Discover DevOps

DevOps is the combination of cultural philosophies, practices, and tools that increases an organization’s ability to deliver applications and services at high velocity: evolving and improving products at a faster pace than organizations using traditional software development and infrastructure management processes.

Getting started with DevOps

The main reason to implement DevOps is to improve the delivery pipeline and integration process by automating these activities. As a result, the product gets a shorter time-to-market.

Server configuration

Server configuration tools are used to manage and configure servers in DevOps. Puppet is one of the most widely used systems in this category. Chef is a tool for infrastructure as code management that runs both on cloud and hardware servers. One more popular solution is Ansible that automates configuration management, cloud provisioning, and application deployment.

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CI/CD

CI/CD stages also require task-specific tools for automation — such as Jenkins that comes with lots of additional plugins to tweak continuous delivery workflow or GitLab CI, a free and open-source CI/CD instrument presented by GitLab. For more solutions, check our corresponding article where we compare the major CI tools on today’s market.

Containerization and orchestration

The widely-used container orchestration platforms are commercial OpenShift and open-source Kubernetes. Containerization and orchestration stages rely on a bunch of dedicated tools to build, configure, and manage containers that allow software products to function across various environments.

Monitoring and alerting

Monitoring and alerting in DevOps is typically facilitated by Nagios, a powerful tool that presents analytics in visual reports or open-source Prometheus. While a DevOps engineer – we’ll discuss this role in more detail below – must operate these tools, the rest of the team also uses them under a DevOps engineer’s facilitation.

Genese DevOps Services Approach

Resource/Management

DevOps transformation requires efficient resource management, shifting from inefficient processes to value-driven, quality-focused continuous delivery. This necessitates breaking down silos, fostering trust, and establishing collaborative working practices as the standard.

Automation

Automation is a critical aspect of DevOps practice that involves using tools and technologies to streamline and automate various tasks throughout the software delivery lifecycle. This includes automating the build, testing, and deployment of code changes, as well as the provisioning and configuration of infrastructure resources.

Agile Deployment

Agile deployment is an approach that emphasizes delivering software in small, incremental releases. This involves continuously testing and deploying code changes to production environments, allowing for faster feedback and the ability to quickly adapt to changing requirements.

Continuous improvement

DevOps involves constantly identifying areas for improvement, making incremental changes, and measuring the results. This is achieved through practices such as Continuous Integration, Continuous Delivery, Infrastructure as Code, and Monitoring and Logging.

DevOps Tool Stack

Among hundreds of services that AWS provides, below mentioned are the most widely used tools and services for any application following DevOps principles.

AWS CodePipeline

AWS CodePipeline is a fully managed continuous delivery service that enables the automation of software release processes. It automates the building, testing, and deployment of code changes across various stages, from source code management to production.

AWS Codebuild

AWS CodeBuild is a fully managed build service that compiles source code, runs tests, and produces software packages that are ready for deployment. CodeBuild eliminates the need for managing and scaling build infrastructure, allowing teams to focus on building and testing code.

AWS Lambda

AWS Lambda is a serverless compute service that enables the execution of code in response to events or triggers. It supports a variety of programming languages and can be used for a range of use cases, including data processing, real-time stream processing, and web application backends. With Lambda, users only pay for the compute time consumed by their code, allowing for cost-efficient and scalable applications. By using Lambda, developers can focus on writing code and not worry about managing infrastructure.

AWS Step Functions

AWS Step Functions is a serverless workflow service that enables users to coordinate the components of distributed applications using visual workflows. Step Functions provides features like error handling, retries, and wait states, allowing users to build resilient and scalable applications. With Step Functions, users can create and manage complex workflows in a reliable and fault-tolerant manner.

Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS)

Amazon ECS is a fully managed container orchestration service that allows users to easily deploy, manage, and scale containerized applications. ECS provides features like automatic load balancing, service discovery, and automatic scaling, enabling users to focus on building and running applications.

AWS CloudFormation

AWS CloudFormation is a service that enables users to define and provision infrastructure resources as code. It allows users to model and automate the deployment of AWS resources, including compute instances, storage, and networking, using templates. CloudFormation provides features like automatic rollback, change tracking, and resource dependency management, allowing users to deploy and manage infrastructure in a repeatable and consistent manner.

