeName in Virtual Clusters (VC)
    – Overview: This new policy restricts using the nodeName property within virtual clusters.
    – Use Case: This prevents workloads from being scheduled directly to specific nodes, ensuring more balanced and automated scheduling.
2. Enforce Master Taint
    – Overview: Enforce a policy that ensures workload pods cannot get scheduled to master nodes.
   – Use Case: Maintains master node integrity. This policy prevents pods from virtual clusters to intentionally schedule on master nodes (as a part of an attack vector).

vCluster Integration

We are excited to announce the support for vClusters in Taikun CloudWorks! This new feature allows users to create and manage virtual Kubernetes clusters (vClusters) nested inside their physical host clusters. With vClusters, you can:

• Isolate Workloads: Virtual clusters are fully functional Kubernetes clusters nested inside a physical host cluster, providing better isolation and flexibility to support multi-tenancy. Multiple teams can operate independently within the same physical infrastructure while minimizing conflicts, maximizing autonomy, and reducing costs.
• Efficient Resource Utilization: Virtual clusters run inside host cluster namespaces but function as separate Kubernetes clusters with their own API server, control plane, syncer, and resources. Virtual clusters share the physical resources of the host cluster (such as CPU, memory, and storage) while independently managing their resources, ensuring efficient utilization and scaling.
• Seamless Integration: Virtual clusters interact with the host cluster for resource scheduling and networking but maintain a level of abstraction to ensure that operations within a virtual cluster do not directly affect the host cluster’s global state.

Longhorn Storage Type Support for Proxmox Cloud Provider

Introducing Longhorn as a storage option in Taikun CloudWorks for the Proxmox cloud provider:

• High Availability Storage: Longhorn provides highly available, lightweight, and reliable distributed block storage for Kubernetes, designed to run on Proxmox. It offers easy-to-manage, persistent storage with built-in redundancy and automatic recovery.
• Effortless Integration: Longhorn integrates seamlessly with Proxmox, allowing users to manage their storage needs directly within Taikun CloudWorks. The Longhorn option in the Kubernetes profile ensures data remains secure and accessible, even during hardware failures.
• Scalability: Longhorn’s distributed architecture ensures that storage scales with infrastructure, providing flexibility as data requirements grow.

Zededa Cloud Services Support through Taikun CloudWorks

We are pleased to introduce support for Zededa cloud services directly through Taikun CloudWorks, enhancing our platform’s edge computing capabilities:

• Edge Orchestration: Seamlessly manage and orchestrate edge devices and applications via Zededa cloud services through the Taikun CloudWorks interface. This integration provides enhanced visibility, control, and security for edge deployments.
• Zero-Trust Security: Leverage Zededa’s zero-trust security architecture through Taikun CloudWorks to ensure secure boot processes, protect edge devices from threats, and maintain the integrity of your edge infrastructure.
• Remote Management: Enable remote monitoring, updating, and troubleshooting of edge devices directly from Taikun CloudWorks, reducing the need for on-site interventions and ensuring continuous operation of edge environments.
• Scalable Edge Deployments: Easily scale edge infrastructure to accommodate growing operational demands, with the flexibility to manage both small-scale and large-scale deployments efficiently through Taikun CloudWorks.

Exposing an Application Through the Bastion Load Balancer

You can now expose applications deployed to a cluster externally through the bastion, which acts as a load balancer. To configure this:

• Set the service type to NodePort in your application settings.
• Enable ingress and specify taikun as the ingress class name.
• For standard clusters, use a hostname in the format name.<access-ip>.nip.io, where name is user-defined and <access-ip> is the application’s access IP.
• For vClusters, use the specific vCluster hostname directly, without appending nip.io.

This feature simplifies access to your applications via URLs, ensuring easy external availability through proper configuration.

• Zadara Cloud support: We’re excited to announce that Taikun CloudWorks is now natively integrated with Zadara Enterprise Edge Cloud. Connect your Zadara account directly within Taikun CloudWorks for seamless deployment and management of your Kubernetes clusters and Virtual Machines. 
• OCI repositories import: We have introduced the ability to import OCI repositories directly into Taikun Cloudworks.
• Import of Private Repositories: Users of Taikun CloudWorks can now connect password-protected repositories within Taikun CloudWorks to streamline application deployment processes.
• Update of the Applications tab: Our team has refreshed the look of the Applications section to make installing applications easier.

• VMware vSphere Support: Users can now connect Taikun CloudWorks directly to their vSphere infrastructure to deploy and manage Kubernetes clusters and Virtual Machines.
• WASM Support: We’re excited to announce that Taikun CloudWorks supports WebAssembly (WASM) containers! This cutting-edge technology brings unparalleled cross-platform compatibility, near-native performance, and robust security features. With WASM, enjoy the freedom of using various programming languages and benefit from its small footprint for efficient, high-speed applications!
• Updated User Interface: Taikun CloudWorks has been redesigned to align with the look and feel of our taikun.cloud website. Enjoy a seamless and cohesive user experience across our platform and website!
• NVIDIA GPU Acceleration: Taikun CloudWorks now features NVIDIA GPU Acceleration, unlocking powerful computing capabilities for enhanced performance. 
• VM Images: The team has completely revamped the VM image management system in Taikun CloudWorks. Now, you can manage images directly within the individual projects section of the menu. 
• Enforce Pod Resource Limits: In the policy profile menu, activating this feature will now mandate specifying resource limits for all pods in their manifest files

• Taikun Infra: Spin up your cluster immediately after registering in Taikun. New users will automatically receive a set of Cloud credentials to instantly provision new Kubernetes clusters and VMs. These resources are available for the entire trial period for free.
• Openshift Support: Support added for the Red Hat Openshift platform. Users can now connect their Red Hat OpenShift environments and manage OpenShift  infrastructure directly in Taikun.
• Graphic Processing Unit Support: We’ve added support for GPUs in Taikun Projects. Customers of Taikun can now build Kubernetes clusters on GPU enabled instances.