When does class start/end?
Class hours may vary, please reach out to contact@ascendientlearning.com if you have any questions.
Kubernetes Observability Fundamentals
This Kubernetes course teaches engineers how to design and operate observability for Kubernetes-based systems. The course focuses on applying metrics, logs, traces, and events to understand system...
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$1,330 USD
Duration
4 days
Course Code
WA3711
Available Formats
Classroom
Overview
Course Description
This Kubernetes course teaches engineers how to design and operate observability for Kubernetes-based systems. The course focuses on applying metrics, logs, traces, and events to understand system behavior in dynamic, cloud-native environments. Learners work with modern observability tools such as Prometheus, Grafana, Loki, OpenTelemetry, Tempo, and Jaeger to collect, visualize, and correlate telemetry across Kubernetes workloads. Emphasis is placed on SLO-driven observability, scalable architectures, and practical troubleshooting techniques for real-world reliability and performance challenges.
Skills Gained
- Apply observability principles and the four pillars to Kubernetes environments
- Collect and analyze Kubernetes control plane, node, pod, and workload metrics
- Deploy and query Prometheus using Kubernetes-native service discovery
- Build Grafana dashboards and alerts aligned to operational and reliability goals
- Design and implement scalable logging architectures using Loki and structured logs
- Instrument microservices with OpenTelemetry and analyze distributed traces
- Correlate metrics, logs, traces, and events to identify root causes of system issues
Who Can Benefit
DevOps Engineers, SREs, Platform Engineers, Cloud Architects.
Prerequisites
Learners should have taken Ascendient Learning’s Docker and Kubernetes Fundamentals or have the equivalent experience.
Course Details
Course Details
Observability in Cloud-Native Systems
- Observability vs. monitoring — practical differences in modern systems
- The four pillars: metrics, logs, traces, continuous profiling
- Kubernetes-specific challenges: ephemerality, autoscaling, service sprawl, multi-tenancy
- Golden Signals (latency, traffic, errors, saturation)
- SLIs, SLOs, and error budgets as operational contracts
- Observability maturity model
Kubernetes-Native Metrics
- Control plane metrics: API Server, Scheduler, Controller Manager, etcd
- Node & pod metrics: Kubelet + cAdvisor
- Metrics Server
- kube-state-metrics for resource state visibility
- Lab: Explore raw metrics endpoints in a live cluster
Prometheus for Kubernetes
- Prometheus architecture: server, Alertmanager, exporters, service discovery
- Prometheus Operator and kube-prometheus-stack
- PromQL essentials:
- ServiceMonitor and PodMonitor configuration
- Recording rules for performance + cost optimization
- Lab: Deploy Prometheus and query a microservices app
Grafana for Visualization and Alerting
- Connecting Grafana to Prometheus
- Dashboard design
- Alerting:
- Integrations: Slack, PagerDuty, OpsGenie
- Lab: Build dashboards + configure alerts
Logging Architecture in Kubernetes
- Log sources:
- Logging patterns
- Log retention, cost, and scaling tradeoffs
- Structured logging best practices (JSON logs, correlation IDs)
Grafana Logging Stack (Loki + Alloy + Grafana)
- Loki architecture
- Log ingestion patterns using Alloy
- LogQL fundamentals
- Lab: Deploy Loki + Alloy, ingest logs from a microservices app, Query with LogQL
Kubernetes Events & Audit Logs
- Kubernetes events as a critical (often overlooked) signal
- Event lifecycle and TTL limitations
- Persisting events for debugging and auditing
- Audit logging
- Lab: Correlate events + logs during a failure scenario
Alternative Logging Backends (When & Why)
- When ELK/EFK still makes sense
- Fluent Bit vs. Fluentd
- Vector as a modern log router
- Positioning
Tracing & OpenTelemetry
Distributed Tracing Concepts
- Why tracing is critical in microservices
- Trace anatomy
- Sampling strategies
- Managing trace cost and volume
OpenTelemetry
- OTel architecture:
- Auto-instrumentation vs. manual instrumentation
- Deployment pattern:
- Unified telemetry:
- Lab: Instrument a Node.js or Python service
Trace Storage with Tempo & Jaeger
- Jaeger overview
- Grafana Tempo
- TraceQL querying
- TraceQL metrics (metrics from traces)
- Lab: Deploy Tempo, Send traces via O, Tel Collector, Query in Grafana
Correlating Metrics, Logs, and Traces
- Correlation patterns
- Building unified observability workflows in Grafana
- Debugging end-to-end latency issues
- Lab: Inject latency fault, Trace root cause across all signals
SLO-Driven Observability
- Defining SLIs
- Implementing SLOs with Prometheus
- Tools
- Error budgets + burn rate alerts
- Lab: Define SLOs, Configure burn-rate alerting
Scaling Observability Infrastructure
- Prometheus scaling:
- Loki scaling:
- Cardinality management (critical at scale)
- Retention strategy and cost control
- Lab: Configure Thanos for long-term storage
Security & Multi-Tenancy
- Securing observability systems
- Multi-tenant observability
- PII in logs
- Auditing observability systems themselves
Modern Observability
- eBPF-based observability
- Continuous profiling (4th pillar)
- AI-assisted observability
Schedule
FAQ
Does the course schedule include a Lunchbreak?
