What is DevOps Infrastructure? and Why Use It?

In the age of technology, everything is constantly changing and evolving. Speaking of one of the latest interventions, DevOps is a hot trend in the tech and software industry. DevOps is the abbreviated form of “Development” and “Operations”. DevOps comprise a set of practices that are automated. They are an amalgamation of strategies, principles, and resources, which help to improve the ability of an organization to produce applications and deliver services at lightning-fast speed. This helps to enhance the operational efficiency of an organization and allows it to represent itself better in front of the consumers, and stand a class apart from the competitors.

In the age of digitization, technology and the internet have changed tremendously. Technology is no longer just an enterprise; DevOps has converted technology into an integral part of a business. It is through digital application services that businesses establish communication with customers. Software is used to improve the operational productivity of the business by impacting any segment of the production chain like communication systems, logistics, operations, and so on. Just like it is important for a firm to realize how important it is to upgrade the design and usability of the products, in modern times, it is also important for the companies to understand the modern requirements with respect to using various software. If you are willing to pick up this new skill, you can look for the Best DevOps Courses Online. If you are wondering what is DevOps infrastructure, give this article a read.

What is DevOps?

Before we delve deep into the topic, it is important for us to understand what DevOps is. Initially, the operations team and the development team worked independently. Deployment and testing were separate phases that were taken up after the activities of design and build. Before the advent of DevOps, the team members used to spend a lot of time in activities like designing, testing, etc. rather than creating business services. Not being in synchronization with one another, the development and operations teams had their own separate timelines, which would lead to delays. DevOps helped to bridge this gap.

In simple terms, DevOps can be understood as a collaborative effort that helps to bring about a collaboration between IT operations and Development in a way that is repeatable and automated. It helps to boost the speed of the organization to deliver services and software applications.

Infrastructure Automation in DevOps

DevOps infrastructure or Infrastructure Automation under DevOps refers to a concept that revolves around the idea of managing infrastructure with the help of code. This is done with the help of certain tools or programs which can help to carry out the tasks automatically! Some of the leading IAC tools are listed below.

• Ansible
• Terraform
• SaltStack
• CloudFormation
• Azure Resource Manager
• SpectralOps

There might be a number of factors such as irregular allocation of resources, lack of metrics, fragmented procedures, and misalignment or improper allocation of responsibilities, that might hinder an organization from adopting and scaling the DevOps practices at full length. Of all the roadblocks, improper infrastructure management might be the most bothersome. When infrastructure is properly managed, it makes sure that the resources are configured properly, secured, backed up on a regular basis, and monitored from time to time.

However, it may not be feasible to perform all these tasks manually at the enterprise level. This is where DevOps steps in. DevOps infrastructure is automated which ensures ease of management. Hope this gives you an understanding of what is infrastructure in DevOps.

Why Use DevOps in Infrastructure?

DevOps helps in the automation of infrastructure. This enables the operations team and the developers to manage, facilitate, and monitor the resources automatically. This saves the hassle and effort of having to do everything manually, which can slow down the process and cause an organization to function inefficiently.

Since the infrastructure is automated, the DevOps teams can test the applications very early during the development cycle. This allows the provision for multiple environments for testing and helps to keep at bay the common issues related to deployment.

Listed below are some of the benefits of using DevOps in infrastructure:

• Predictability: With the help of DevOps, there will be a relatively lower rate of failure of the new releases. This is because the products will be tested at the initial stage itself.
• Better Quality: DevOps helps the teams to come up with improved and better-quality applications by taking the infrastructure issues into consideration.
• Error elimination and reduced time for recovery: The practices put to use by DevOps are ideally suited for eliminating the impact of rollbacks, bottlenecks, or deployment failures that might affect efficiency. When these issues are addressed at an early stage, they can be lived through easily. Quick detection of errors eases the process for both the operations as well as the developer’s teams.
• Reduced marketing time: Since DevOps streamlines the procedure of software delivery, the process of marketing can be made quicker.

