Platform Overview

Narwhal is an open-source Internal Developer Platform (IDP) built on Kubernetes v1.35, integrating GitOps, IAM/SSO, Service Mesh, Observability, Artifact Registry, Storage, Backup, Policy, API Gateway, and a Management Portal into a single reproducible unit.

Core Engineering Philosophy

1. Integration as a Product: Rather than installing disparate tools separately, Narwhal resolves integration seam complexities (TLS, DNS, OIDC authentication, network routing) upfront.
2. Knowledge Codification: 263 incident lessons documented in lessons-log.md are directly linked to 51 automated CI regression checks, preventing regression across upgrades.
3. Environment-Agnostic Reproducibility: Runs identically across local developer workstations (Vagrant + Kube-Ready-Box), public cloud (Kakao Cloud AMD64), and air-gapped disconnected environments.

Three-Tier Architecture Model

This is not just a stack inventory. It separates responsibilities into experience → platform services → infrastructure, so higher layers consume stable platform contracts instead of exposing every implementation detail.

Baseline Specifications

• Kubernetes: v1.35 HA Control Plane (etcd 3-node quorum)
• Node Allocation: 3 Masters (2 vCPU, 4GB RAM) + 3 Workers (4 vCPU, 8GB RAM)
• Network CIDRs: Node (192.168.56.0/24), Pod (10.244.0.0/16), Service (10.96.0.0/12), LoadBalancer (192.168.56.200~220)
• DNS Standard: *.local.narwhal.internal (built-in dnsmasq resolution)