Kubernetes Data Protection in the Age of Cloud Native Part-2

Home BlogKubernetes Data Protection in the Age of Cloud Native Part-2

In part 1 of this blog series on Kubernetes data protection and cloud-native data protection, we addressed  The need for Data Protection for Containerized Applications.

In part 2 of this blog series, we go through:

What’s different about CloudCasa for Kubernetes Data Protection

Kubernetes has become the de facto standard for container orchestration, but as with any new technology platform, it has some weaknesses in management, including in the areas of Kubernetes data protection and disaster recovery. The management of Kubernetes deployments is currently dominated by developers and DevOps engineers who usually don’t deal with Kubernetes data protection solutions. Further, IT organizations are just starting to catch up with the DevOps teams on what is needed to support the deployment and management of cloud-native business applications.

We built CloudCasa to address these Kubernetes data protection weaknesses in cloud-native infrastructure, and to bridge the data management and protection gap between DevOps and IT Operations. CloudCasa is a simple, scalable and cloud-native backup-as-a-service solution built using Kubernetes for Kubernetes data protection. As a SaaS solution, CloudCasa removes the complexity of managing traditional backup infrastructure, and it provides the same level of application-consistent data protection and disaster recovery that IT Operations provides for their server-based applications today. With CloudCasa, IT doesn’t need to be Kubernetes experts and DevOps doesn’t need to be storage experts in order to protect your Kubernetes clusters and data.

Cloud-Native Data Protection –  What to Backup and Restore

What Types of Data Need Protection in Kubernetes Applications?

When building cloud-native applications with Kubernetes, it’s critical to protect not just your application data, but also the infrastructure resources and configurations that make your clusters work. Let’s explore the key data types and components that require protection.

1. Cluster Configuration Data

Kubernetes manages a cluster of nodes and the resources running on them—such as pods, services, and namespaces.
The configuration and state of the cluster are stored in etcd, a distributed key-value store.

This data includes:

  • Resource specifications

  • Access control settings

  • Namespaces and policies

Backing up etcd is essential. Without it, you can’t restore your cluster’s state after a failure.

2. Persistent Volumes (PVs)

Persistent Volumes provide storage for stateful applications like databases. Unlike ephemeral storage, which disappears when a container stops, PVs retain data beyond the lifetime of the pod.

They are used through Persistent Volume Claims (PVCs) and are vital for:

  • Database storage

  • Application logs

  • Stateful microservices

If PVs aren’t backed up, you risk permanent data loss in the event of failure or accidental deletion.

3. Container Storage Interface (CSI) and Snapshots

The Container Storage Interface (CSI) is the standard way Kubernetes connects to different storage systems.
Before CSI, vendors had to modify Kubernetes core code to add support. Now, CSI allows for plugin-based storage integration, making it easier and faster for storage vendors to support Kubernetes.

CSI also introduced native snapshot capabilities, enabling:

  • Point-in-time volume snapshots

  • Restore and disaster recovery workflows

  • Cloning of volumes for dev/test environments

These snapshots are central to modern Kubernetes data protection solutions.

4. Serverless and Managed Databases

Modern Kubernetes applications often use serverless databases or managed database services like:

  • AWS RDS or Aurora

  • Google Cloud SQL

  • Azure Database services

These services simplify deployment but complicate backup strategies.
You must ensure your backup solution captures all components of your app, even if they live outside Kubernetes.

Key considerations include:

  • Integrating cloud-native and Kubernetes-level backups

  • Storing backups in separate regions and access domains

  • Ensuring cross-region recovery in case of disaster

5. Redundancy ≠ Data Protection

While cloud-native services offer redundancy, this is not the same as true data protection or disaster recovery (DR). Redundancy protects against hardware failure, but not against:

  • Accidental deletions

  • Ransomware attacks

  • Malicious insiders

  • Configuration errors

In serverless environments, failure domains are harder to identify. That’s why backups—taken across all components, stored securely, and tested regularly—are essential to any robust Kubernetes DR strategy.

 Kubernetes Data Protection Summary

The DevOps team must take initial responsibility for data protection in cloud native applications to ensure consistent backup and recovery of container-based applications, given the new and different types of container resources and cloud native data storage. While the DevOps team is in the best position to understand the applications, where the various pieces of them reside, and what configuration and application state data need to be protected, they don’t normally deal with data protection solutions. Therefore, we expect to see the data protection responsibility, budget and accountability remain as a shared responsibility between DevOps and IT Operations for the foreseeable future.

CloudCasa was built as a cloud native service to support best practices for data protection and recovery for cloud native applications, and to bridge the data management and protection gap between DevOps and IT Operations.

We invite you to sign up for CloudCasa and give us your feedback on CloudCasa!