Pinterest's Moka: Big Data on Kubernetes

Moka: A Modern Data Platform

The Pinterest Moka project is a compelling case study in modernizing big data infrastructure. The move to Kubernetes on Amazon EKS, coupled with Apache Spark, offers significant benefits in terms of scalability, cost optimization (particularly with ARM support), and operational efficiency. The article highlights the importance of observability (logging, metrics, and job history) for debugging and tuning jobs, a critical aspect often overlooked. The adoption of infrastructure-as-code (Terraform, Helm) for cluster management and deployment is another best practice. The multi-architecture image support is forward-thinking. However, the article primarily focuses on the 'how' and less on the 'why' of key design choices beyond the high-level goals. A deeper dive into the specific performance trade-offs made during the transition, the challenges encountered during the migration from Hadoop, and the specific metrics used to evaluate success would have enhanced the analysis. Furthermore, while the article mentions support for other processing engines (Flink, Ray), more detail on the integration strategy and the challenges of managing a multi-engine environment would be beneficial.

The article also touches on the shift away from a monolithic Hadoop architecture but doesn't fully explore the complexities of data governance, security, and access control within the new Kubernetes environment. How are data pipelines and data quality managed in the new system? What security measures are in place to protect sensitive data? These are critical aspects of a modern data platform that are not fully addressed. Additionally, while the article emphasizes cost savings, a more detailed breakdown of the cost comparison between the Hadoop-based Monarch and the Kubernetes-based Moka would provide valuable insights. The focus on cost savings and ARM support suggests that Pinterest has a clear understanding of the importance of efficiency. This is a very valuable case study for organizations going through similar transformation.

Key Points

• Pinterest is migrating its core big data workloads from Hadoop to a Kubernetes-based system (Moka) on Amazon EKS.

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📖 Source: Pinterest's Moka: How Kubernetes Is Rewriting the Rules of Big Data Processing