@Marvin generic question but if deploying Prefect via the helm-chart: https://github.com/PrefectHQ/prefect-helm/blob/main/charts/prefect-server/values.yaml#L217 is splitting the backgroundService from the actual server considered better practise? How come we can't specify how many replicas for this?

When deploying Prefect using the Helm chart, separating the

backgroundService

from the actual server can be considered a better practice in some cases. It allows for more granular control over the components, which can be useful for scaling and resource allocation. However, the Helm chart does not currently allow specifying the number of replicas for the

backgroundService

. This could be due to design decisions or limitations in the current implementation. There are no open issues in the Prefect Helm repository regarding this, so it's unclear if this is an oversight or a deliberate choice. If scaling the

backgroundService

is crucial for your deployment, you might consider contributing to the Prefect Helm repository or opening an issue to discuss this feature. For more details on deploying with Helm, you can refer to the Prefect Kubernetes deployment guide.

@Marvin so what happens if I just leave the backgroundServices with the server itself? If my server has 2 replicas, would it mean that the backgroundServices are running in "HA"

If you leave the

backgroundService

running with the server itself and your server has 2 replicas, the

backgroundService

will indeed run on each server replica. This effectively means that the

backgroundService

is running in a form of "high availability" (HA), as each replica of the server will also have a corresponding instance of the

backgroundService

. However, it's important to note that running multiple instances of the

backgroundService

does not necessarily mean they are coordinated or load-balanced in the way typical HA setups are. You should ensure that the services are designed to handle concurrent operations without issues. For more detailed architecture considerations, reviewing the specific functionality of the

backgroundService

in your Prefect setup would be advisable.

Good questions, thanks for reaching out. i see you opened https://github.com/PrefectHQ/prefect-helm/issues/452 - we'll pull in the right people and get back to you there 👍