It is important to note that automation is the main idea based on which DevOps functions. We hope this gives you an idea about DevOps and infrastructure.

What is DevOps Infrastructure as Code?

Of all the practices that are put to use by DevOps, Infrastructure as Code is a practice that deserves notable mention. With the help of DevOps Infrastructure as Code, the IT environment can be provisioned with multiple lines of code. The incorporation of IaC systems helps to speed up the procedures which would, otherwise, take hours or sometimes even days for configuration if manually processed.

With the help of Infrastructure as Code, the DevOps teams can incorporate the use of different tools for controlling and customizing the required infrastructure as and when required. A DevOps Foundation Training Course can provide more insight into the use of these tools.

To sum it up, we can say that Infrastructure as Code is the technique that can help in the management, provisioning, and configuration of an IT environment with the help of code in lieu of manual setup, which will incorporate the use of operating systems and hardware devices. The feature of automation enables the DevOps teams to quickly develop the cloud setting that will be required to test the application and run it as a trial.

How DevOps Infrastructure Management Impacts Provisioning and Deployment

To understand how infrastructure in DevOps works, you need to have a look at the stages that are involved.

Stage 1: Planning

In the planning stage, the goals and requirements for the project are chalked out. To give vent to the project in a systematic manner, it is important to identify the most suitable and compatible team members who will represent both Dev and Ops, to work on the project. All the information has to be thoroughly shared by both verticals so that the operation team has a clear idea about the development goals, needs, and timelines.

Stage 2: Development

Based on the specifications that were laid out during the planning stage, the most appropriate environments for development are provisioned. The team that is in charge of the infrastructure makes use of the automated configuration tools which help to get the task done with great ease. Some of the tools that are used in this context are Infrastructure as Code, Software-Defined Networking, and Infrastructure Orchestration.

Stage 3: Testing

Testing continues throughout the entire procedure; it cannot be flagged as a separate stage. This falls under the infrastructure side, where tests are automatically run based on the new IaC configurations. Any issue thus found has to be remediated prior to the commencement of the development stage. This eliminates the risk of bottlenecks.

Stage 4: Deployment

Based on the pipeline, build, production, and delivery, the servers are automatically configured. It is in the deployment stage that the IaC helps in the building of the production environment, and then harnesses the use of different tools to release the build.

Stage 5: Support/Feedback

Any issue that might arise with the software or the infrastructure is detected by the process of automation and is reported automatically. The issues are then automatically forwarded for rectification. As is the essence of DevOps in infrastructure, members in charge of both development as well as operations come together to troubleshoot the problems and brainstorm together so that they can come up with the most feasible solutions for the errors in infrastructure. A DevOps Certification online can help you understand this better.

Benefits of Infrastructure as a Code in DevOps

Listed below are some of the benefits of using Infrastructure as Code in DevOps:

1. Lightning-fast speed

This is the key benefit of using Infrastructure as Code as a tool in DevOps. Since it focuses on automation that serves as an alternative to manual processes, it can help to execute the tasks very rapidly while not tampering with the quality of the software or the application.

2. Automated control for better management

In order to establish an online impact and maintain a good IT condition, business enterprises and organizations have to deploy a number of IT resources and applications. Organizations, therefore, need solutions that will help to effectively manage the infrastructure and slash costs. Infrastructure of Costs helps to eliminate problems by providing automated control in the context of infrastructure management.

3. Efficient time management

With the help of Infrastructure as Code, Operators and Developers only need to write a code once. This way, the code becomes ready for use multiple times. This helps to save a great deal of effort and time, and developers can shift their focus to the other productive aspects related to the development of the application.

4. Scalability

One of the important aspects of managing IT infrastructure is scalability, as it enables an organization to identify the gaps and figure out the chances for improvement. IaC helps the developers easily add resources to the system that already exists so that it can be upgraded according to the current requirements of the users.