Container Storage and Data Protection for Applications on Kubernetes

Chapter 4. Data Protection for Kubernetes

Data protection encompasses a broad array of practices and concepts including high availability, backup, disaster recovery, and other processes that support business continuity. Every enterprise maintains and tests data protection policies and programs to minimize downtime and ensure that operations can continue after a disruption. Over the past several years, data protection has also become an important component of compliance. In addition, data protection strategies must provide data privacy as regulations begin to address the substantial amount of sensitive personal data that companies handle from day to day.

Kubernetes Data Protection Challenges

Traditional data protection was focused at the level of a physical or virtual machine, protecting applications and data by securing the server itself. This approach is effective for applications that run on a single host. For containerized applications, however, protection at the server level is insufficiently granular. Targeting the entire server makes it impossible to separate applications, storage, and configuration, and commingles applications that require different data protection policies.

Only by providing data protection at the container level is it possible to apply policies by application, container, or individual unit of Kubernetes storage. In a Kubernetes environment, data protection must be available at the Kubernetes resource level and must include authentication and authorization ...