November 2023 Summaries

Starting January 15th, 2024, ngrok will officially end support for all ngrok agent versions 3.1 and older, urging users to upgrade to newer versions to avoid service disruptions. Free accounts using outdated versions will no longer be able to connect, while paying users can still connect without receiving support or patches for these versions. Upgrading to the latest ngrok agent is encouraged to benefit from new features and improved performance, as the company aims to focus on innovation by reducing the burden of supporting legacy versions. Admins connected to unsupported versions will receive communication to facilitate the transition, and questions can be directed to ngrok support.

In Tucson, Arizona, the shift from intense summer heat to milder autumn weather rekindles the narrator's wife's passion for gardening, prompting the family to plant together. Recognizing the challenge of tracking plant locations and seeding dates, the narrator embarks on a technical project to create an API for logging gardening data, using Next.js and MongoDB. This project is detailed in a two-part guide: first, building a REST API that handles CRUD operations, and second, deploying it on a Kubernetes cluster with Rancher and ngrok for public accessibility. The guide also includes instructions for containerizing the application with Docker and managing persistent storage with Rancher-developed solutions. Additionally, the project offers potential for further development, such as creating a frontend interface or implementing authentication for restricted access.

The ngrok Go SDK, known as ngrok-go, has advanced to version 2, offering a modernized API and new features such as Traffic Policy to simplify and enhance the deployment of applications on the internet. This update addresses significant concerns developers face, including performance, security, and availability, by providing tools like visibility enhancement, performance improvement through compression, and availability assurance with circuit breaking. The SDK facilitates secure connections for web applications, allowing developers to focus on coding and building applications while maintaining security through various configurations like basic authentication and IP restrictions. It also integrates seamlessly with popular tools such as Datadog and AWS CloudWatch for monitoring and event tracking, streamlining the deployment process and empowering developers by reducing the risks associated with internet exposure. The dedicated team behind ngrok has ensured that these improvements make application deployment more accessible, enhancing the overall development experience.

Ngrok utilizes Dagster to orchestrate its comprehensive data stack, which includes Apache Iceberg for data storage and AWS Athena for query processing, among other tools. This orchestration aids in managing a monthly influx of about 20TB of data across over 400 Dagster assets and around 170 distinct dbt models. Dagster is particularly valued for its approach to viewing data as assets and its adherence to software engineering standards in data pipelines, which simplifies the management of data lineage and enhances monitoring. The integration of Dagster with dbt allows ngrok to maintain SQL models in a structured manner, facilitating the visualization of data lineage and the automation of onboarding SQL transformations into dbt models. By deploying Dagster on their Kubernetes infrastructure using their ngrok Ingress Controller, ngrok ensures secure access and efficient management of both production and development instances, underscoring the benefits of combining Dagster's orchestration capabilities with ngrok's ingress-as-a-service platform.

Striking the right balance between free and paid elements in software for developers is crucial for business growth, as demonstrated by ngrok's transition to a usage-based pricing model. The company's previous pricing and packaging did not align well with the needs of its growing user base, especially as more developers sought to use ngrok in production environments. By introducing a pay-as-you-go plan, ngrok now charges based on monthly active endpoints, allowing users to only pay for what they actively use. This approach aligns with the preferences of developers who favor consumption-based payments for infrastructure software, as it reflects the value they receive from the product. This pricing shift is seen as a step forward in enabling users, including large enterprises, to efficiently leverage ngrok's capabilities beyond development and testing.

Enterprises adopting XaaS products benefit from rapid scaling and flexible consumption but face challenges with usage sprawl, which can hinder functionality and compliance. To address this, ngrok has introduced Account Domain Controls for its Enterprise plan, enabling IT teams to manage accounts centrally by claiming domain ownership and enforcing single sign-on (SSO) for all users. This feature allows enterprises to consolidate users into a single account, enforce security policies like IP restrictions, and ensure all users have access to purchased functionalities. Enabling these controls involves a straightforward process on the ngrok dashboard, requiring domain ownership validation. While the feature does not retroactively consolidate existing accounts, it helps enterprises maintain centralized control and governance over their ngrok accounts, thereby facilitating secure app and API delivery.

You can easily migrate from Cloudflare Tunnels to ngrok by using a YAML configuration file. ngrok offers more flexibility and options for configuring connections, including the ability to run multiple tunnels simultaneously and use advanced settings. The process involves signing up for an ngrok account, installing the agent, connecting it to your account, and defining tunnel configurations in the `ngrok.yml` file. You can then start the tunnels using the `ngrok start` command, which securely routes traffic to your application's port. This guide provides a comprehensive overview of the migration process and helps you make the transition from Cloudflare Tunnels to ngrok.