Overview
What this challenge is about.
Right-size requests, add Spot nodes, pilot Karpenter on 40 nodes, and deliver a cost-cutting rollout plan to earn your verifiable certificate.
The scenario
The dev-tooling startup (around 35 percent gross margin currently) needs to hit 60 percent gross margin within 4 quarters to close their Series B.
The Brief
What you'll do, and what you'll demonstrate.
Cut a 280-node EKS cluster's monthly cost by 35 percent without violating customer SLAs, proving the saving on a 40-node pilot first.
Earning criteria — what you'll demonstrate
- Profile Kubernetes cluster cost across nodes, requests, and idle capacity
- Apply right-sizing using Vertical Pod Autoscaler recommendations
- Introduce Spot + Karpenter without breaking PDBs or SLAs
- Plan a cluster-wide rollout staged for safe reversal
Program Fit
Where this fits in your program.
Sharpens the same skills your degree expects you to demonstrate.
Cloud Computing
Master · Cloud And Devops
Strong alignment
This challenge maps to Cloud Computing at the Master level. It sharpens the same practical skills your coursework expects — but in a real industry context with actual constraints and deliverables.
Skills
Skills you'll demonstrate.
Each one shows up on your verified credential.
- Kubernetes
Apply kubernetes to solve real industry problems and demonstrate production-level capability.
- Cost Optimization
Apply cost optimization to solve real industry problems and demonstrate production-level capability.
- Aws
Deploy and manage infrastructure and services on Amazon Web Services.
- Karpenter
Apply karpenter to solve real industry problems and demonstrate production-level capability.
- Benchmarking
Apply benchmarking to solve real industry problems and demonstrate production-level capability.
- Documentation
Apply documentation to solve real industry problems and demonstrate production-level capability.
Careers
Career paths this challenge builds toward
Completing this challenge demonstrates skills that transfer directly to these roles: