Best Practices

Comprehensive guidelines for deploying and managing production-ready containers on the CLI App Platform.

Resource Management

Right-Sizing Resources

Monitor Usage: Regularly review actual vs. allocated resources
Scale Appropriately: Adjust limits based on actual application needs
Plan Capacity: Ensure cluster resources meet application demands
Cost Optimization: Avoid over-provisioning to reduce costs

Resource Allocation Strategies

Start Conservative: Begin with lower allocations and scale up
Peak Planning: Account for traffic spikes and processing bursts
Environment Differentiation: Use different profiles for dev/staging/prod
Horizontal vs Vertical: Consider scaling strategies for your workload

Performance Monitoring

Baseline Establishment: Measure normal operating parameters
Trend Analysis: Track resource usage patterns over time
Alert Configuration: Set up notifications for resource constraints
Regular Review: Schedule periodic resource optimization reviews

Security Practices

Container Security

Base Image Security: Use official, minimal, and regularly updated images
Vulnerability Scanning: Scan images for security vulnerabilities
Non-Root Users: Run containers with non-privileged users when possible
Read-Only Filesystems: Use read-only root filesystems where applicable

Secrets Management

Never Hardcode: Never embed secrets in container images
Use Platform Secrets: Store sensitive data in Kubernetes Secrets
Regular Rotation: Implement credential rotation policies
Least Privilege: Grant minimal required permissions

Network Security

Minimal Exposure: Only expose necessary ports and services
TLS/SSL: Use encrypted connections for all external traffic
Network Policies: Implement traffic segmentation and access controls
Regular Audits: Review and audit network configurations

Access Controls

RBAC Implementation: Use role-based access control
Service Accounts: Use dedicated service accounts for applications
Audit Logging: Enable and monitor access logs
Regular Reviews: Periodically review access permissions

Operational Excellence

Health Checks and Monitoring

Liveness Probes: Implement container health checks
Readiness Probes: Configure readiness indicators
Startup Probes: Handle slow-starting applications
Custom Metrics: Expose application-specific metrics

Logging Strategy

Structured Logging: Use consistent, parseable log formats
Log Levels: Implement appropriate log level filtering
Centralized Logging: Aggregate logs for analysis
Log Retention: Define appropriate log retention policies

Backup and Recovery

Data Backup: Implement regular backup procedures for persistent data
Configuration Backup: Version and backup deployment configurations
Disaster Recovery: Plan for complete environment recovery
Testing: Regularly test backup and recovery procedures

Deployment Strategies

Blue-Green Deployments: Use parallel environments for safe deployments
Rolling Updates: Implement gradual rollout strategies
Canary Releases: Test new versions with limited traffic
Rollback Plans: Always have a rollback strategy ready

Configuration Management

Environment Variables

Consistent Naming: Use standard naming conventions
Environment Separation: Different values per environment
Validation: Validate required variables at startup
Documentation: Document all configuration options

ConfigMaps and Secrets

Separation of Concerns: Keep sensitive and non-sensitive data separate
Versioning: Version your configuration for rollback capability
Validation: Validate configuration syntax and values
Organization: Group related configuration logically

Storage Configuration

Persistent Data: Use appropriate storage classes for different needs
Backup Strategy: Implement automated backup procedures
Monitoring: Track storage usage and performance
Cleanup: Regular cleanup of temporary and log files

Scalability and Performance

Horizontal Scaling

Stateless Design: Design applications to be stateless where possible
Load Distribution: Implement effective load balancing
Auto-scaling: Configure horizontal pod autoscaling
Resource Requests: Set appropriate resource requests for scaling decisions

Vertical Scaling

Resource Monitoring: Track CPU and memory usage patterns
Gradual Increases: Scale resources incrementally
Performance Testing: Test performance impact of resource changes
Cost Consideration: Balance performance with cost implications

Caching Strategies

Application Caching: Implement appropriate caching layers
Database Caching: Use database query caching
CDN Usage: Leverage content delivery networks for static assets
Cache Invalidation: Implement proper cache invalidation strategies

Development and Testing

Environment Parity

Consistent Environments: Maintain similarity across dev/staging/prod
Configuration Management: Use same configuration management across environments
Dependency Management: Lock dependency versions for consistency
Testing: Test in production-like environments

