Let's Talk DevOps

Real-World DevOps, Real Solutions

Category: General

  • DevOps and the Möbius Loop

    Harnessing the Möbius Loop for a Revolutionary DevOps Process

    In the world of DevOps, continual improvement and iteration are the name of the game. The Möbius loop, with its one-sided, one-boundary surface, can serve as a vivid metaphor and blueprint for establishing a DevOps process that is both unified and infinitely adaptable. Let’s delve into the Möbius loop concept and see how it beautifully intertwines with the principles of DevOps.

    Understanding the Möbius Loop

    The Möbius loop or Möbius strip is a remarkable mathematical concept — a surface with only one side and one boundary created through a half-twist of a strip of paper that then has its ends joined. This one-sided surface represents a continuous, never-ending cycle, illustrating an ever-continuous pathway that can epitomize the unceasing cycle of development in DevOps.

    Reference: Möbius Strip – Wikipedia

    The Möbius Loop and DevOps: A Perfect Harmony

    In the ecosystem of DevOps, the Möbius loop signifies a continuous cycle where one phase naturally transitions into the next, establishing a seamless feedback loop that fosters continuous growth and development. This philosophy lies at the heart of DevOps, promoting an environment of collaboration and iterative progress.

    Reference: DevOps and Möbius Loop — A Journey to Continuous Improvement

    Crafting a Möbius Loop-Foundation DevOps Process

    Building a DevOps process based on the Möbius loop principle means initiating a workflow where each development phase fuels the next, constituting a feedback loop that constantly evolves. Here is a step-by-step guide to create this iterative and robust system:

    1. Define Objectives

    • Business Objectives: Set clear business goals and metrics.
    • User Objectives: Align the goals with user expectations.

    2. Identify Outcomes

    • Expected Outcomes: Envision the desired outcomes for business and users.
    • Metrics: Design metrics to measure the effectiveness of strategies.

    3. Discovery and Framing

    • Research: Invest time in understanding user preferences and pain points.
    • Hypothesis: Develop hypotheses to meet business and user objectives.

    4. Develop and Deliver

    • Build: Employ agile methodologies to build solutions incrementally.
    • Deploy: Use CI/CD pipelines for continuous deployment.

    Reference: Utilizing Agile Methodologies in DevOps

    5. Operate and Observe

    • Monitor: Utilize monitoring tools to collect data on system performance.
    • Feedback Loop: Establish channels to receive user feedback.

    6. Learning and Iteration

    • Analyze: Scrutinize data and feedback from the operate and observe phase.
    • Learn: Adapt based on the insights acquired and enhance the solution.

    7. Feedback and Adjust

    • Feedback: Facilitate feedback from all stakeholders.
    • Adjust: Revise goals, metrics, or the solution based on the feedback received.

    8. Loop Back

    • Iterative Process: Reiterate the process, informed by the learning from previous cycles.
    • Continuous Improvement: Encourage a mindset of perpetual growth and improvement.

    Tools to Embark on Your Möbius Loop Journey

    Leveraging advanced tools and technologies is vital to facilitate this Möbius loop-founded DevOps process. Incorporate the following tools to set a strong foundation:

    • Version Control: Git for source code management.
    • CI/CD: Jenkins, Gitlab, or ArgoCD for automating deployment.
    • Containerization and Orchestration: Podman and Kubernetes to handle the orchestration of containers.
    • Monitoring and Logging: Tools like Prometheus for real-time monitoring.
    • Collaboration Tools: Slack or Rocket.Chat to foster communication and collaboration.

    Reference: Top Tools for DevOps

    Conclusion

    Embracing the Möbius loop in DevOps unveils a path to continuous improvement, aligning with the inherent nature of the development-operations ecosystem. It not only represents a physical manifestation of the infinite loop of innovation but also fosters a system that is robust, adaptable, and user-centric. As you craft your DevOps process rooted in the Möbius loop principle, remember that you are promoting a culture characterized by unending evolution and growth, bringing closer to your objectives with each cycle.

    Feel inspired to set your Möbius loop DevOps process in motion? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below!

  • A chat with the GPT about DevOps.

    The 1st prompt to set the stage

    Me: Tell me why the Devops methodology works the best for cloud native application development. Explain as if you know nothing about development.

    chat.openai.com: DevOps is a method of working where development and operations teams collaborate closely to deliver software and systems more efficiently. This approach works well for cloud native application development because it allows for faster and more frequent updates to be made to the application, which is important when working in a cloud environment. Additionally, the focus on automation and testing in DevOps helps to ensure that the application is stable and reliable, which is critical when running in a cloud environment where resources can be scaled up or down as needed. This can help to minimize downtime and ensure that the application is always available to users. Overall, DevOps helps to make the development and delivery of cloud native applications more efficient and reliable.

