multi-cloud-architect

name	multi-cloud-architect
description	Design and implement portable Kubernetes infrastructure across cloud providers. Use for Terraform/IaC, Kustomize overlays, provider-agnostic patterns, and cloud migrations. Keywords: multi-cloud, AWS, Azure, GCP, Oracle, Terraform, Kustomize, portability, migration. Use when this capability is needed.

Multi-Cloud Architect

Expert in designing portable Kubernetes infrastructure that can run on any cloud provider (Oracle, Azure, AWS, GCP) or on-premises with minimal changes.

When to Use This Skill

• Designing cloud-agnostic Kubernetes architecture
• Creating Terraform modules for multi-cloud provisioning
• Building Kustomize base/overlay patterns
• Planning cloud migrations (e.g., Oracle -> Azure -> AWS)
• Configuring provider-specific components (LoadBalancer, Storage, DNS)
• Implementing External Secrets Operator for different providers
• Setting up workload identity across clouds

---

Core Principle: Abstraction Layers

+--------------------------------------------------+
|                  Applications                     |
+--------------------------------------------------+
|           clusters/base/ (Provider-agnostic)     |
+--------------------------------------------------+
|    clusters/overlays/<provider>/ (Specific)      |
+--------------------------------------------------+
|         Terraform/IaC (Per-Provider)             |
+--------------------------------------------------+
|     AWS EKS | Azure AKS | GCP GKE | Oracle OCI   |
+--------------------------------------------------+

Golden Rule: Everything in base/ must work on ALL providers. Provider-specific config ONLY in overlays/.

---

Provider Mapping Matrix

Component	Base (All)	Oracle/On-Prem	Azure	AWS	GCP
Ingress Controller	NGINX Ingress	NGINX	NGINX	NGINX or ALB	NGINX or GCE
Load Balancer	Service type	MetalLB	Azure LB	AWS NLB/ALB	GCP LB
Storage Class	standard	Longhorn	Azure Disk CSI	EBS CSI	GCE-PD CSI
Secrets Backend	ESO CRDs	HashiCorp Vault	Azure Key Vault	Secrets Manager	Secret Manager
DNS Provider	ExternalDNS	Cloudflare	Azure DNS	Route53	Cloud DNS
Cert Manager	cert-manager	Let's Encrypt	Let's Encrypt	ACM*	Let's Encrypt
Workload Identity	ServiceAccount	Vault JWT	Azure AD WI	IRSA	GKE WI
CNI	-	Cilium/Calico	Azure CNI	VPC CNI	Dataplane V2
Registry	GHCR	GHCR/Harbor	ACR	ECR	GAR

*ACM for AWS-native, cert-manager for portability

---

Kustomize Structure Pattern

clusters/
├── base/                           # Provider-agnostic
│   ├── kustomization.yaml
│   ├── namespaces/
│   │   └── demo-platform.yaml
│   ├── ingress/
│   │   └── nginx-config.yaml       # Generic NGINX config
│   ├── storage/
│   │   └── storageclass.yaml       # Abstract StorageClass
│   └── secrets/
│       └── external-secrets.yaml   # ESO CRDs (no provider)
│
└── overlays/
    ├── kind/                       # Local development
    │   ├── kustomization.yaml
    │   └── patches/
    │       ├── ingress-nodeport.yaml
    │       └── storage-local-path.yaml
    │
    ├── oracle/                     # Oracle Cloud Free Tier
    │   ├── kustomization.yaml
    │   └── patches/
    │       ├── metallb-config.yaml
    │       ├── longhorn-storage.yaml
    │       └── vault-secretstore.yaml
    │
    ├── azure/                      # Azure AKS
    │   ├── kustomization.yaml
    │   └── patches/
    │       ├── azure-disk-storage.yaml
    │       ├── keyvault-secretstore.yaml
    │       └── azure-dns-external.yaml
    │
    ├── aws/                        # AWS EKS
    │   ├── kustomization.yaml
    │   └── patches/
    │       ├── ebs-storage.yaml
    │       ├── secretsmanager-store.yaml
    │       └── route53-external.yaml
    │
    └── gcp/                        # GCP GKE
        ├── kustomization.yaml
        └── patches/
            ├── gce-pd-storage.yaml
            ├── secretmanager-store.yaml
            └── clouddns-external.yaml

