Category: DevOps

How DevOps Helps Businesses To Grow? Know the Top 5 Benefits of DevOps

 

In the current fast-paced technology environment, it has become vital for organizations to explore new techniques of working to be ahead of the competition. While working on a  project it is crucial that the whole team and system are well-aligned with each other to get the desired results. For it, proper implementation of DevOps will completely transform your software process and also create value for both employees and customers, ultimately enhancing your business performance. By gaining on the DevOps benefits, organizations can streamline the relationship between developers, QA experts, and the operations team, thereby making everyone more productive. Any issue that arises, is overseen by the DevOps engineers and it gets sorted so that it does not create further problems and risks. 

By applying the DevOps implementation approach, it helps companies to quickly create and update their software products and services. GoodWorkLabs, the renowned DevOps Development, automation, and consulting company in Bangalore, creates a proper DevOps solutions workflow that integrates the development process in such a way that it leads to better collaboration between the project stakeholders. 

DevOps can improve a business process in several ways. Here’s the list of top business benefits that DevOps can bring out to the organizations:

 

1. Faster Deployment of Software Solutions

The primary task of DevOps is to develop better software and deliver it faster to end-users. It’s just not about the speed, the delivered solution is made with all the precise details, it is just that the deployment is faster. How so? With DevOps, the whole process of development and deployment takes much less time for employees to complete as they are working together. So you will be better able to deliver results faster and increase the clients’ satisfaction.   

2. Improved customer service 

When your business develops solutions faster, it is able to serve business customers better in less time. That means by implementing the DevOps program you can actually help improve customer service for your business. This is clearly a huge advantage for the business. You can improve the customer experience, which will only add to the brand value and you will be able to improve revenue and profits. This is one of the biggest DevOps business advantages that businesses can claim. 

3. IT and business integration

With DevOps, the internal team gets to collaborate and work together on a project. This proves beneficial for the organization in many ways. When employees work together, they are happier and more productive. It also creates better team bonding in the workplace. 

4. Innovations and digital transformation

Companies tend to keep up with innovations and with DevOps, companies get more time for innovation. DevOps effectively frees up resources for innovation. After DevOps implementation, your business will streamline processes and improve efficiency. Thus leaving a lot more time for brainstorming and developing new ideas in the work schedule. The more time your business has to innovate and improve, the more your business will grow and succeed. The business benefit of DevOps implementation is that it spares you time to innovate and brainstorm new ideas for improvements. 

5. Flexibility in operations

A flexible approach to enterprise-wide development is always efficient. More cooperation among the team members in the workplace leads to the generation (as well as implementation) of better ideas.  Even sorting out things faster has tremendous benefits in both the short and long term. The longer it takes to fix a problem, the more money and resources are drained from your organization, but it can be reversed when you are able to solve problems more rapidly. If you want to improve problem-solving capabilities in your organization, DevOps is the ideal solution for you. 

GoodWorkLabs – Your Tech Partner

DevOps implementation can have a huge positive impact on your business operations and processes and even your workforce. With DevOps, you can see improvement in business efficiency, team collaboration, and customer experiences. These DevOps benefits can greatly improve business operations in all different areas and aspects with unified communications services. So got an idea of why implementing DevOps at your business will prove a wise idea. Want to know more details. Talk to our expert team and know, how you can make an efficient transition to a new business process. Shoot us an email at – [email protected] or send a message here!

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Kubernetes vs. Docker Swarm: How to Choose? | A Complete Breakdown

Containerization is growing and evolving rapidly, and when it comes to container orchestration, the two names that come to mind are Kubernetes and Docker Swarm. Both Kubernetes and Docker Swarm are open-source technologies that offer container orchestration.

Kubernetes-vs-Docker-Swarm

Although both the systems are not rivals, Kubernetes vs. Docker has been a long-debated battle. So, let’s do a deep dive into these applications.

 

Kubernetes

Kubernetes is an open-source application that provides automation, deployment, management, and scaling of a containerized application. It is widely used for massive-scale productions and for running heavy workloads. 

 

Docker Swarm

Docker Swarm is the orchestration of Docker’s container. Docker swarm uses the Docker API, which makes it is easy to use and less complicated. It features a zero single-point-of-failure architecture, with automatically generated certificates and backward compatibility.

