NGINX has released Gateway Fabric 2.2, representing a significant milestone in Kubernetes application delivery and modern workload support. This release focuses on advancing Kubernetes-native networking, with particular emphasis on supporting modern application patterns including Large Language Model (LLM) inference workloads. NGINX Gateway Fabric combines the power of the proven NGINX data plane with the flexibility and standardization of the Kubernetes Gateway API.

NGINX Gateway Fabric is NGINX’s official implementation of the Kubernetes Gateway API, providing a production-ready, high-performance solution for managing ingress traffic in Kubernetes clusters. Built on NGINX’s battle-tested data plane, it offers the reliability and performance that organizations expect from NGINX while embracing the modern Gateway API standard.

The Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) has announced the deprecation of the NGINX Ingress Controller project, with official support ending in March 2026. This significant announcement marks a turning point in Kubernetes networking, as the community transitions from the traditional Ingress API to the more modern and powerful Gateway API. Organizations using NGINX Ingress Controller need to understand the implications and plan their migration to Gateway API implementations.

The NGINX Ingress Controller deprecation stems from several factors:

The Kubernetes community has officially kicked off the v1.35 release cycle, scheduled for release in December 2025. This release cycle marks another milestone in Kubernetes’ evolution, with the development phase beginning in September 2025 and key milestones already approaching. The v1.35 release is expected to bring significant enhancements across performance, security, and developer experience.

The v1.35 release follows the established Kubernetes release cadence:

The Kubernetes Gateway API has reached a significant milestone, with multiple resource types now stable and production-ready for modern Kubernetes deployments. After years of development and community feedback, the Gateway API provides a more expressive, extensible, and role-oriented approach to service networking compared to the traditional Ingress API.

The Gateway API is the evolution of Kubernetes ingress, designed to address the limitations of the original Ingress resource. It provides a more powerful, flexible, and standardized way to configure networking in Kubernetes clusters.

Security is paramount in Kubernetes environments, where the attack surface spans containers, pods, services, and the cluster itself. The cloud-native security ecosystem has evolved to address these challenges with specialized tools for runtime protection, vulnerability scanning, policy enforcement, and compliance monitoring. Here are the top 10 Kubernetes security tools that every security-conscious organization should implement.

Runtime security engine detecting abnormal container behavior.

Kubernetes can seem overwhelming for beginners, but DigitalOcean’s managed Kubernetes service (DOKS) provides an excellent entry point into the world of container orchestration. With its simplified setup, competitive pricing, and excellent documentation, DigitalOcean makes it easy to get started with Kubernetes without the complexity of managing your own cluster infrastructure.

DigitalOcean Kubernetes (DOKS) eliminates the operational overhead of managing cluster infrastructure while providing a production-ready Kubernetes environment.

For senior Kubernetes roles, interviewers expect deep technical knowledge, architectural understanding, and the ability to solve complex problems. This guide covers advanced concepts that demonstrate expertise in Kubernetes internals, troubleshooting, and system design.

Expected Answer: Pod scheduling involves multiple components working together to place Pods on appropriate nodes based on various constraints and requirements.

Krew is the package manager for kubectl plugins, making it easy to extend kubectl’s functionality with community-contributed tools. With hundreds of plugins available, Krew transforms kubectl from a basic CLI tool into a powerful, extensible platform for Kubernetes management. Here are the top 10 Krew plugins that every Kubernetes practitioner should have in their toolkit.

Fast context switching between Kubernetes clusters.

As Kubernetes continues to dominate the container orchestration landscape, finding and hiring qualified Kubernetes experts has become increasingly challenging. With the platform’s complexity and rapid evolution, organizations need a strategic approach to identify, evaluate, and attract top talent. This comprehensive guide provides practical strategies for hiring Kubernetes experts in 2025.

The Kubernetes talent market remains highly competitive, with demand significantly outstripping supply. According to recent industry surveys, Kubernetes skills are among the most sought-after in the DevOps and cloud-native space.

As the Kubernetes community prepares for the v1.34 release cycle, scheduled for early 2026, developers and operators are eagerly anticipating the new features, improvements, and enhancements that will shape the future of container orchestration. Based on ongoing development work, community discussions, and SIG (Special Interest Group) roadmaps, here’s a comprehensive preview of what to expect in Kubernetes v1.34.

The v1.34 release cycle follows the established Kubernetes release cadence: