Add use case with Vito Botta from Brella

content/blog/interview-vito-botta-brella/index.md

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+---
+title: "Unlocking full Kubernetes functionality at Brella with CloudNativePG and Hetzner"
+date: 2025-08-19
+draft: false
+image:
+    url: brella_cloudnativepg.jpg
+    attribution:
+author: fdrees
+tags:
+ - react
+ - Rails
+ - Hetzner
+ - kubernetes
+ - postgresql
+ - open-source
+summary: "We talked to Vito Botta, Lead Platform Architect for the event management platform 
+Brella, about how CloudNativePG fits in their technology stack." 
+---
+
+[Vito Botta](https://www.linkedin.com/in/vitobotta/) is the Lead Platform Architect at Brella, an event management 
+platform where he oversees all technical aspects of the product. Outside of 
+work, he enjoys participating in bug bounty programs, finding and responsibly 
+reporting vulnerabilities. We had a chance to talk to him about his use of 
+CloudNativePG.
+
+Brella provides event organizers with the tools to manage event access, 
+schedules, sponsors, and more—while helping attendees make the most of 
+their time through powerful networking features. The platform’s architecture 
+includes a React frontend (for both web and mobile), a Ruby on Rails backend, 
+and a PostgreSQL database. The backend runs in Kubernetes clusters on Hetzner 
+Cloud, powered by Vito’s own open-source project, hetzner-k3s.
+
+Brella previously ran on Google Cloud using Cloud SQL for PostgreSQL but 
+migrated to Hetzner to reduce costs and gain flexibility. After testing multiple 
+operators, Vito chose CloudNativePG for running PostgreSQL in Kubernetes due to 
+its simplicity, robustness, and feature set.
+
+## hetzner-k3s: from side project to community tool
+Originally created for their specific use case, [hetzner-k3s](https://github.com/vitobotta/hetzner-k3s) enables running 
+full-featured Kubernetes clusters on Hetzner Cloud at low cost. Interest from 
+the community quickly grew, with companies using it to migrate from costly 
+hyperscalers while retaining necessary features. The project now boasts nearly 
+2,700 GitHub stars and an active, growing user base.
+
+## Why CloudNativePG works for Brella
+
+For Vito, CloudNativePG “just works”. It’s easy to set up, maintain, and
+integrate into Brella’s architecture. The migration from Cloud SQL brought major 
+benefits: better specs, three-node PostgreSQL clusters instead of one, seamless 
+failovers, point-in-time recovery, S3-compatible backups, and horizontal read 
+scaling.
+
+By contrast, Cloud SQL often caused downtime, even with high availability 
+enabled, limiting flexibility and delaying updates. CloudNativePG’s Kubernetes 
+native design aligned perfectly with Vito’s goal of running all services 
+(including the database) inside Kubernetes.
+
+## Keeping it simple for the team
+
+Vito, who is the Brella team member with the deepest Kubernetes experience, 
+values CloudNativePG's simplicity. It helps keep Brella’s architecture 
+approachable for teammates who are still learning infrastructure administration. 
+Compared to other PostgreSQL operators like Zalando or Crunchy, Vito finds 
+CloudNativePG more streamlined and better integrated into Kubernetes from the 
+ground up.
+
+## A lifelong passion for technology
+Vito’s fascination with computers began at age six. By eight, he was developing 
+simple games, but a virus that erased his source code shifted his focus to 
+computer security. In his teenage years, he explored both programming and hacking
+—until a teacher helped him redirect his skills toward ethical and productive work. 
+Since then, Vito has built platforms and systems of all sizes, with a particular 
+focus on security, eventually discovering bug bounty hunting as a way to combine 
+passion and profession.
+
+## Looking ahead
+
+Six to seven months into production, Brella has had zero issues with 
+CloudNativePG. Vito particularly appreciates features like automatic failover, 
+rolling updates with no downtime, smooth replication, and S3-based WAL 
+archiving. He’s looking forward to testing in-place major upgrades as the next 
+enhancement for Brella’s clusters.