Watch freeFree preview · A CPU limit vs a poll-mode UPF: the silent loss — opens in the course player
Telco Cloud: Kubernetes, CNFs & GitOps
Kubernetes taught as the machinery under a running 5G core: why a crashed container is back in seconds while a stateful replica waits for proof the old one is gone, how a worker node is tuned and a UPF’s packet path wired, and how a GitOps pipeline puts a change into a cluster — and takes it back out. Every module is built around a failure an operations team actually debugs.
Every 5G & 6G course free for 7 days
- Lessons
- 36
- Video
- ≈4.7h
- Hands-on
- 3 labs · 10 checkpoints
- Before you start
- 5G Foundation
About this course
Who it's for. Working 5G core, RAN, transport and platform engineers who run network functions on Kubernetes, and DevOps engineers moving into telecom.
Before you start. 5G Foundation; 5G Core & E2E Specialist helps but is not required. Kubernetes itself is taught from the control plane up, with a 5G core as the running example.
This course includes
- 36 video lessons — the first needs no account, and all are free for your first 7 days
- Hands-on labs and checkpoints
- Study pack — question bank and slides
- A free mock exam to find your gaps
- Certification exam and a QR-verifiable certificate
Skills you'll gain
- Kubernetes for CNFs
- StatefulSets & probes
- CPU pinning & HugePages
- NUMA & real-time nodes
- Multus & SR-IOV
- DPDK & UPF datapaths
- Operators & Helm
- GitOps
Syllabus
7 modules · 36 lessons · certification exam
Module 1 — The Kubernetes control plane for telco: place, heal, scale
How Kubernetes heals a 5G core, and the CPU limit that freezes a UPF.
Time how Kubernetes heals a crash, a lost node and a stateful replica, and compute the freeze one wrong CPU limit imposes on a poll-mode UPF.
4 lessons · 1 lab · ≈31 min
- Lesson 1A CPU limit vs a poll-mode UPF: the silent lossWatch free7:07
- Lesson 2The Kubernetes control plane: one record, many reconcilersFree with an account7:34
- Lesson 3Deployments vs StatefulSets: when heal loses the sessionFree with an account8:08
- Lesson 4CPU requests, limits and the CFS quota: computing the freezeFree with an account8:28
- Interactive labCompute the Freeze · Interactive lab~6 min
Module 2 — CNF engineering: state, probes and discovery
What makes a network function cloud-native: state, probes and discovery.
Tell a cloud-native network function from a VNF in a container, and price statelessness, readiness probes and discovery the way an operations team pays for them.
5 lessons · 2 checkpoints · ≈35 min
- Lesson 1CNF vs containerised VNF: the disposability contractFree for 7 days with a free account, then with Prime Membership8:06
- Lesson 2State externalisation and the UDSF: what stateless costsFree for 7 days with a free account, then with Prime Membership6:26
- Lesson 3Stateless AMF failover: AMF Sets and three scale-out bugsFree for 7 days with a free account, then with Prime Membership8:15
- Lesson 4Probes and graceful shutdown: readiness is a claimFree for 7 days with a free account, then with Prime Membership6:41
- Lesson 5Cluster DNS vs the NRF: two discovery planesFree for 7 days with a free account, then with Prime Membership6:01
- CheckpointReplace Any Copy · Checkpoint~7 min
- CheckpointRunning, Ready, Unreachable · Checkpoint~6 min
Module 3 — The telco node: pinning, hugepages, NUMA and real time
Tuning a worker node for real time: pinning, hugepages, NUMA and PTP.
Configure a worker node so a latency-critical function gets exclusive cores, hugepages, NUMA-local memory, quiet interrupts and PTP time — and know which profile sets each.
5 lessons · 1 lab · 1 checkpoint · ≈45 min
- Lesson 1CPU Manager static policy: why Guaranteed isn’t enoughFree for 7 days with a free account, then with Prime Membership8:47
- Lesson 2HugePages and the TLB: why page size costs packetsFree for 7 days with a free account, then with Prime Membership8:52
- Lesson 3NUMA and the Topology Manager: aligning core, memory and NICFree for 7 days with a free account, then with Prime Membership9:50
- Lesson 4Isolated cores, IRQ steering and PTP: a DU’s nodeFree for 7 days with a free account, then with Prime Membership9:32
- Lesson 5Node Feature Discovery and tuning profiles: hardware made schedulableFree for 7 days with a free account, then with Prime Membership7:43
- Interactive labAlign the User Plane · Interactive lab~6 min
- CheckpointQuiet the Cores · Checkpoint~5 min
Module 4 — The packet path: Multus, SR-IOV, DPDK and the UPF datapath
Getting packets into a UPF pod: Multus, SR-IOV, DPDK and service mesh.
Wire a UPF’s four reference points into one pod, choose its datapath mode on measured evidence, and price what a service mesh costs the signalling path.
5 lessons · 2 checkpoints · ≈41 min
- Lesson 1Multus and secondary networks: one pod, four reference pointsFree for 7 days with a free account, then with Prime Membership7:50
- Lesson 2SR-IOV in Kubernetes: one card, many Virtual FunctionsFree for 7 days with a free account, then with Prime Membership8:50
- Lesson 3DPDK poll-mode drivers: why idle looks fully busyFree for 7 days with a free account, then with Prime Membership8:56
- Lesson 4UPF datapath modes: kernel, AF_XDP, DPDK and offloadFree for 7 days with a free account, then with Prime Membership8:57
- Lesson 5Service mesh on the SBI: sidecar cost and the SCPFree for 7 days with a free account, then with Prime Membership6:54
- CheckpointFour Hands, One Job Each · Checkpoint~5 min
- CheckpointFault, or Working as Designed? · Checkpoint~8 min
Module 5 — Operators, admission, packaging and the management plane
Extending Kubernetes for telco: Operators, admission, packaging and NFV management.
Extend the Kubernetes API with Operators, gate pods at admission, decide where per-site variance lives, place NFV management above the cluster, and read what a conformance badge attests.
5 lessons · 2 checkpoints · ≈41 min
- Lesson 1CRDs, Operators and pod admission: teaching the API a nounFree for 7 days with a free account, then with Prime Membership8:02
- Lesson 2Operators vs Helm releases: continuous vs one-shotFree for 7 days with a free account, then with Prime Membership7:38
- Lesson 3ETSI NFV meets Kubernetes: the management plane above the clusterFree for 7 days with a free account, then with Prime Membership8:21
- Lesson 4Helm, Kustomize and KRM: where per-site variance livesFree for 7 days with a free account, then with Prime Membership8:26
- Lesson 5What a conformance badge attests: hygiene — and what it says nothing aboutFree for 7 days with a free account, then with Prime Membership8:05
- CheckpointWho Acts at Three in the Morning · Checkpoint~6 min
- CheckpointPlace the Difference · Checkpoint~5 min
Module 6 — Day-2 operations: disruption, upgrades, scaling and failure
Keeping a stateful 5G core running through drains, upgrades and failures.
Keep a stateful 5G core in service through drains, rolling updates, platform upgrades and load swings, and debug the failures that actually page an operations team.
6 lessons · 1 lab · 1 checkpoint · ≈43 min
- Lesson 1PodDisruptionBudgets and node drain: the budget that blocksFree for 7 days with a free account, then with Prime Membership7:27
- Lesson 2StatefulSet rolling updates: reverse ordinals and partitionsFree for 7 days with a free account, then with Prime Membership7:20
- Lesson 3Cluster upgrades at telco scale: a node-reboot campaignFree for 7 days with a free account, then with Prime Membership6:29
- Lesson 4Autoscaling network functions: HPA on the right signalFree for 7 days with a free account, then with Prime Membership7:29
- Lesson 5Certificate expiry and etcd quorum: running, but nothing changesFree for 7 days with a free account, then with Prime Membership6:52
- Lesson 6Observability for CNFs: traces, counters and path probesFree for 7 days with a free account, then with Prime Membership7:41
- Interactive labSize the Budget · Interactive lab~6 min
- CheckpointWho Moves It Next? · Checkpoint~6 min
Module 7 — GitOps, fleets and what is actually shipping
Shipping changes as reviewed, revertible state across a fleet of clusters.
Ship platform and network-function changes as reviewed, reconciled, revertible declared state across a fleet, know what a revert cannot undo, and which telecom automation projects carry live traffic.
6 lessons · 2 checkpoints · ≈45 min
- Lesson 1GitOps pull vs pipeline push: where drift becomes visibleFree for 7 days with a free account, then with Prime Membership7:20
- Lesson 2Drift, self-heal and field ownership: when controllers fightFree for 7 days with a free account, then with Prime Membership6:51
- Lesson 3A GitOps change ships: review, reconcile, revertFree for 7 days with a free account, then with Prime Membership8:15
- Lesson 4NF configuration owners and Secrets: in sync, still wrongFree for 7 days with a free account, then with Prime Membership6:22
- Lesson 5Cluster API and edge fleets: declaring clusters, not serversFree for 7 days with a free account, then with Prime Membership7:58
- Lesson 6CaaS, Nephio and Sylva: what actually shipsFree for 7 days with a free account, then with Prime Membership7:50
- CheckpointWho Owns It? · Checkpoint~7 min
- CheckpointThe Order Is the Control · Checkpoint~6 min
Certification exam
Earns a certificate49 questions · 60 min · 65% to pass — earns your TELCOMA Certified Telco Cloud Specialist, a QR-verifiable certificate.
