What is DevOps? DevOps Methodology, Principles & Stages Explained

DevOps is a term that refers to the collaboration of software developers (dev) and operations personnel (ops). It is defined as a software engineering methodology that aims to integrate the work of software development and software operations teams by fostering a collaborative and shared responsibility culture.

If you are in the IT industry then you might have certainly heard one of the most trending buzzwords called DevOps. If you want to pursue a career in DevOps, then it is certainly beneficial and rewarding to go for a Professional Certificate Program in DevOps. Before we proceed further, I will suggest you go through the following blogs:

Top 10 reasons to learn DevOps

Who is a DevOps Engineer?

DevOps Roadmap in 2023

A lot of big IT companies have adopted DevOps as their way forward. So in this blog, I will discuss what exactly is DevOps and the points that I will be covering are as follows:

• • What is DevOps?
  • History of DevOps
  • DevOps tools for each phase of the DevOps life cycle
  • Benefits of DevOps
  • Who is a DevOps Engineer?

What is DevOps?

• The term DevOps is a combination of two words, namely Development and Operations. DevOps is a practice that allows a single team to manage the entire application development life cycle: development, testing, deployment, and monitoring.

• The ultimate goal of DevOps is to decrease the duration of the system’s development life cycle while delivering features, fixes, and updates frequently in close synchronization with business objectives.

• DevOps is a software development approach with the help of which you can develop superior quality software quickly and with more reliability. It consists of various stages such as continuous development, integration, testing, deployment, and monitoring.

So since what is DevOps, let us have a look at the history of DevOps.

History of DevOps

Before DevOps, We had two approaches for software development namely the Waterfall and the Agile.

Waterfall Model

• The waterfall model is a software development model that is pretty straight forward and linear. This model follows a top-down approach.

• This model has various starting with Requirements gathering and analysis. This is the phase where you get the requirements from the client for developing an application. After this, you try to analyze these requirements.

• The next phase is the Design phase where you prepare a blueprint of the software. Here, you think about how the software is actually going to look like.

• Once the design is ready, you move further with the Implementation phase where you begin with the coding for the application. The team of developers works together on various components of the application.

• Once you complete the application development, you test it in the Verification phase. There are various tests conducted on the application such as unit testing, integration testing, performance testing, etc.

• After all the tests on the application are completed, it is deployed onto the production servers.

• At last, comes the Maintenance phase. In this phase, the application is monitored for performance. Any issues related to the performance of the application are resolved in this phase.

Advantages of the Waterfall Model:

• Simple to understand and use

• Allows for easy testing and analysis

• Saves a significant amount of time and money

• Good for small projects if all requirements are clearly defined

• Allows for departmentalization & managerial control

Disadvantages of Waterfall Model:

• Risky and uncertain

• Lack of visibility of the current progress

• Not suitable when the requirements keep changing

• Difficult to make changes to the product when it is in the testing phase

• The end product is available only at the end of the cycle

• Not suitable for large and complex projects

Agile Methodology

Agile Methodology is an iterative based software development approach where the software project is broken down into various iterations or sprints. Each iteration has phases like the waterfall model such as Requirements Gathering, Design, Development, Testing, and Maintenance. The duration of each iteration is generally 2-8 weeks.

Agile Process

• In Agile, a company releases an application with some high-priority features in the first iteration.

• After its release, the end-users or the customers give you feedback about the performance of the application.

• Then you make the necessary changes to the application along with some new features and the application is again released which is the second iteration.

• You repeat this entire procedure until you achieve the desired software quality.

Advantages of Agile Model

• It adaptively responds to requirement changes favorably

• Fixing errors early in the development process makes this process more cost-effective

• Improves the quality of the product and makes it highly error-free

• Allows for direct communication between people involved in software project 

• Highly suitable for large & long-term projects

• Minimum resource requirements & very easy to manage

Disadvantages of Agile Model

• Highly dependent on clear customer requirements

• Quite Difficult to predict time and effort for larger projects

• Not suitable for complex projects

• Lacks documentation efficiency

• Increased maintainability risks

DevOps tools for each phase of the DevOps life cycle.

Eleven DevOps tools are matched with the appropriate procedures in the next seven categories. Remember that each step in the DevOps life cycle might iterate or repeat numerous times until the project is concluded, despite the list’s numerical order. 

1. DevOps tools for continuous development (CD)

Continuous development includes both the planning and coding of the program in the DevOps life cycle. Jira and Git are two of the most well-liked DevOps tools for this stage of development [1]:

• Jira: Although planning does not specifically call for any DevOps tools, Jira and other Agile project management tools are frequently used in DevOps businesses. Continuous releases and incorporating client feedback into each iteration are key components of agile project management. The Jira DevOps template can be a useful tool for organizing workflows, managing projects, and keeping track of defects.

• Git: Git is an open-source version management program that is available to everyone at no cost. The source code of a program or piece of software is managed using version control systems, as was already indicated. Git is a great DevOps tool because it encourages programmer cooperation and nonlinear workflows. With the help of GitHub, a web-based hosting platform for Git code repositories, you can connect development and operations. Additional collaboration is made possible by tools like support ticket management.

2. DevOps tools for continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD)

Continuous integration in the DevOps pipeline necessitates developers to contribute changes (such as new features or bug patches) to the source code. In this stage of development, Jenkins is one of the most used DevOps tools:

• Jenkins: Jenkins is an open-source Java application. It can function solely as a continuous integration server or as a center for continuous delivery. Jenkins is renowned for a number of qualities, including a wide range of plugins and integrations, simple installation, the ability to effectively split work across numerous workstations for cross-platform development, and comprehensive workflow customization.

