Follow the dependency path
Correlate node, registry, mesh, storage, and application evidence before choosing a fix.
The tradeoffCross-layer investigation takes coordination, but helps avoid repeatedly restarting the visible symptom.
Reliability / Incident response / Kubernetes / Prometheus / Alertmanager / PagerDuty / Velero / SecurityPROFESSIONAL CASE STUDY
From production symptoms to verified recovery
TRACE.RESTORE.VERIFY.
Hands-on Kubernetes incident response across authentication, image delivery, persistent storage, and alert routing, with recovery checked at the service boundary.
Kelmavory · Production reliability · Hybrid KubernetesTHE WORK.
A production Kubernetes platform depends on more than ready pods. Image registries, identity services, network proxies, storage, and alert delivery all influence whether users can work. This account brings together separate incidents and operational improvements across Azure Government AKS and on-premises MKE; it is not one outage or a single rollout.
My contribution
I carry PagerDuty on-call, trace failures across infrastructure and application dependencies, coordinate with network, storage, security, and database teams, and turn findings into runbooks and durable configuration changes.
THE SEQUENCE.
Open each stage for the action and its supporting result. This is a conceptual sequence; internal topology and procedures are omitted.
01Trace the authentication failure upstream
Correlate image-pull failures with node, mirror, and registry logs. Identify recurring service-mesh proxy memory exhaustion and stale ingress configuration rather than assuming the identity application alone is at fault.
What was established
Corrected resource settings and ingress annotations and updated the affected ingress components to restore the delivery path.02Test competing infrastructure explanations
Investigate multi-cluster NotReady nodes using node-age evidence and storage reachability. Separately analyze zone-bound persistent disks, autoscaling, and disruption budgets during AKS maintenance.
What was established
Isolated an unavailable NFS backend, coordinated recovery with infrastructure teams, and resolved scheduling and maintenance blockers. A production cutover was postponed until the underlying incident was understood.03Verify the alert reaches the responder
Implement Prometheus and Alertmanager rules for memory failures and restart loops, namespace routing, and PagerDuty escalation through the approved proxy path. Exercise notification and recovery handling.
What was established
Validated end-to-end paging and automatic resolution; identified a separate incident where firing alerts had not reached PagerDuty and recorded the follow-up.04Prove recovery beyond a backup status
Restore GitLab repository data through Velero and test the recovered service. Use Blackbox Exporter checks and probe phase timings to distinguish reachability from certificate failures.
What was established
Confirmed repository restoration and made service availability checks part of the operating evidence. Recorded missing alerts for partially failed backups as follow-up work.
THE DECISIONS.
Keep alerting inside approved egress
Use the established corporate proxy after verifying connectivity instead of adding an unnecessary firewall path.
The tradeoffProxy configuration and certificate trust become explicit operational dependencies.
Distinguish recovery from prevention
Record restored service, verified notifications, and outstanding alert gaps as separate outcomes.
The tradeoffA successful recovery does not justify claiming that every recurrence or monitoring gap has been eliminated.
WHAT CHANGED.
Restored the affected authentication delivery path with configuration and resource fixes.
Resolved Kubernetes storage and disruption-budget blockers and coordinated infrastructure incident recovery.
Implemented and exercised production alert routing to PagerDuty, including automatic resolution.
Validated repository restoration and documented operational recovery procedures.
THE LESSON
Reliability becomes credible when the result is observable: the service works, the responder receives the alert, and the recovered data can be used. A healthy-looking deployment or a completed backup job alone is not enough.
THE RECORD.
Based on the owner-provided incident and operations account reviewed on 12 October 2026. Separate events are intentionally identified as separate examples. Internal topology, endpoints, logs, customer identities, and recovery credentials remain private.
Scope of this account
- These are owner-reported professional outcomes, not an independently audited availability assessment.
- No formal SLO program, error-budget ownership, measured toil reduction, or uptime percentage is claimed.
- Previously identified notification and backup-alert gaps are not represented as closed without completion evidence.
Explore an independent public project
This repository demonstrates related engineering skills. It contains personal project work, not employer code or a reproduction of the private environment.
Automated Status PageMORE PROFESSIONAL WORK