Continuous Integration/Deployment

Automated Testing: Implement comprehensive test suites
Image Building: Automate container image building and scanning
Deployment Automation: Use CI/CD pipelines for deployments
Quality Gates: Implement quality checks before deployment

Code Quality

Static Analysis: Use static code analysis tools
Security Scanning: Scan code for security vulnerabilities
Dependency Updates: Regularly update dependencies
Code Reviews: Implement thorough code review processes

Monitoring and Observability

Application Monitoring

Health Endpoints: Implement health check endpoints
Custom Metrics: Expose application-specific metrics
Error Tracking: Implement comprehensive error tracking
Performance Monitoring: Monitor application performance metrics

Infrastructure Monitoring

Resource Usage: Monitor CPU, memory, and storage usage
Network Performance: Track network latency and throughput
Cluster Health: Monitor Kubernetes cluster health
Capacity Planning: Monitor capacity trends for planning

Alerting

Critical Alerts: Configure alerts for critical issues
Escalation Procedures: Define alert escalation paths
Alert Fatigue: Avoid excessive alerting
Documentation: Document alert response procedures

Distributed Tracing

Request Tracing: Implement request tracing across services
Performance Analysis: Use tracing for performance analysis
Error Investigation: Use traces for debugging
Service Dependencies: Understand service interaction patterns

Compliance and Governance

Data Protection

Data Classification: Classify data by sensitivity
Encryption: Encrypt data at rest and in transit
Access Controls: Implement appropriate access controls
Audit Trails: Maintain comprehensive audit trails

Regulatory Compliance

Compliance Requirements: Understand applicable regulations
Documentation: Maintain compliance documentation
Regular Audits: Conduct regular compliance audits
Training: Ensure team understands compliance requirements

Change Management

Change Control: Implement formal change control processes
Documentation: Document all changes and their rationale
Testing: Test all changes in non-production environments
Rollback Procedures: Maintain rollback procedures for all changes

Cost Optimization

Resource Optimization

Right-Sizing: Continuously optimize resource allocations
Utilization Monitoring: Monitor actual resource utilization
Scaling Policies: Implement efficient scaling policies
Reserved Resources: Use reserved instances for predictable workloads

Storage Optimization

Storage Tiering: Use appropriate storage classes
Data Lifecycle: Implement data lifecycle management
Compression: Use compression where appropriate
Cleanup: Regular cleanup of unnecessary data

Network Optimization

Traffic Patterns: Understand and optimize traffic patterns
CDN Usage: Use content delivery networks effectively
Bandwidth Monitoring: Monitor bandwidth usage
Compression: Implement network compression where beneficial

Team and Process

Skills Development

Training: Provide regular training on platform features
Best Practices: Share and document best practices
Knowledge Sharing: Encourage knowledge sharing within teams
Documentation: Maintain comprehensive documentation

Incident Response

Response Procedures: Define clear incident response procedures
Communication: Establish communication protocols
Post-Mortems: Conduct post-incident reviews
Continuous Improvement: Implement lessons learned

Automation

Deployment Automation: Automate deployment processes
Monitoring Automation: Automate monitoring and alerting
Scaling Automation: Implement auto-scaling where appropriate
Backup Automation: Automate backup procedures

Platform-Specific Recommendations

CLI App Platform Features

Resource Presets: Use platform-provided resource presets as starting points
Quick Port Selection: Leverage quick port selection for common services
Environment Templates: Use environment variable templates for consistency
Monitoring Dashboard: Regularly review the built-in monitoring dashboard

Integration Best Practices

Service Discovery: Use platform service discovery features
Load Balancing: Leverage platform load balancing capabilities
Scaling: Use platform auto-scaling features
Monitoring: Integrate with platform monitoring and alerting

Performance Optimization

Application Level

Code Optimization: Profile and optimize application code
Database Queries: Optimize database queries and indexing
Caching: Implement multi-level caching strategies
Async Processing: Use asynchronous processing where appropriate

Infrastructure Level

Resource Allocation: Optimize CPU and memory allocation
Storage Performance: Choose appropriate storage classes
Network Optimization: Minimize network latency
Load Balancing: Distribute load effectively

Monitoring and Tuning

Performance Baselines: Establish performance baselines
Continuous Monitoring: Monitor performance continuously
Regular Tuning: Regularly tune based on performance data
Capacity Planning: Plan for future growth and scaling needs