Not ready yet? Take a free 20-question mock exam first.
Look up any acronym in the telecom glossary
Certification
Earn the TELCOMA Certified Telco Cloud Specialist
Pass the 49-question exam with 65% or more, and the certificate is yours to show anyone.
- Show proofEvery certificate carries a QR code and a public page that anyone can check.
- Add it to LinkedInPut it in the Licenses & certifications section of your profile in one click.
- Build a collectionEach of our 13 courses earns its own certificate.
Study materials
Download the Telco Cloud: Kubernetes, CNFs & GitOps question bank and slide deck — every signal check in the course, with answers, plus every figure.
- Question BankPDF48 KB
- Slide DeckPPTX21 MB
Hands-on learning
Do it, don't just watch it
Modules end with a hands-on exercise — 3 labs · 10 checkpoints in this course. You move the controls, the numbers answer back, and a wrong turn tells you why.
Try this one first:
Compute the Freeze · Interactive lab · ~6 min
Try it freeFree with an account — no card.
What you'll build
3 of 13 — the rest are in the syllabus
- Lab 1FreeCompute the FreezeOne minus the limit over D: turn the three handles the rule has, watch a period freeze — then read a live pod’s counters the way lesson 1.4 says, dividing by D.Module 1~6 min
- Lab 2Align the User PlaneSet what is free on each side of the server and what the user plane asks for. Read what the three managers answer, the four policies’ verdicts, and what the scheduler, which only sees totals, will do next.Module 3~6 min
- Lab 3Size the BudgetHealthy copies minus a floor that rounds up: set the budget, mark copies not Ready, and watch the drain either finish or retry forever.Module 6~6 min
Ways to learn
Choose the way that fits you.
| Feature | This certification Price loadingonce One credential, yours for good | Recommended Prime Membership Price loading/year Every course, including new ones | Free account Free Every course for your first 7 days, then the first module of each |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lessons and labs in this course | All for your first 7 days, then the first module | ||
| Study pack — question bank and slides | For your first 7 days | ||
| Certification exam and verifiable certificate | This course | Every course | |
| Every other course | First module | All, and new ones | All for your first 7 days, then the first module |
| Full-length practice exams | For your first 7 days | ||
| TelcoMentor AI coach | For your first 7 days, at a smaller daily limit | ||
| Hands-on scenarios — traces, logs, configs | Selected traces | All for your first 7 days, then selected traces | |
One payment · no renewal | See Prime Membership Renews yearly · cancel anytime | Join for free No card needed |
This certification
Price loadingonce
One credential, yours for good
- Lessons and labs in this course
- Study pack — question bank and slides
- Certification exam and verifiable certificate — this course
- Every other course — first module
- Not included: Full-length practice exams
- Not included: TelcoMentor AI coach
- Hands-on scenarios — traces, logs, configs — selected traces
One payment · no renewal
Prime Membership
Price loading/year
Every course, including new ones
- Lessons and labs in this course
- Study pack — question bank and slides
- Certification exam and verifiable certificate — every course
- Every other course — all, and new ones
- Full-length practice exams
- TelcoMentor AI coach
- Hands-on scenarios — traces, logs, configs
Renews yearly · cancel anytime
Free account
Free
Every course for your first 7 days, then the first module of each
- Lessons and labs in this course — all for your first 7 days, then the first module
- Study pack — question bank and slides — for your first 7 days
- Not included: Certification exam and verifiable certificate
- Every other course — all for your first 7 days, then the first module
- Full-length practice exams — for your first 7 days
- TelcoMentor AI coach — for your first 7 days, at a smaller daily limit
- Hands-on scenarios — traces, logs, configs — all for your first 7 days, then selected traces
No card needed
A new free account opens every course for its first 7 days, no card needed: every lesson and lab, the study packs, the full-length practice exams and TelcoMentor. In those 7 days only the certification exam needs a paid option. After them, the first module of every course stays free. Both paid options come with a 7-day money-back guarantee.
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