 

Kubernetes vs Docker Swarm

Kubernetes and Docker Swarm, both are orchestration tools that offer similar functionality. However, there are some basic differences between the operation and functionality of two systems, as discussed below.

Kubernetes-vs-Docker-Swarm-Google-Trends

 

Installation and Set-Up

The installation process in Kubernetes is manual and requires expertise and planning to make it ready to use. Moreover, different operating systems have different installation processes. If you want to use Kubernetes, you need to be acquainted with cluster configuration beforehand. 

On the other hand, Docker is simple to install and set up. For Docker, you need to learn one set of tools to configure and build an environment. Moreover, Docker Swarm provides flexibility with regards to nodes by allowing a new node to join a cluster as a worker or manager.

 

Application Deployment

In Kubernetes, you can develop an application using a combination of deployments, services, micro-services, or pods. 

On the other hand, google Kubernetes vs. docker swarm indicates that in Docker Swarm, you can deploy applications as services in a Swarm cluster. You can also use Docker Compose to deploy an app, and if you want to specify a multi-container, you can use the YAML files.

 

Monitoring and Logging

If the servers are deployed within the cluster, Kubernetes will support multiple monitoring and logging versions like Heapster/Grafana/ Influx, Elasticsearch/Kibana (ELK), and Sysdig. 

Talking about how Kubernetes is different from docker swarm, Docker Swarm supports monitoring only with third-party applications. Docker Swarm features an open API, which makes third-party integration easy. If you want to monitor using Docker Swarm, use Reimann.

 

Working

If you want to run Kubernetes, you need to know CLI (Command Line Interface). If you want to run Kubernetes on top of Docker, you will need to know Docker CLI as well. 

As far as Kubernetes vs. Docker is concerned, Docker Swarm is a tool of Docker, which requires the same language for navigation within the structure. This easy functionality makes Docker easier to use compared to Kubernetes.

 

Scalability

Scalability is a vital factor to consider while choosing the best container orchestration system. Kubernetes is an all-in-one framework, which makes it rather complicated to use. It offers a set of APIs and a robust cluster state, which reduces the process of deployment and scaling of the containers. 

Talking about google Kubernetes vs. docker swarm, Docker Swarm can deploy containers in comparatively faster, which promotes the reaction times to provide seamless on-demand scalability.

 

Availability

All the pods in Kubernetes are distributed among various nodes, which tolerate application failure and provide high availability. Kubernetes features load-balancing services that detect and remove unhealthy pods, which ensures high availability. 

Evaluating Kubernetes vs. Docker, Docker Swarm provides high availability as well; Swarm nodes can be utilized to replicate the services. Docker Swarm features Swarm manager nodes that are responsible for managing the cluster and resources of worker nodes.

 

Networking 

Kubernetes offers a flat network that allows all pods to communicate with each other. In Kubernetes, the model needs two CIDRs: one for IP address and the other one for services. 

Talking about how Kubernetes different from docker swarm, Docker Swarm features a node joining a cluster that creates a network of services for all the hosts in the Swarm. Docker Swarm users also have the option of encrypting container data traffic while creating their overlay network.

 

Pros and Cons of Docker Swarm

Let’s discuss the pros and cons of Docker Swarm to get a better idea of google Kubernetes vs. docker swarm.

Pros & Cons of Docker Swarm

Pros

  • Using a virtual environment usually takes a lot of time, but it is not the case with Docker Swarm. 
  • The documentation of Docker Swarm provides all the necessary information
  • The configuration process is fast and simple. 
  • Your application remains isolated in Docker
  • Docker also provides component reuse and version reuse.

Cons

  • Docker is a Linux-dependent platform and requires virtual machines to run on another OS. 
  • It does not have a storage option.
  • The monitoring process in Docker is not advanced.

Pros and Cons of Kubernetes

To understand the Kubernetes vs. Docker difference, let’s talk about the pros and cons of Kubernetes.

Pros-Cons-of-Kubernetes

Pros

  • In case of errors with multiple updates, you can roll back to the previous image.
  • Kubernetes offers Horizontal Infrastructure Scaling, Auto-scaling, and Manual scaling, along with a Replication controller to ensure the cluster has an accurate number of pods in a running condition.
  • Kubernetes monitors the health of containers and nodes and promotes the self-healing and auto-replacement of damaged nodes. 
  • Kubernetes allows the regular deployment of features without worrying about the downtime. 
  • In Kubernetes, data is divided across the containers, but if pods get damaged, the volume is removed automatically.

Cons

  • The installation process is tormenting, and if you are not using a cloud provider, it would be more challenging. 
  • It is hard to set up, and creating a new process takes a lot of time. 
  • If your application is stateless or clustered, you have to work on the application configurations.

The Final Verdict

First and foremost, you need to understand that Kubernetes vs. Docker is not a battle, as both systems provide a separate set of functionalities. Evaluating Kubernetes vs. docker, the difference is simple: Kubernetes is difficult and complicated to use but provides additional functionalities, whereas, Docker Swarm is easy to use and setup but offers a limited set of features. 

Therefore, if you are still confused about how is Kubernetes different from docker swarm, you can study google Kubernetes vs. docker swarm features to analyze which system suits your requirements.

Visit us today at GoodWorkLabs and learn more about us!

 

 

7 Tips to Hack the DevOps Culture

Keeping the business at a constant level of growth is a priority for everyone today. With quickly evolving trends in technology, DevOps is the perfect response to ensure that growth.

DevOps makes growth hacking for your business considerably by delivering the features your customers expect, quickly in the market. DevOps came into existence after a long history of software development, and this is why it is a very well-thought approach.

With software, an integral part of every tech company today,  DevOps has a high value among companies.

DevOps has been a crucial factor for the success of well-known companies like Netflix, Google, and Amazon. Amazon has been able to successfully automate their releases, speeding up its software development lifecycle in the process.

Everybody is looking for ways to faster releases and high-quality services. If you too, fall under the same category, then for increased customer satisfaction, applying DevOps principles in the right way is an important key.

The primary motive of DevOps is pretty straight-forward: Deliver better quality software updates regularly, with a high degree of reliability. In a concise perspective, DevOps is a mental model shift for the entire company to provide higher organizational flexibility.

This transformation to DevOps can be a smooth process, through the hacks we have in store for you.

7-Tips-to-Hack-Devops-Culture

7 Hacks/Tips for DevOps Transformation:-

 

GETTING PREPARED FOR A CHANGE AND ACCEPTING A CLOUD-NATIVE APPROACH

Accepting and going with the change is the only way to keep your business growing. As a business owner, you may get apprehensive of this change, but not changing as per the technology trends is the worst thing you can ever do to lose amidst the competition.

DevOps aims to solve one of the most significant problems of the IT industry, by acting as a bridge between the Dev and Ops people. It is an urgent need, looking to get addressed as soon as possible.

The change cannot be an abrupt one. Consistent and small progressive changes can only achieve it. The management of a company should ensure that they convey the advantages and benefits of DevOps to everyone before actually going ahead with the change.

This change will initially be through the IT managers and architects of individual teams in the company.

The term cloud-native, too, is not just a trendy word. On the contrary, it is a complete methodology, taking advantage of a lot of modern techniques; it combines Agile methodology, DevOps and Continuous Delivery. The technologies and architecture of Microservices, Containers, Cloud and Serverless.

A cloud-native strategy is responsible for increased speed, performance, power and margins for business enterprises.

TAKING NOTE OF FAILURES AND LEARNING QUICKLY FROM THEM

Because DevOps is related to accomplishing tasks quickly and learning fast, the chances of failure initially are quite vast. This may look a bit rough at the start, but with the right approach and a correct set of guidelines, the problematic situations get handled with a lot of ease.

What is more important here is the acceptance of failure, because any scenario otherwise will lead to people blaming each other. Teams should understand that DevOps is there to eliminate the confusion between groups, but to reach that stage, the initial chaos will have to get managed tactfully.

LEARN TO BE CONTINUOUS EVERYWHERE AT ALL POINTS OF TIME

The meaning of being continuous everywhere is to be able to apply the practices of continuous testing, continuous integration, continuous deployment, and continuous improvement.

These things slowly build up the value in the learning curve of a company and help in making processes more lean and accurate.

With the end goal being a continuous presence everywhere, a well-developed software will become liquid wherein the products and services will tightly get connected to the appropriate points in the software.

It will lead to a constant stream of updates into the devices and systems, with the software automatically updating the operations without any human involvement.

PUT A KEEN FOCUS ON AUTOMATION

A significant part of DevOps deals with automation, and there too, zero-touch automation if possible. DevOps leads and IT managers should be involved to select the tools and DevOps processes, having the motive of achieving DevOps at scale.

Once the right set of tools are available, it is the perfect time to define the policies and steps for each tool. Tools like Kubernetes, Terraform, Slack, Chef, and the likes help you build up your automation capabilities. Automating the repetitive tasks of developers provide them with extra time to focus on the other things necessary for the business.

HAVE A FEEDBACK LOOP IN PLACE TO COMMUNICATE BETTER

The lack of coordination between Dev and Ops can be taken care of with the help of a feedback loop. A feedback loop is capable enough to identify the bottlenecks and remove them. A feedback loop assists teams in rectifying their errors, while keeping a keen eye on patterns disrupting continuous software delivery.

A stable feedback loop will help teams to outperform by removing the bottlenecks causing the problem, leading to a growth in the overall productivity.

There are several simple processes to validate a feedback loop in software development- code reviews, Daily Scrum, unit tests, etc.

Ideally, a feedback loop should be as short as possible. This makes it easier to implement your process quickly.

CARVING OUT TRUST BETWEEN THE TEAMS

Trust is the first requirement for any business aspiring to succeed with DevOps. The performance of a business depends on a large extent to the team collaboration and trust among teams present in the company.

Because DevOps practices flow from downwards to the upper level of management, trust is of high importance because it will help the team collaborate and work more collectively. Developing confidence has always been a primary aim of DevOps.

Due to DevOps, the Dev and Ops team act as a support to each other rather than blaming each other. The team bottlenecks will considerably reduce with DevOps. This is why trust is essential.

HAVE PATIENCE

There is one critical issue generally present when people think that DevOps will give overnight results. The reality is otherwise. Because, patience is essential where DevOps is involved.

It takes from a few months to some years before the culture and fully gets embedded into an organization. It is never easy for an old company using all the legacy practices to adapt and execute DevOps practices.

Conclusion

Automation with DevOps can provide critical competitive advantages to the businesses. With the immense necessity in any software-driven company, rightly using DevOps will need the right mental approach. Adding to it, a growth mindset to understand procedures for easy automation will also make the coming years exciting for DevOps.

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Guide to Digital Transformation through DevOps

Be it new startups or even several large enterprises, organizations across every industry are adopting DevOps practices to gain and continue having a business advantage over the competitors.

Making the transition to DevOps culture can prove to be difficult, especially for enterprises. This is because when compared with smaller companies, enterprises tend to have more complicated legacy development software delivery processes.

These delivery processes involve distributed teams and large applications. Moreover, enterprises like stability and predictability, making it a problem to make the changes needed to execute a DevOps transformation.

Yes, smaller companies may have some advantages in implementing DevOps, but it is also not impossible for enterprises to make that transformation. Successful DevOps transformations share a lot of common characteristics, techniques and strategies.

Together, these techniques help an organization to adapt that transformation. Furthermore, taking smaller and feasible steps provides an opportunity to learn, check the improvements build a steady momentum.

Digital Transformation through DevOps

Tips to Drive a Successful DevOps Transformation

 

  1. HAVE SUPPORT FROM THE TOP MANAGEMENT

DevOps requires the management to be fully involved. The administration should have a fair understanding about how critical the DevOps principles are for a business. If not, the entire thing is very dangerous.

Although, it is good to have the complete support of the management, there is no compulsion to get this support right at the start. Initially, an enterprise will need efforts from the lower level and some early success to get management support. If you think about having the full support of management in the early stages, you will never be able to start itself.

What you can do instead is to make a start and keep in mind that the management support will be needed soon without a doubt.

 

  1. ESTABLISH AN OWNERSHIP OF THE TRANSFORMATION

It is important that one group within the enterprise makes the DevOps transformation their own.

This mentioned group can be a newly assembled DevOps team. Adding to it, the company’s tool group or even an existing development team with the necessary technical attributes is needed.

To put it more accurately, this group should be innovative, capable, and not burdened by a rigid production schedule. Because this team will drive adoption through the organization by other groups, selecting a product development team for the work is not the best idea.

Such kind of a team does not need cross-team visibility and the commitment required to make changes through the whole enterprise. With time, the need for this team will cease to exist as DevOps practices become standard in the company.

 

  1. BEGIN WITH A PILOT PROJECT

It will always be tough to execute overall changes within the enterprise. Apart from different schedules and team dynamics, any changes often disregard the needs of the affected people and have a degree of complexity, with the potential to hamper the whole effort.

For these reasons, it is a great idea to take a progressive approach and implement DevOps practices than go for a quick-fire approach. Successful enterprises understand that sudden changes can be severe, and therefore choose a gradual approach to take note of what is best slowly.

The best way is, to begin with a pilot project, implementing and proving DevOps concepts. You can look for a project having low risk and high reward.

With excellent support from DevOps ownership group, this pilot team can undertake the following tasks-

  • ASSESS

Have an evaluation about where the team is today, in terms of the tools, processes and the hurdles.

  • ALIGN

Establish the shared objectives and goals; determine where your team goes.

  • NOTE DOWN A MISSION STATEMENT

Pen down a simple sentence covering all your goals, like an increase in the release frequency, improvement in job satisfaction, increase in customer satisfaction and the likes.

  • MAPPING

Make a plan with crucial key performance indicators (KPI’S), milestones and achievable goals.

  • MOVE

No point to wait; start implementing without looking for everybody to get a good knowledge of the new approach.

  • MEASURE

Consistently monitor the progress for the best results.

 

  1. COMMUNICATE THE SUCCESSES AND FAILURES

Throughout the entire pilot project, make an extra effort to identify and keep track of the successes and failures. Know what the team learns and communicate this new knowledge openly. By openly, not only to the team but also the organization as a whole.

You can use a shared dashboard or newsletter for spreading the word. With time, the ratio of successes to failures will increase, and excellent communication will help to build the enthusiasm and excitement needed.

Share not only the quantitative metrics like KPI’S but also more qualitative results and observations.

 

  1. SEEK QUICK WINS TO TRANSFORM CONSISTENTLY

During and after the pilot project, look out for the software delivery processes to be automated or eliminated to get a quick win. Every single incremental gain to accelerate the software delivery process gets converted to gain for the business.

A DevOps transformation cannot happen all at once. It is a series of consistent improvements, where quick wins are a huge motivating factor for the overall team effort. They also enable teams to learn the principles working best for the organization, and build up confidence.

 

  1. SCALE THROUGH VARIOUS TEAMS

By a successful pilot project and quick wins under the cap for your team, the next step is, to begin with involving the other development teams. As with the rest of the transformation, the process of scaling teams is best when done incrementally.

As individual teams get under DevOps practices, the process and culture depend on the team needs and new insights from the groups already working with DevOps.

Arriving at Your Goal

Working hard to drive an enterprise transformation can easily make you lose sight of the end goal. There are several ways of acting as indicators if your organization succeeded-

  • Your teams deploy updated software at will.
  • You are successfully achieving all your KPI goals.
  • Customers and users, as well as the employees, are delighted.

Conclusion

Finally, it is crucial to understand that a DevOps transformation is never totally complete. There will always be steps to help you with accelerating the processes, and improve the automation- even after your company has achieved the original DevOps goals.

If you are looking for customized DevOps solutions for your business, we are at your service. Contact us and we will get back to you shortly.

Choose The BEST DevOps Software For Your Business

Google searches for “DevOps” has grown more than four times in the last half a decade!

 

DevOps has been enjoying increasing popularity as an approach to software development, management, and release. The acceptance of DevOps has doubled in between the years 2017 and 2018, speaking volumes about how popular and wide the reach and adoption has been.

DevOps_Software_For_Business

Not just this, Google searches for “DevOps” has grown more than four times in the last half a decade. It is crucial to note that the whole prospect of DevOps is not limited to a single tool or process, which is why it is different in the context of differing businesses.

With more and more companies beginning to research and implement DevOps, there has been an increase in focus for the software and the tools required to execute some pretty complex DevOps processes.

For this, there are quite a lot of options which offer a range of benefits, be it the reduction in manual activities to limit the errors or getting the timeframes of software delivery to speed up while improving the visibility too.

Taking a final call on which software is the best for your business needs you to have a closer look on the types of software available in the market, and how well they mingle with your business requirements.

There are a few significant kinds and categories of DevOps software which you can choose from, and they include:

  • A functionality based software is having a small amount of highly- specialized attributes, like a source control management system, test tools or an artifact repository.
  • Some stage-based software that includes building software, deployment software and release software as well.
  • An open source and commercial software.
  • Various enterprise- grade DevOps platforms.

Factors to consider while making the right choice

 

It is evident that if things were working as per schedule in your business, you would not have felt the need to switch over to DevOps or look around for new kind of tools.

However, because the results have not been favorable at your end, your first step should be to identify the key issues you are facing presently, and what are you looking to achieve by bringing in DevOps into your business.

The problems you have and the overall business objective for your business will give you the best direction you need to take for choosing the right kind of DevOps software. If there have been errors in the development stages, you will get a lot of help from the software which focuses on automation and testing.

This type of software will help to reduce the manual tasks, which in turn will restrict the potential for human errors.

If you are concerned with outages, you will be best helped by the software which provides a lot of support for containers which put the errors into isolation, keeping the rest of the system in an entire working condition.

Here are a few types of software which can provide the perfect help with usual problems which a business experiences-

  • If the concern is a lengthy software delivery procedure, tools which encourage continuous integration and consistent delivery will offer the perfect solution.
  • If the processes in your business take up a lot of time, involve a lot of manual work, and are repeatable, you are in definite need of automation software.
  • If a lot of times, you face difficulties in diagnosing the exact problem areas, not to mention the trouble in rightly pointing at outage causes, your business requires tools of pipeline management and visibility.
  • If the releases are complicated, not to mention the problems in orchestrating these releases, you require practical release management tools for your business.

Several companies come to experience these problems separately or even simultaneously. If you face a similar situation, you should consider looking for a DevOps software which effectively encompasses different tools to solve multiple issues.

Because they help you provide a foundation on which you can build the procedures and tools, DevOps are great platforms. They help in addressing multiple issues along with a reduction in the tool sprawl and also in the costing to purchase several solutions as well.

Improvements in the process stage

 

A considerable number of DevOps tools get positioned in a way such that they can be of help for a specific stage in the delivery cycle. This stage has three critical focal points of building, deploying and releasing. You can filter out the kind of software you require by monitoring a step where your IT team needs to cover the most significant ground.

For the problems which cut through the development cycle, a good DevOps platform will be your best bet. When there are multiple problems in crucial areas, the DevOps platforms extend across various stages of the software delivery cycle, helping with the improvement to integrate every step in a more concise delivery pipeline.

You should also be aware that a DevOps platform is not going to take care of all your requirements on its own. Writing and creating code and its further testing may lead to the need for separate tools. And this is just an instance.

It is also usual for a lot of IT companies to already have their favorite tools to use despite selecting any new DevOps platform.

If such a case is present with you, make sure you have a platform which also includes integrations so that you can keep using the tools which your team is accustomed.

But..there’s a Catch!

 

For any DevOps software which you choose, always keep in mind that the software does not create significant processes. DevOps is a structure with the responsibility to bring your teams together to develop a more compact and cost-effective procedure which can improve the software development and delivery.

DevOps software is helpful to solve problems under these processes, making them more efficient so that your team can accomplish much more. For this though, you need to choose software which can make DevOps supportive for you and make it all a reality for your business.

If you are looking for customized DevOps software for your business, we are at your service. Drop your details here(Link to contact us page) and we will get back to you shortly.

 

If you are looking for proven DevOps consulting service providers, then send us a short message with your requirements and we will take care of the rest.

7 Best DevOps Tools For Your Business in 2019

DevOps Tools for your Business

When it comes to software development, integrating the spheres of Development and Operations opens doors to a more refined perspective of software development. However, if you are new to the practices of DevOps, you may face certain problems initially regarding its understanding.

Not only this. Being new to DevOps practices will also make it difficult for you to select the right kind of tool for your team. To help you get the perfect tool, we have enlisted the 7 top DevOps tools that you can incorporate into your business operations.

The devops tools mentioned below are an amalgamation of automated building tools and application performance monitoring tools.

devops tools

1) GRADLE

When it comes to a tool stack of DevOps, you will require a build tool that is trustworthy. Maven and Apache Ant may have been the frontrunners for quite a long time, but the appearance of Gradle in the year 2009 has changed a lot of things. Gradle has been enjoying a steady rise in popularity since then.

The versatility of Gradle is the main USP. A programmer can write codes in different programming languages like C++, Java, and Python among many others. It is important to note that Google selected Gradle as its official build tool for its Android Studio.

The best thing about Gradle has to be the facilitation of incremental building, as it helps to save a considerable amount of compiling time. The incredible number of configuration possibilities only adds to its advantages.

 

2) GIT

Git is a pretty favorite tool across developers in the software industry. It is a distributed source code management tool that is a favorite among open source contributors and remote teams alike. Git facilitates the tracking of progress for your development work.

You also get a lot of help by saving different types of your source code and also can refer to the older versions if needed. The ease of reference makes Git an excellent tool for experimentation because you can create separate sections and fuse them only when every part is complete.

For integrating your DevOps workflow with Git, you also need repositories where the members of your team slide in their work. Presently, Github and Bitbucket are the two most popular online Git hosting services.

Both the above services can be merged seamlessly with Slack, which helps each member get notified when somebody takes a particular action.

 

3) JENKINS

Jenkins is also one of the favorite tools for DevOps automation for many software developing teams. It is necessarily a CI/CD server with an open source which allows you to automate of different stages of your pipeline of deliveries. With a considerable plugin ecosystem, Jenkins enjoys a colossal bout of popularity.

The number of plugins on offer is about a 1,000 making the integration with many tools pretty flawless, be it Docker or Puppet. With the help of Jenkins, you can set and personalize your CI/CD pipeline as per your requirements.

Jenkins is also pretty easy to start working with as it runs on basic Windows, Linux and Mac OS from the start. Jenkins also makes it very easy to create and deploy the new code as soon as possible. The process helps in a straightforward measurement of every single step in your pipeline.

 

4) BAMBOO

Bamboo is a CI/CD server solution which provides the users with a lot of similar features that are available on Jenkins. While both Bamboo and Jenkins facilitate the automation of delivery pipeline, Jenkins is an open source service, but Bamboo is a premium service, which means you need to purchase it.

There is a price tag on Bamboo for sure, but it also comes in with some features which come out-of-the-box that need to be established manually in Jenkins. Due to pre-built functions, Bamboo has the upper edge. Bamboo also has lesser plugins because it already does many things right from the moment it is activated.

Bamboo is also able to get flawlessly integrated with the other Atlassian tools like Jira and Bitbucket. To sum up, Bamboo saves you from a lot of configuration time. The user interface is also more intuitive with auto-completion, tooltips and other useful features.

 

5) DOCKER

Since its launch in the year 2013, Docker has been the most popular container platform and is still improving. People consider Docker as one of the essential DevOps tools in existence. It is Docker which has made containerization a trend in the world of technology as it makes distributed development a reality and also deploys your apps automatically.

Docker isolates your applications into different containers to make them more secure and portable. The Docker apps are also OS and platform independent. These Docker containers can serve the purpose as a substitute for practical tools like VirtualBox.

 

6) KUBERNETES

Now Kubernetes is a tool which takes containerization to a whole new level. It works nicely with Docker and its other alternate tools as well. Kubernetes helps in the grouping of containers into more logical units.

When it comes to Kubernetes, the need to link your containerized apps with a single machine does not exist. You can designate this function to a collection of computer systems. The tool then automatically distributes and schedules the containers along the computer collection.

 

7) PUPPET ENTERPRISE

Puppet Enterprise is a configuration management platform that works on a cross-platform. The tool allows you to help in the management of your entire app infrastructure as a code. Puppet also gives the developers an open source tool for minor projects.

If you have the Puppet Enterprise, managing multiple teams and a whole load of resources becomes very easy. The most fantastic thing about Puppet Enterprise is that there are more than 5,000 kinds of modules and offers easy interlinking with the other DevOps tools as well.

Thus, we hope you this list of the devops tools helps you implement the best development and operations strategy. But to find out which DevOps tool works best for your team, you will need to experiment and test things. in the end, a tool’s performance boils down to your own goals and needs.

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The Life Cycle of DevOps

The DevOps Life Cycle – 5 Step Process

DevOps is something that has been garnering a lot of attention whenever software development is brought up as a topic. At GoodWorkLabs, we believe in creating applications that perform consistently well. Applications normally run the risk of crashing or server downtimes thus scaling down the performance of the software.

But before we dive into the technicalities of the DevOps life cycle, let’s first cover the basics.

