Module 4: Load Balancing & Ingress

🏗️ 1. The Manual Task: Hardcoded Reverse Proxies

When multiple web services are exposed publicly, an SRE traditionally maintains a centralized Nginx or HAProxy.

The Manual Steps:

1. Configure Nginx: Manually write and update nginx.conf with proxy rules (e.g., location /api { proxy_pass http://192.168.1.10:8080; }).
2. Reload Configuration: Manually run nginx -s reload.
3. Manage Certificates: Manually obtain and install SSL certificates for every domain.

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🛣️ 2. The Kubernetes Abstraction: Ingress Controllers

An Ingress object allows developers to define routing rules alongside their application code.

• Developer Self-Service: Developers write simple YAML rules for their own routes (e.g., path: /api).
• Dynamic Configuration: The Ingress Controller (like ingress-nginx) watches the API and reconfigures itself in real-time.
• TLS Termination: Ingress objects can store and manage SSL/TLS certificates automatically.