---

Terraform Module Structure

infra/terraform/
├── modules/
│   ├── cluster/
│   │   ├── main.tf           # Generic cluster interface
│   │   ├── variables.tf
│   │   ├── outputs.tf
│   │   └── providers/
│   │       ├── aks.tf        # Azure implementation
│   │       ├── eks.tf        # AWS implementation
│   │       ├── gke.tf        # GCP implementation
│   │       └── oci.tf        # Oracle implementation
│   │
│   ├── network/
│   │   ├── main.tf
│   │   └── providers/
│   │       ├── azure-vnet.tf
│   │       ├── aws-vpc.tf
│   │       ├── gcp-vpc.tf
│   │       └── oci-vcn.tf
│   │
│   └── dns/
│       ├── main.tf
│       └── providers/
│           ├── azure-dns.tf
│           ├── route53.tf
│           ├── clouddns.tf
│           └── cloudflare.tf
│
└── envs/
    ├── oracle-free/
    │   ├── main.tf
    │   ├── terraform.tfvars
    │   └── backend.tf
    ├── azure-dev/
    ├── azure-prod/
    ├── aws-dev/
    └── gcp-dev/

---

Provider-Specific Gotchas

Oracle Cloud Free Tier

# CRITICAL: All images MUST support ARM64
image:
  # Use multi-arch images or build for linux/arm64
  repository: ghcr.io/your-org/app
  tag: v1.0.0@sha256:...  # Always pin by digest

# Resources are limited (24 GB RAM total, 4 OCPUs)
resources:
  requests:
    memory: "256Mi"
    cpu: "100m"
  limits:
    memory: "512Mi"
    cpu: "500m"

• No managed K8s - use kubeadm
• No cloud LoadBalancer - use MetalLB
• ARM64 only - verify image compatibility
• 200 GB storage - use Longhorn for dynamic provisioning

Azure AKS

# Enable workload identity
resource "azurerm_kubernetes_cluster" "main" {
  workload_identity_enabled = true
  oidc_issuer_enabled       = true
}

• Azure CNI recommended for production
• Managed identity for cluster operations
• Key Vault CSI driver for secrets
• Azure Disk for persistent storage

AWS EKS

# IRSA for workload identity
module "irsa" {
  source  = "terraform-aws-modules/iam/aws//modules/iam-role-for-service-accounts-eks"
}

• VPC CNI with custom networking for large clusters
• IRSA for pod-level IAM
• EBS CSI driver (not installed by default!)
• ALB Ingress Controller as alternative to NGINX

GCP GKE

resource "google_container_cluster" "main" {
  workload_identity_config {
    workload_pool = "${var.project}.svc.id.goog"
  }
}

• Autopilot for hands-off management
• Dataplane V2 (Cilium-based) for networking
• Workload Identity for GCP API access
• GKE Ingress as native option

---

Migration Checklist

When migrating between providers:

1. Images

   • Verify multi-arch support (amd64 + arm64)
   • Update registry references in overlays
   • Ensure image pull secrets configured

2. Storage

   • Backup all PVCs before migration
   • Create StorageClass for target provider
   • Update PVC annotations if needed

3. Secrets

   • Configure ESO SecretStore for new provider
   • Migrate secrets to new backend
   • Update ExternalSecret resources

4. Networking

   • Configure LoadBalancer (MetalLB vs Cloud LB)
   • Update DNS records
   • Verify Ingress configuration

5. Identity

   • Configure workload identity for new provider
   • Update ServiceAccount annotations
   • Verify RBAC permissions

---

Best Practices

DO:

• Keep base manifests provider-agnostic
• Use Kustomize patches for provider-specific config
• Abstract storage with named StorageClasses
• Use External Secrets Operator for all secrets
• Build multi-arch container images
• Pin images by digest, not tag
• Document provider-specific requirements

DON'T:

• Hardcode provider-specific annotations in base
• Use provider-specific storage classes in base
• Assume cloud LoadBalancer availability
• Use provider-native secret stores directly
• Build images for single architecture only
• Use latest tags anywhere

---

Related References

• references/provider-abstraction.md - Detailed abstraction patterns
• references/oracle-cloud.md - Oracle Free Tier specifics
• references/azure-aks.md - Azure AKS patterns
• references/aws-eks.md - AWS EKS patterns
• references/gcp-gke.md - GCP GKE patterns

---

Converted and distributed by TomeVault — claim your Tome and manage your conversions.