The DevOps Life Cycle

What is DevOps

The term DevOps is essentially an amalgamation of two words- “development” and “operations.” The entire methodology of DevOps revolves around the process to combine software development with the operations involved in Information Technology. The core goal of DevOps is to ensure a short system delivery life cycle. Once the cycle of a system delivery is brought in check, it becomes easier for any organization to pick up speed and deliver their services and applications to clients quickly.

DevOps is not a term. It is a process that is useful when merged with the culture of an organization and leads to great and consistent results for clients. DevOps helps a company stay afloat in the market. This culture is best suited for large distribution platforms such as websites that involve e-commerce and applications that are stored on a cloud platform.

 

The DevOps Lifecycle and how GoodWorkLabs deploys reliable DevOps Solutions

Like any consistent process, the DevOps lifecycle also has a lot of phases that comprise its overall identity. To help you understand better, let us discuss a real-time case where the DevOps team at GoodWorkLabs investigated real-time performance issues for online gaming software. The application often crashed when more users got onboard and CPU storage also suddenly spiked to 100% simultaneously thus leading to server downtime. To enhance the performance of this application, the following recommendations were made by the GoodWorkLabs DevOps team:

  1. To reduce the number of repetitive calls to dcrypt_card and encrypt_card.
  2. Identified particular gameplay that consumed about ~7% of the CPU which led the risk to explode if the number of players for the given gameplay increased.
  3. To change the nature of javascript files from synchronous to asynchronous type in order to enhance the performance of the code.
  4. Follow an iterative testing model to ensure no bugs enter the game architecture with the changes recommended.
  5.  To migrate the database to a NoSQL DB like MongoDB to scale performance. In the long term, this helps to keep performance consistent.

Thus, with the above set of DevOps recommendations, GoodWorkLabs was able to considerably enhance the game experience. To understand how this process works, let’s take a look at the different stages in the DevOps life cycle.

devops-cycle

Image reference: DZone

 

Once the business goals and objectives have been clearly identified and resource planning and optimization is done, the DevOps strategy moves through the following stages.

 

1. Collaborative Development:

This is the very first phase which involves the planning procedure of your application. Development takes place once you list down a bundle of objectives that are to be achieved through the application you want to create.

Once you close in and take a final call on the objectives, you are ready to head over to carry out the development of your project. This constitutes the procedures of generating the relevant codes and getting them ready for the next phase. Because DevOps is a consistent procedure, existing code can also be used for further enhancements by taking continuous feedback on the development.

 

2. Integration:

This is a phase that happens as a subsequent step to the development process. Integration comprises of a series of planned steps that need to be executed in the later phases and also analyze as to whether the developed code has a performance that matches up to the set objectives or not. The performance of this code is a big evaluation metric for project documentation.

 

3. Continuous Testing:

Testing is the phase wherein practical use of the application under DevOps gets merged into. A consumer or a beta tester makes an effort to ensure that the application is made proficient enough to yield plausible results that are feasible in the real world. Testing provides a lot of deeper insights regarding various aspects of the application. This is a great positive as any changes to be made are straightaway sent to the development process again.

Testing enables consistent improvements in the overall working of an application and prepares it for launch in the real world.

 

4. Continuous Monitoring:

Monitoring is a phase which involves the operational factors of the entire DevOps process. This is where a lot of crucial information about the application usage is saved and intricately processed with the objective of finding out the areas of errors and take note of the present trends that involve the application. This monitoring is more often than not, integrated right within the software that can be in the form of files or even churn out data about certain benchmarks when the application is under use.

 

5. Continuous Feedback & Optimization

Feedback is the phase that makes consistent improvements within the application. A lot of consistent analysis is done within the operating software to take note of feedback that best describes the current situation of the application. With this regular feedback system, the next development phase of the application is updated with all desired changes.

DevOps has continuity embedded deep into its core, as it is nothing but the redundant steps that elevate an application from a mere project to a sound operating software. This helps the software get better with every update as the development is continuous without any bottlenecks.

Conclusion

DevOps is undoubtedly a great way to undertake the entire procedure of application development. DevOps is what helps a business application to up its game by keeping the feedbacks of the end customer in the forefront throughout the operating life cycle. When it comes to applications that are dynamic and fluid to the trends of the market, it is nothing but DevOps that can help constant evolution and take up new challenges head-on.

If you are looking to optimize the performance of your applications or software and require a proven DevOps strategy, then send us a short message with your requirements.

 

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