Richard Hooper, also known as PixelRobots, is a Microsoft Azure MVP and MCT with over 15 years of IT experience, sharing practical guides on Azure, AKS, and cloud architecture through his technical blog.
24 articles from this blog
Microsoft announces preview of Automatic Pod Disruption Budget management for AKS, simplifying node upgrades by auto-creating PDBs and scaling replicas during drains.
Azure Kubernetes Service introduces a preview feature for controlling node reimaging during cluster updates.
Guide on distributing Bicep modules with token-based access using ACR, including workaround with custom domain and NGINX proxy.
Microsoft ships Inspektor Gadget as an AKS extension, using eBPF for kernel-level Kubernetes observability without app modifications.
Two new Headlamp plugins: KubeBuddy for cluster checks and a Theme Builder for customizing the Kubernetes dashboard.
Microsoft announces general availability of Azure Container Linux (ACL) for AKS, based on Flatcar Container Linux with enhanced security and platform integration.
Microsoft's AKS MaxUnavailable fallback feature is now in preview, providing a resilient upgrade path for node pools.
Guide to installing Microsoft's cert-manager extension on standard AKS clusters, not just Arc-enabled clusters.
AKS introduces managedNATGatewayV2 with zone-redundant egress, IPv6 support, and flow logs, currently in public preview.
Microsoft's Container Network Insight Agent for AKS is now in public preview, offering AI-powered network diagnostics and root cause analysis.
Microsoft's AKS Cluster Health Monitor add-on is now in preview, offering in-cluster health checks and auto-remediation for CoreDNS, API server, and metrics server issues.
Azure Kubernetes Application Network preview: a managed ambient service mesh for AKS with multi-cluster networking, mTLS, and no sidecars.
Azure CLI now supports enabling App Routing with Istio for AKS, providing a managed migration path from NGINX.
A guide to critical, irreversible decisions when setting up Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) clusters to avoid costly rebuilds.
Explains the retirement of Ingress NGINX in 2026 and analyzes four replacement options for users running it on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS).
Azure AKS Automatic SKU now offers a preview feature to host system components on Azure's infrastructure, removing the need for a dedicated system node pool in your subscription.
A first look at using Flatcar Container Linux, an immutable container-optimized OS, as a node pool option in Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS).
A technical guide to implementing private, secure distributed tracing with Grafana Tempo on Azure Kubernetes Service using Azure Blob Storage and Private Link.
A guide on using Azure Bastion to securely connect to a private AKS cluster without needing a jump box VM, simplifying access and management.
A developer built an automated tool using PowerShell and GitHub Actions to track and filter important changes in Microsoft's AKS and Kubernetes Fleet Manager documentation.
