Cluster Matrix with K8rix
By Raj Marni. March 28, 2025. Revised. Version: 0.0.01
1. Introduction
In the k8or Orbit ecosystem, effective cluster management requires continuous monitoring and a holistic view of each K3s cluster’s operational state. K8rix is the Cluster Matrix component—an enhanced, custom-developed version of the Kubernetes Dashboard tailored specifically for k8or Orbit. It provides real‑time dashboards and actionable insights into cluster performance, resource utilization, and workload health. Deployed per cluster, K8rix integrates with key orbit‑plane services, such as CloudWatch for metrics collection, AccessPoint for secure communication, and InsightHub for aggregated monitoring, ensuring that administrators and developers can effectively manage and troubleshoot their Kubernetes environments.
2. Overview
K8rix serves as the primary monitoring and visualization tool for each K3s cluster within the k8or Orbit platform. It delivers a Cluster Matrix—a comprehensive dashboard that displays critical metrics, logs, and status indicators for nodes, pods, and other cluster resources. By leveraging open source Kubernetes Dashboard technology and extending it with custom features, K8rix not only presents data in real time but also integrates with other key components to provide a unified view of the entire system’s health.
3. Key Functions
Real-Time Monitoring & Visualization
Interactive Dashboards: Presents metrics such as CPU, memory, and network utilization, along with pod and node statuses.
Customizable Views: Supports environment-specific dashboards (e.g., dev, test, prod) that can be tailored to display the most relevant data for each cluster.
Operational Insights & Troubleshooting
Drill-Down Capabilities: Allows administrators to click through high-level summaries to inspect detailed logs, error reports, and individual resource metrics.
Alert Integration: Works in conjunction with CloudWatch and InsightHub to surface alerts and anomalies, enabling proactive troubleshooting.
Secure & Contextual Access
Per-Cluster Deployment: Each K3s cluster hosts its own instance of K8rix, ensuring that monitoring is both localized and specific to that environment.
Access Control: Integrates with AccessPoint (C52) and orbit‑plane IAM to enforce RBAC and ensure that only authorized personnel can view or modify dashboard settings.
Integration with Continuous Delivery & Logging
Deployment Feedback: Syncs with ArgoCD (C108) to reflect real-time deployment statuses and updates, providing a complete picture of the continuous delivery pipeline.
Centralized Logging: Pulls data from ChartStore (C20) and other logging components to display historical trends and detailed event logs.
4. Architecture & Interactions
4.1 Internal Architecture
User Interface Module:
Built on modern web frameworks, K8rix provides a rich, interactive UI that displays a variety of widgets, graphs, and tables representing the cluster state.
Supports dynamic configuration to let administrators customize dashboards according to operational needs.
Data Aggregation Layer:
Integrates with CloudWatch (C88) as the primary data source, executing PromQL queries to fetch real-time and historical metrics.
May also interface with other data stores (e.g., InsightHub, ChartStore) for enriched logging and event data.
Security & Access Management:
Enforces authentication and authorization through integration with AccessPoint (C52) and orbit‑plane IAM, ensuring that sensitive monitoring data is protected.
Implements RBAC directly within K8rix to control user permissions for dashboard modifications and data access.
4.2 Interactions with Other Components
AccessPoint (C52):
All requests to retrieve metrics or logs from the cluster’s API pass through AccessPoint, ensuring that communication is secure and properly authenticated.
CloudWatch (C88) & InsightHub:
K8rix uses CloudWatch as its primary source for metrics and InsightHub for aggregated historical data, enabling a robust, dual-layer monitoring approach.
ArgoCD (C108):
K8rix displays deployment statuses and sync information from ArgoCD, allowing users to correlate application rollouts with cluster performance.
Cluster Management Platforms (K8Rngr, SyncMaster):
While K8Rngr (C128) handles cluster provisioning and SyncMaster (C56) propagates events, K8rix serves as the real-time feedback interface that consolidates this data for end users.
5. Benefits & Impact
Enhanced Visibility
Provides a comprehensive, real‑time view of cluster performance, making it easier to detect issues, plan capacity, and troubleshoot problems swiftly.
Operational Efficiency
With interactive dashboards and drill-down capabilities, administrators can quickly identify and resolve issues, reducing downtime and improving reliability.
Security & Compliance
By enforcing RBAC and secure communications via AccessPoint, K8rix ensures that sensitive cluster data remains protected and accessible only to authorized users.
Seamless Integration
Integrates smoothly with continuous delivery pipelines (ArgoCD), logging systems (ChartStore), and broader observability solutions (InsightHub), providing a unified monitoring experience.
Customizability & Scalability
Each cluster’s dedicated K8rix instance can be customized for its specific environment, and as clusters grow or change, K8rix adapts without disrupting the overall monitoring strategy.
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