    The 2nd prompt

    Me: Explain why AI is important to devops

    chatgpt.openai.com: AI (Artificial Intelligence) can be beneficial to DevOps in several ways. One of the main ways that AI can help is by automating certain tasks and processes. For example, AI can be used to automatically detect and diagnose problems in the system, which can help to reduce downtime and improve overall system reliability. Additionally, AI can be used to perform predictive maintenance, which can help to identify potential issues before they occur, allowing them to be addressed before they cause problems.

    AI can also be used to improve the performance of the system. For example, it can be used to optimize resource allocation, such as scaling up or down the number of servers as needed to meet changing demand, which can help to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the system.

    AI can also be used to improve the security of the system. For example, it can be used to detect and prevent security threats, such as intrusion attempts, by using machine learning algorithms to identify and respond to abnormal behavior.

    Overall, AI can help to improve the speed, efficiency, reliability, performance, and security of DevOps processes, which can help organizations to deliver applications and services more quickly and effectively.

    The 3rd prompt

    Me: and why is automation a key concept in devops

    chat.openai.com: Automation is a key concept in DevOps because it allows for the efficient and consistent execution of repetitive tasks and processes. By automating these tasks, organizations can reduce the risk of human error, increase the speed and accuracy of their work, and free up human resources to focus on more strategic and value-added activities.

    In the context of software development, automation can be used to automate tasks such as testing, building, and deploying code. For example, automated testing can help to ensure that the code is working as expected and is free of bugs, while automated building and deployment can help to speed up the process of getting code into production.

    In the context of infrastructure management, automation can be used to automate tasks such as provisioning, scaling, and monitoring of resources. For example, automation can be used to automatically spin up new servers as needed to handle increased traffic, and automatically scale back resources when they are no longer needed. This can help to optimize resource utilization and reduce costs.

    Overall, automation is important in DevOps because it helps to increase the speed, efficiency, and reliability of the development and delivery process, which can help organizations to deliver applications and services more quickly and effectively.

    Wrapping up

    Interesting conversation. Instead of a big instruction set, I literally chatted with chat.openai.com. It did manage to describe DevOps fairly well and even though the prose was not exactly advanced chat.openai.com did get the point across based on my prompts. It appears the prose was actually prompted by how the questions were asked. Simple questions, simple responses. Had the questions been more eloquent the responses seem as if they would follow suit. Need to test out that theory next. What fun. Stay tuned.

  • Becoming Successful in DevOps: A Beginners Guide

    Where to start

    As a platform engineer, you will be tasked with ensuring that software projects run smoothly and efficiently. This includes managing all of the various components needed to develop and launch an app or system.

    This may include choosing your development platform, setting up servers for hosting, finding vendors for integrations, and more. Beyond just technology, there are also time-management strategies to manage your day.

    As you can imagine, being a part of this team comes with its own set of challenges and responsibilities. Being a senior member of the team takes some work — but it is totally worth it!

    Being a senior developer means that you know what’s going on technologically, and you’re able to teach others that knowledge. You’ll have the opportunity to make an impact by helping other engineers get things done effectively.

    It’s also important to remember that not everyone has a career in tech like you do, so don’t feel like you need to take over every task.

    Plan your career

    7 things to know as a devops engineer

    As mentioned earlier, being a successful platform engineer is more than just knowing how to work in different environments having separate and distinctly different conversations with various people about what tools you use for each environment, and how to manage your time effectively between projects and departments. It also means planning your career ahead of time.

    Most experienced devs will tell you that it’s impossible to become a senior developer without first becoming a team lead or manager. This makes sense, because you need to establish relationships within the department and organization that depend on you for leadership, guidance, and resources.

    And since most tech companies are moving towards agile project management systems like Scrum, you need to be able to facilitate those meetings, talk about logistics, and make sure everyone has everything they need to complete their assignments on schedule.

    All of these things require someone who leads by example, sets appropriate priorities, and keeps people motivated so that they feel comfortable coming to you for help when needed. You can’t expect anyone lower up the chain-of-command to do this if they don’t see you putting in the effort into developing your leadership skills.

    It’s totally normal to want to move up the ladder, but making changes to your position requires proving that you’re capable of doing so while still keeping quality control over your tasks and setting realistic deadlines.

    Create a good work-life balance

    7 things to know as a devops engineer

    Being a platform engineer means having close relationships with other people in your organization that depend on you for success, so make sure you are not overworking yourself.

    It is important to enjoy what you do for a living, and staying motivated requires finding time to unwind and relax. You can’t expect to be passionate about your job if you don’t take care of yourself outside of work.

    You need to recognize that it takes a lot out of you, both physically and mentally, and give yourself breaks to keep up momentum. Take frequent vacations, organize social events outside of work, and try to limit how many hours you spend working every day.

    In addition to taking care of yourself, use the same energy you put into your career on your personal life to promote healthy relationships and friendships.

    Having friends who treat you well will help you feel more balanced and confident in your position, and they will help you stay happier at home. Try to meet someone new once a week, if possible, to maintain strong ties with family members and colleagues.

