Running a tech company can be difficult; there are many hurdles and challenges that can make a project seem impossible to complete. Nevertheless, tech tools and methodologies working in tandem make a huge difference. If you work in the tech field, then you've certainly heard of DevOps as one of the most important methodologies to optimize and streamline the web development process.
At the same time, if you mention DevOps, you can’t possibly forget to talk about cloud computing as well since it’s at the heart of DevOps. What are they and how do they intersect? Let’s dive in.
DevOps
Coined by Patrick Debois in 2009, DevOps unites two previously siloed parts of the web development process: operations and development. Combining two separate, individual teams to create an all-encompassing DevOps team facilitates the entire process since they share responsibilities and collaborate on the project.
The responsibilities that DevOps teams share include:
Continuous integration, delivery, and deployment: the true backbone of DevOps lies here in the CI/CD pipeline; team members are using the power of automation to ensure that they are consistently developing and integrating the code, then deploying the new versions that they create. Individuals may have different responsibilities which focus on one of the parts in particular, but it just depends on what the team needs at the time. A huge component of this pipeline is that it requires automated processes that are always readily available on the cloud.
Feedback and collaboration: since DevOps teams work together as a unit, they correct and review other team members’ work and provide feedback to one another. Forming part of one larger team means that they are directly supporting the project through their collaboration.
Testing: improving a framework already in place and building upon it carries the possibility of mistakes and errors, which is why running tests is so crucial. DevOps teams always need to test their new code and thanks to automation, they can run tests quickly and smoothly.
Cybersecurity precautions: creating and designing applications and websites comes with a constant risk of danger this day in age: cyberattacks and hacking. Maintaining cybersecurity measures and precautions is a part of the job on any DevOps team since they are completing a web-based project.
Monitoring and maintenance: in addition to watching out for any cyberattacks, DevOps teams have to take care of their own side of the fence by observing the status of their project and making any necessary changes. This may sound simple; however, abrupt problems can wreak serious havoc.
IT troubleshooting: monitoring and maintenance is necessary for the moment in which an issue arises and in that case, they need to be ready to resolve it. That includes finding the root cause, communicating with the team, fixing it, and troubleshooting any problems with clients.
Cloud services: the most important tool for a DevOps team is the cloud services that they depend on daily for a variety of tasks. Leveraging cloud services is both efficient and cost-saving, but it is also a fundamental tool for the CI/CD pipeline and collaboration amongst team members.
When a DevOps team shares and delegates responsibilities with strong communication, they end up efficiently completing their work. It’s important for these teams to be on top of the project as a whole and one of the teammates that takes on a heavy workload is automated services.
DevOps Automation
DevOps relies on automated processes to carry out many of the tasks and responsibilities that they tackle and because of that, they need to have a high level of expertise. Automation is used for the following tasks:
Continuous integration: CI is one part of the CI/CD pipeline, a process that automates the uploading and release of the code continuously. Web developers will write up the code and then add it into a shared repository that other team members are also integrating code to simultaneously.
Continuous deployment: once the code has gone through the CI pipeline, it arrives at the CD pipeline to be deployed across several environments. In this part of the pipeline, automatic testing happens to ensure that the code is correct upon deployment.
Infrastructure as code: DevOps teams depend on infrastructure as code, which allows them to use code to manipulate and automate the maintenance and automation of the resources. Cloud services provide infrastructure as code and are normally on a payment basis that gives the option for scalability and adaptability.
Testing: one of the most important aspects of automation is testing since it is a task that can be tedious for DevOps team members to complete every time they integrate code and by automating it, they can invest their time and energy into other responsibilities.
Containerization and orchestration: containers are a fantastic tool for deployment across numerous environments, while orchestration is the automation behind deployment, management, and scaling of these containers.
There are a great number of benefits for DevOps teams when they use automation for those tasks, such as:
Less mistakes: employing automated processes inherently means that there are going to be less mistakes made since human error is taken out of the equation. Automation services is a machine that reads code and whatever is written will execute exactly as such.
Consistency: because there are so many steps to the DevOps process, automation across each stage provides consistency in how each one is completed, which is a huge benefit.
Productivity: automation aids DevOps teams in taking some of the pressure off their shoulders and tedious work off of their to-do list and in doing so, allows them to work on other tasks.
The benefits of automation cannot go unsung; however, to run automation and other important functions they need to employ several tools, especially cloud services.
DevOps Tools
There are many tools that DevOps teams need to carry out their responsibilities and they take the form of applications and software. Some of these tools include:
Jenkins
Puppet
Docker
Chef
Terraform
Selenium
Kubernetes
Putting the scalable solutions under the spotlight, cloud computing services such as Terraform, Azure Virtual Machines, Amazon ECS, and many more are fundamental for running an efficient and flexible DevOps team.
DevOps and Cloud Computing Synergy
We know you’ve heard of the cloud before, but DevOps teams employ cloud computing for several purposes and processes, which include:
Scalability: in the past, servers were used to support development teams, which entailed dedicating physical space at an office for computer space; however, with the use of cloud computing today, companies can build, design, and store their infrastructure without needing to buy more servers when there are changes in needs. As long as a company has access to the internet and pays a subscription fee, they can use the cloud. Having the ability to reduce or increase space in the blink of an eye is crucial for DevOps teams since their infrastructure needs are constantly fluctuating.
Resource efficiency: resource efficiency and scalability are directly related; when you are up and downscaling resources, companies are also spending less money and being more efficient. Paying for their cloud services, companies can adjust resource allotment and the price they’re paying.
Infrastructure as code: DevOps teams use code to mold the infrastructure to their liking and as a result, automation, provisioning management, and consistency improve. Since they have the option to configure the infrastructure to whatever they want, it can really support DevOps teams to work smarter.
Collaboration: in addition to the storage and infrastructure as code, cloud services also provide communication tools throughout their services that enhance collaboration amongst teams because it’s directly on the application where much of their work is done. Teamwork and communication on DevOps is essential for the project and having quick access and updates ensures less mistakes are made.
CI/CD pipeline: as we saw above, the CI/CD pipeline is extremely important for DevOps teams and it is only possible thanks to cloud computing. Cloud computing allows for team members to build, integrate, test, and deploy their code seamlessly and automatically in their shared repository.
Cloud computing and DevOps are two peas in a pod; DevOps depends on cloud computing as a reliable and essential tool for whatever size project they are elaborating. These projects can be huge and thanks to cloud computing, everything is run much more smoothly and efficiently.
DevOps teams need cloud computing experts to aid them in streamlining and optimizing their whole process and if either DevOps or cloud computing pique your interest, check out the DevOps and Cloud Computing Bootcamp at Ironhack below.