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| 1 | +--- |
| 2 | +title: "Unlocking full Kubernetes functionality at Brella with CloudNativePG and Hetzner" |
| 3 | +date: 2025-08-19 |
| 4 | +draft: false |
| 5 | +image: |
| 6 | + url: brella_cloudnativepg.jpg |
| 7 | + attribution: |
| 8 | +author: fdrees |
| 9 | +tags: |
| 10 | + - react |
| 11 | + - Rails |
| 12 | + - Hetzner |
| 13 | + - kubernetes |
| 14 | + - postgresql |
| 15 | + - open-source |
| 16 | +summary: "We talked to Vito Botta, Lead Platform Architect for the event management platform |
| 17 | +Brella, about how CloudNativePG fits in their technology stack." |
| 18 | +--- |
| 19 | + |
| 20 | +[Vito Botta](https://www.linkedin.com/in/vitobotta/) is the Lead Platform Architect at Brella, an event management |
| 21 | +platform where he oversees all technical aspects of the product. Outside of |
| 22 | +work, he enjoys participating in bug bounty programs, finding and responsibly |
| 23 | +reporting vulnerabilities. We had a chance to talk to him about his use of |
| 24 | +CloudNativePG. |
| 25 | + |
| 26 | +Brella provides event organizers with the tools to manage event access, |
| 27 | +schedules, sponsors, and more—while helping attendees make the most of |
| 28 | +their time through powerful networking features. The platform’s architecture |
| 29 | +includes a React frontend (for both web and mobile), a Ruby on Rails backend, |
| 30 | +and a PostgreSQL database. The backend runs in Kubernetes clusters on Hetzner |
| 31 | +Cloud, powered by Vito’s own open-source project, hetzner-k3s. |
| 32 | + |
| 33 | +Brella previously ran on Google Cloud using Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL but |
| 34 | +migrated to Hetzner to reduce costs and gain flexibility. After testing multiple |
| 35 | +operators, Vito chose CloudNativePG for running PostgreSQL in Kubernetes due to |
| 36 | +its simplicity, robustness, and feature set. |
| 37 | + |
| 38 | +## hetzner-k3s: from side project to community tool |
| 39 | +Originally created for their specific use case, [hetzner-k3s](https://github.com/vitobotta/hetzner-k3s) enables running |
| 40 | +full-featured Kubernetes clusters on Hetzner Cloud at low cost. Interest from |
| 41 | +the community quickly grew, with companies using it to migrate from costly |
| 42 | +hyperscalers while retaining necessary features. The project now boasts nearly |
| 43 | +2,700 GitHub stars and an active, growing user base. |
| 44 | + |
| 45 | +## Why CloudNativePG works for Brella |
| 46 | + |
| 47 | +For Vito, CloudNativePG “just works”. It’s easy to set up, maintain, and |
| 48 | +integrate into Brella’s architecture. The migration from Cloud SQL brought major |
| 49 | +benefits: better specs, three-node PostgreSQL clusters instead of one, seamless |
| 50 | +failovers, point-in-time recovery, S3-compatible backups, and horizontal read |
| 51 | +scaling. |
| 52 | + |
| 53 | +By contrast, Cloud SQL often caused downtime, even with high availability |
| 54 | +enabled, limiting flexibility and delaying updates. CloudNativePG’s Kubernetes |
| 55 | +native design aligned perfectly with Vito’s goal of running all services |
| 56 | +(including the database) inside Kubernetes. |
| 57 | + |
| 58 | +## Keeping it simple for the team |
| 59 | + |
| 60 | +Vito, who is the Brella team member with the deepest Kubernetes experience, |
| 61 | +values CloudNativePG's simplicity. It helps keep Brella’s architecture |
| 62 | +approachable for teammates who are still learning infrastructure administration. |
| 63 | +Compared to other PostgreSQL operators like Zalando or Crunchy, Vito finds |
| 64 | +CloudNativePG more streamlined and better integrated into Kubernetes from the |
| 65 | +ground up. |
| 66 | + |
| 67 | +## A lifelong passion for technology |
| 68 | +Vito’s fascination with computers began at age six. By eight, he was developing |
| 69 | +simple games, but a virus that erased his source code shifted his focus to |
| 70 | +computer security. In his teenage years, he explored both programming and hacking |
| 71 | +—until a teacher helped him redirect his skills toward ethical and productive work. |
| 72 | +Since then, Vito has built platforms and systems of all sizes, with a particular |
| 73 | +focus on security, eventually discovering bug bounty hunting as a way to combine |
| 74 | +passion and profession. |
| 75 | + |
| 76 | +## Looking ahead |
| 77 | + |
| 78 | +Six to seven months into production, Brella has had zero issues with |
| 79 | +CloudNativePG. Vito particularly appreciates features like automatic failover, |
| 80 | +rolling updates with no downtime, smooth replication, and S3-based WAL |
| 81 | +archiving. He’s looking forward to testing in-place major upgrades as the next |
| 82 | +enhancement for Brella’s clusters. |
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