Slack Eliminates SSH in EMR Pipelines, Migrates 700+ Jobs to Rest-Based Architecture
Slack modernized its data platform by replacing SSH based execution in Amazon EMR pipelines with a REST driven orchestration layer called Quarry. The migration covered 700 plus Airflow operators, improving security, reliability, and observability while eliminating direct SSH access across production clusters and enabling a server side job lifecycle model. By Leela Kumili
The continuous evolution of cloud infrastructure and the increasing demand for secure, reliable, and observable data pipelines are driving modern enterprises to re-evaluate legacy architectural patterns like SSH for data orchestration.
This move by a major tech company like Slack signals a broader industry trend towards more robust, automated, and secure data platform management that reduces operational overhead and enhances devsecops practices.
Direct SSH access on production data clusters is being phased out in favor of API-driven, REST-based orchestration, enabling significantly more granular control, better auditability, and reduced attack surface.
- · Cloud infrastructure providers
- · DevSecOps tooling vendors
- · Companies with large data platforms
- · API management platforms
- · Legacy infrastructure management practices
- · Manual operations teams
- · Attackers targeting SSH vulnerabilities
Reduced operational incidents and improved security posture for data processing pipelines at Slack and similar organizations.
Increased adoption of server-side, API-driven job orchestration frameworks across the industry, potentially leading to standardization.
Enhanced overall resilience and efficiency of global digital infrastructure as major players move to more automated and secure backend systems.
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Read at InfoQ