AWS Elastic Beanstalk

AWS Elastic Beanstalk is a fully managed service that makes it easy to deploy and run applications in various programming languages, including Java, .NET, Node.js, Python, Ruby, and more. Elastic Beanstalk automatically provisions the necessary resources and allows for customization of the application environment. With Elastic Beanstalk, users can quickly and easily deploy and manage applications at scale, while reducing infrastructure management overhead

Amazon API Gateway

Amazon API Gateway is a fully managed service that makes it easy to create, publish, and manage APIs at any scale. API Gateway provides features like caching, throttling, and security, allowing users to control access to APIs and optimize performance. With API Gateway, users can quickly and easily create APIs that can be used by web and mobile applications, IoT devices, and other services, without the need for managing infrastructure.

AWS X-Ray

AWS X-Ray is a service that provides distributed tracing of applications on AWS. It enables users to identify performance issues and troubleshoot errors by tracing requests as they travel through the different components of distributed applications. X-Ray provides features like service maps, request tracing, and performance metrics, allowing users to gain insights into the health and performance of their applications.

Amazon CloudWatch

Amazon CloudWatch is a monitoring and observability service that provides metrics and logs for AWS resources, applications, and services. It enables users to collect, monitor, and analyze metrics and logs from a variety of sources, including AWS services and custom applications. CloudWatch provides features like alarms, dashboards, and automated actions, allowing users to gain insights into the health and performance of their applications and infrastructure.

DevSecOps Approach

Breaches are extremely expensive to the organizations. To reduce the risk of vulnerabilities, Security should be injected into the development and Operations Pipeline. Security in the  DevSecOps starts with proper Identity and Access Management following the principles of least privilege. Privileged entities should be monitored continuously with Logs Analysis and anomaly detection with Cloudwatch Logs and Cloudwatch Alarms. Security Groups and Network Access Control List should be properly configured both inside and outside the VPC. All Data stored or transmitted should be encrypted. Patches and updates should be applied as soon as available. Application and environment level security keys or secrets should be properly integrated with AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store and AWS Secrets manager. Strict and robust development procedures should be made and followed with standard specification and coding conventions. Use of linters, pre/post commit hooks should be implemented with appropriate training to the developers about security. Automated Security tests should run in the CICD pipeline. Furthermore AWS Config rules, AWS Trusted Advisor and AWS Security Hub should be appropriately leveraged. Code Review and Peer Programming should be followed. Scans for Common and Known Vulnerabilities in the application and Infrastructure code should be automated in the CICD pipeline and use only trusted third party tools. Also booking the calendar with Security Companies for  Periodic Third Party Security Assesment should be encouraged. Proper Security Documentation should be maintained about the security requirements, architecture and their threat models. Incident should be handled promptly along with the eradication of the incident and future proofing should be thought of constantly. Shift Left of security practices should be encouraged.

Benefits of DevOps

Security

Move quickly while retaining control and preserving compliance. You can adopt a DevOps model without sacrificing security by using automated compliance policies, fine-grained controls, and configuration management techniques. 

Improved Collaboration

Build more effective teams under a DevOps cultural model, which emphasizes values such as ownership and accountability. Developers and operations teams collaborate closely, share many responsibilities, and combine their workflows.

Reliability

Ensure the quality of application updates and infrastructure changes so you can reliably deliver at a more rapid pace while maintaining a positive experience for end users. Use practices like continuous integration and continuous delivery to test that each change is functional and safe. Monitoring and logging practices help you stay informed of performance in real-time.

Speed

Move at high velocity so you can innovate for customers faster, adapt to changing markets better, and grow more efficient at driving business results. The DevOps model enables your developers and operations teams to achieve these results.

Rapid Delivery

Increase the frequency and pace of releases so you can innovate and improve your product faster. The quicker you can release new features and fix bugs, the faster you can respond to your customers’ needs and build competitive advantage.

Scale

Operate and manage your infrastructure and development processes at scale. Automation and consistency help you manage complex or changing systems efficiently and with reduced risk. For example, infrastructure as code helps you manage your development, testing, and production environments in a repeatable and more efficient manner.

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