3. DevOps tools for continuous testing

Continuous testing in the DevOps life cycle refer to a regular inspection of developed software for errors, and flaws. Continuous testing is especially beneficial when using DevOps automation technologies. Through functions like automated test execution and parallel testing across many codebases, they enable quality assurance (QA) teams to broaden the scope of testing. Two of the most useful continuous testing tools are Selenium and Bamboo:

• Selenium: Another open-source development tool is Selenium. It is a framework for automated testing that enables the creation of test scripts in popular programming languages, including Java, Python, and C#. Although you can use it to automate web-based administration chores, it is typically used to automate online applications. Selenium’s adaptability offers automation assistance for a variety of browsers and operating systems (OS).

• Bamboo: Bamboo is a DevOps tool that runs on servers. Users can make intricate build designs and set up automated start triggers for them. Bamboo is well renowned for its parallel testing capabilities and close connection with Jira.

4. DevOps tools for continuous deployment

The step of deploying code to the servers used for production is known as “continuous deployment” in the DevOps life cycle. DevOps solutions that enable quick and frequent deployments are vital because this occurs frequently. Continuous deployment can benefit from both container management solutions and configuration management systems:

• (Container management) Docker: The Docker app allows a development team to manage and run distributed applications after they have been packaged. Standardized packaging formats, close integration with GitHub, and Docker Hub are a few of the most important features of Docker. By offering a platform for simple image publishing and access management, Docker Hub promotes communication amongst DevOps team members.

• Ansible (configuration management): Ansible is an open-source automation software mostly utilized for infrastructure orchestration and configuration management. Its simplicity makes it simple for administrators, IT specialists, and developers to utilize. Machine groups can be created with Ansible, and their operation in real-world settings can be managed.

5. DevOps tools for continuous feedback

A key element of the DevOps process is analyzing and implementing feedback. Continuous improvement is made possible by constant feedback. Insights from both internal sources (such as employee surveys and bug reports) and external sources (such as support tickets or social media mentions) must be gathered. To help your continuous feedback loops, there are a number of DevOps technologies available:

• Jira Service Management: The Jira platform includes a DevOps tool called Jira Service Management. Its main objective is to improve communication by centralizing feedback from multiple sources. Customers can use the widget, portal, email, or a customized help center to send service requests and feedback.

• Parlor: Parlor is a user relationship management application for collecting consumer feedback. To obtain contextual insights, it interacts with active users in real time. It integrates with corporate applications like data management programs like Excel, technical task management systems like Jira, communication tools like Slack, and support ticket systems like ZenDesk.

6. DevOps tools for continuous monitoring

Continuous monitoring of the application in the DevOps pipeline necessitates regular inspections for defects, system faults, performance problems, and anything else that can have an impact on product quality. Both application and server monitoring should be supported by your DevOps monitoring tools.

• Prometheus: Prometheus is a performance monitoring database that is open-source and community-driven and was created to support continuous monitoring procedures. It provides vast client libraries and powerful reporting tools to development and QA teams. Prometheus includes several modes for data visualization, making it appropriate for DevOps as well.

7. DevOps tools for continuous operation

Applications and services must run continuously, without pauses or downtime, according to the concept of continuous operation. The technologies mentioned above all have capabilities that can help you with continuous operations. Opsgenie, for example, is an incident management software that might prove useful

.

• Opsgenie: Opsgenie is a DevOps solution designed to anticipate, plan for, and address service outages. It integrates with systems for ticketing, chat, continuous monitoring, and other business applications. Opsgenie provides planned customizations to guarantee that when a difficulty arises, the appropriate individuals are informed via the appropriate channels of communication. Because of its automated escalation characteristics, major problems are always found.

Benefits of DevOps

• Speed: With the help of DevOps methods, you may move at the speed necessary to innovate more quickly, better adjust to shifting markets, and increase your effectiveness in generating commercial results.

• Swift delivery: By speeding up releases, you can develop your product more quickly and gain a competitive edge.

• Reliability: Continuous integration and continuous deployment are two DevOps techniques that can help you deploy application updates and infrastructure changes with reliability and speed while still giving end users the best possible experience.

• Greater collaboration: The development and operations teams work closely together, share responsibility, and integrate workflows in a DevOps model. Inefficiencies are reduced while time is saved.

• Security: Using automated, integrated security testing solutions, you may switch to a DevOps paradigm without compromising security.

Lastly, we will discuss who exactly is a DevOps Engineer.

Who is a DevOps Engineer? 

DevOps Engineer is somebody who understands the Software Development Lifecycle and has the outright understanding of various automation tools for developing digital pipelines (CI/ CD pipelines).

DevOps Engineer works with developers and the IT staff to oversee the code releases. They are either developers who get interested in deployment and network operations or sysadmins who have a passion for scripting and coding and move into the development side where they can improve the planning of test and deployment.

So that was all from my side in this article on What is DevOps. I hope you have understood everything that I have discussed here. If you have any questions kindly mention that in the comments section.

Following is a list of blogs that you might find interesting:

1. DevOps Tutorial
2. Git Tutorial
3. Continuous Delivery Tutorial
4. Docker Container Tutorial
5. Ansible Tutorial
6. Puppet Tutorial

Now that you have understood What is DevOps, check out DevOps Training Course by Edureka, a trusted online learning company with a network of more than 250,000 satisfied learners spread across the globe. The Edureka DevOps Certification Training course helps learners to understand What is DevOps and gain expertise in various DevOps processes and tools such as Puppet, Jenkins, Nagios, Ansible, Chef, Saltstack and GIT for automating multiple steps in SDLC. Learn how to succeed from the basic to the most advanced techniques, we cover everything. You can also check out our DevOps Engineer Masters Program. It will help you to gain expertise in DevOps tools.

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