    Be a creative thinker

    7 things to know as a devops engineer

    As a platform engineer, you will be tasked with many different projects and responsibilities. This can make it hard to know what your next job is! As such, being able to think outside of the box and brainstorm new ideas and solutions to current issues is important.

    You will have to use your creativity to figure out how to best solve these problems.

    A great way to hone this skill is by taking part in various tech events or masterclasses. You may even get chance to present your own project or idea!

    By attending events like these, not only do they give you knowledge about the field, but also lots of opportunities to improve yourself professionally.

    Stay up-to-date with technology

    7 things to know as a devops engineer

    As a platform engineer, you will be tasked with keeping up with new technologies. This is not only important for your career, but also to satisfy users’ demands for quality services they can rely on.

    As more companies implement automation via software or robotics, there are always new tools being used for this process. You will need to know what these tools are and how to use them.

    You will also have to stay up-to-date with the ever-evolving practices in both development and operations. For example, when developers adopt newer agile methodologies like scrum, you must understand why that approach is better than the traditional waterfall model.

    Likewise, understanding lean startup methodology means knowing why it works and if it applies to your organization. These concepts help bring down the overhead of launching an app by reducing the number of steps needed to get things going.

    By staying informed about such developments, you will make sure apps launch as quickly as possible while still meeting standards.

    Be a good leader

    7 things to know as a devops engineer

    As a platform engineer, you will be in charge of many different departments within your organization. You can expect that not every department in your own company or others you work with have strong leadership qualities.

    If this is something that worries you, don’t worry! It’s totally normal.

    It takes time to develop leadership skills, but you are never too young or old to learn them.

    You can always look to those around you for examples of how to lead and learn from their mistakes. There are several books and courses available online and through educational institutions that focus on developing leadership abilities.

    There are also mentorship programs where experienced leaders share knowledge and resources with younger people. By being part of these groups, you could gain some valuable lessons yourself.

    Be a good team member

    7 things to know as a devops engineer

    As a platform engineer, your success will depend on how well you collaborate with others. You can’t have successful collaborations if one party is constantly trying to get their way or take over the process.

    This isn’t helpful for anyone involved in the project, and it won’t set well with leadership either. Make every effort to work with people around you using sound reasoning and evidence, and keep discussions focused on topics that are productive and positive.

    Avoid gossip unless you want to deal with a lot of resentment later, and be willing to go beyond what is practical or appropriate to help someone feel better about themselves or the situation.

  • Here’s to devops…a poem

    In devops, we're constantly on call 
Our work is never done, no matter how small 
We're always ready to troubleshoot and fix 
Our skills are diverse, our knowledge is mixed
    We're agile and flexible, always adapting 
We're proactive, we're never static 
We're experts in automation and efficiency 
We're the bridge between development and IT
    We're passionate about our craft 
We strive for continuous improvement, it's what we're after 
We're the glue that holds everything together 
We're the unsung heroes, working in all kinds of weather
    So here's to devops, the backbone of technology 
We may not always get the recognition, but we do it proudly 
We're a vital part of the team, and we know our worth 
We're the devops engineers, bringing stability to this earth

  • The journey

    My journey into this space began a very long time ago so I’ll skip all the gory details and jump into how I managed to get to this point. The gist of it is I was a “sysadmin” running IT for what was at the time a very large systems integrator. We had ~200 or so people and processed roughly 300 orders per day. It was a “paperless” warehouse running on OS/2. Told you it was “long ago”. Let’s fast forward…

    Started working for a company who was starting their transformation journey (this is well before Covid) and had been using large numbers of virtual machines. I was brought in because they had an outage due to a hardware failure and new management decided it was best to take advantage of AWS. The current AWS infrastructure was created by the old school datacenter admins so it, too was a catastrophe waiting to happen.

    I had been working with AWS for a while so I had been taking my knowledge of puppet and applying it to help automate some of the mundane tasks. The old school devs were used to using mercurial so I encouraged them to pull some of the tasks created in puppet into their code and got them started deploying their apps on their own to AWS. This was working.

    Fast forward a bit and the dev teams had evolved to a really nice Agile based setup. I had spent a ton of time learning how to manage pipelines, transitioning from puppet to terraform, and had educated a lot of the newer operations folks on automating everything.

    My journey is probably very similar to most. In my case I never really got into windows. I had started down the linux path very early in the big scheme of things and stuck with it. This really helped when it came to running and managing things in the cloud. Transitioning all of the various scripting languages was pretty straightforward because I had a good grasp on how to script. I had bash scripts for everything and that helped tremendously when I dove into Terraform and other tools. Plus I was very comfortable with the command line.

    The one thing I suggest is read, read, read. O’Reilly is a great resource. No matter where you are coming from the most important thing to remember is look at the box and think INSIDE of it. Never try to apply knowledge from what you are currently doing into what you want to do. What I mean by this is managing VMs is very different from managing container images, but they are the same. Yea…I know confusing, but so is “cloud-native”.

    I did it. You can, too.