Classes typically include a 1-hour lunch break around midday. However, the exact break times and duration can vary depending on the specific class. Your instructor will provide detailed information at the start of the course.
What languages are used to deliver training?
Most courses are conducted in English, unless otherwise specified. Some courses will have the word "FRENCH" marked in red beside the scheduled date(s) indicating the language of instruction.
What does GTR stand for?
GTR stands for Guaranteed to Run; if you see a course with this status, it means this event is confirmed to run. View our GTR page to see our full list of Guaranteed to Run courses.
How do I find an Ascendient Learning training location?
We have training locations across the United States and Canada - View a complete list of classroom training locations.
Which delivery formats are available?
At Ascendient Learning, we offer training that is Instructor-Led, Online, Virtual, and Self-Paced.
Does Ascendient Learning deliver group training?
Yes, we provide training for groups, individuals and private on sites. View our group training page for more information.
What does vendor-authorized training mean?
As a vendor-authorized training partner, we offer a curriculum that our partners have vetted. We use the same course materials and facilitate the same labs as our vendor-delivered training. These courses are considered the gold standard and, as such, are priced accordingly.
Is the training too basic, or will you go deep into technology?
It depends on your requirements, your role in your company, and your depth of knowledge. The good news about many of our learning paths, you can start from the fundamentals to highly specialized training.
How up-to-date are your courses and support materials?
We continuously work with our vendors to evaluate and refresh course material to reflect the latest training courses and best practices.
Are your instructors seasoned trainers who have deep knowledge of the training topic?
Ascendient Learning instructors have an average of 27 years of practical IT experience and have also served as consultants for an average of 15 years. To stay current, instructors spend at least 25 percent of their time learning new, emerging technologies and courses.
Do you provide hands-on training and exercises in an actual lab environment?
Lab access is dependent on the vendor and the type of training you sign up for. However, many of our top vendors will provide lab access to students to test and practice. The course description will specify lab access.
Will you customize the training for our company’s specific needs and goals?
We will work with you to identify training needs and areas of growth. We offer a variety of training methods, such as private group training, on-site of your choice, and virtually. We provide courses and certifications that are aligned with your business goals.
How do I get started with certification?
Getting started on a certification pathway depends on your goals and the vendor you choose to get certified in. Many vendors offer entry-level IT certification to advanced IT certification that can boost your career. To get access to certification vouchers and discounts, please contact info@ascendientlearning.com.
Will I get access to content after I complete a course?
You will get access to the PDF of course books and guides, but access to the recording and slides will depend on the vendor and type of training you receive.
How do I request a W9 for Ascendient Learning?
View our filing status and how to request a W9.
Reviews
The training was great . But i expected some of the Networking concepts would be covered in this certification .
Course was great and informative. The instructor had a good flow and was very personable.
Class was very informative, although one lab didnt but will try again later
the class/lecture was amazing and very easy to understand and was in detail.
Course was great and the instructor had an answer for anything that was asked during the course.
