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Kubernetes Implementations → Scalability & Cost Optimizations

Kubernetes Implementations → Scalability & Cost Optimizations - DevOps case study by Devolut

Powering a multi-region social platform with Kubernetes on AWS

Starting Point

Our client, a fast-growing social networking platform, had users in Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific. Their legacy deployment relied on fixed-size EC2 fleets per region, causing significant underutilization during off-peak hours and performance issues during traffic spikes — typically in the evening and late night per region.

The Challenge

They needed a solution that would:

  • Dynamically scale workloads across regions based on demand.
  • Optimize infrastructure costs without compromising reliability.
  • Standardize deployment and operations across three AWS regions.
  • Ensure high availability and observability during user peak hours.

Our Approach

We introduced a Kubernetes-native architecture using Amazon EKS and implemented best practices for cost-aware scalability:

  • Provisioned multi-region EKS clusters with separate node groups for baseline and burst workloads.
  • Integrated Karpenter and Cluster Autoscaler for smart scaling based on real-time resource needs.
  • Used Spot Instances for non-critical workloads to cut costs by up to 70%.
  • Built GitOps-driven CI/CD pipelines with GitLab CI, enabling region-specific and global deployments.
  • Integrated Prometheus, Grafana, and Loki for full-stack observability and log aggregation.
  • Applied network policies and IAM roles for service accounts (IRSA) to enforce least- privilege access across regions.

Tech Stack

AWS (EKS, IAM, S3, Route53, Karpenter, Spot Instances), GitLab CI, Prometheus, Grafana, Loki, Helm + Helmfile, Terraform

The Outcome

  • Reduced compute costs by up to 55% through dynamic scaling and spot usage.
  • Achieved automated scaling per region that aligns with user behavior patterns (e.g., 3x increase in pods during peak hours).
  • Delivered a uniform Kubernetes platform that improved DevOps velocity and reduced deployment time by 60%.
  • Improved resilience and uptime with fault-tolerant regional failovers.
Kubernetes Implementations → Scalability & Cost Optimizations | Devolut