What are the best practices for implementing DevOps in a cloud native environment?

1 What is cloud native development?

Cloud native development is a way of designing, building, and running software applications that leverage the benefits of the cloud computing model. Cloud native applications are composed of loosely coupled, scalable, and resilient microservices that can run on any cloud platform or infrastructure. Cloud native applications also use cloud native technologies, such as containers, orchestration tools, service meshes, and serverless functions, to optimize performance, efficiency, and agility.

2 What is DevOps?

DevOps is a set of practices and culture that aims to improve the collaboration and communication between software development and IT operations teams. DevOps also focuses on automating and streamlining the software delivery lifecycle, from planning and coding to testing and deployment. DevOps enables faster feedback loops, shorter release cycles, and higher quality software.

3 Why combine cloud native and DevOps?

Combining cloud native and DevOps approaches can bring about a range of advantages, from faster and more frequent deployments to improved reliability and availability, increased innovation and experimentation, and reduced costs and complexity. Cloud native applications are designed to be easily packaged, deployed, and scaled using containers and orchestration tools, and their ability to handle failures and disruptions gracefully makes them a great fit for DevOps practices, which focus on continuous monitoring and testing. Furthermore, cloud native applications allow for the adoption of new technologies and architectures quickly, while DevOps practices enable faster feedback and learning, and automate and optimize processes and workflows, resulting in fewer resources consumed and simpler management.

4 How to implement DevOps in a cloud native environment?

In order to successfully implement DevOps in a cloud native environment, it is essential to adopt certain practices and principles. This includes defining and aligning goals and metrics, and measuring progress and performance with the help of dashboards and observability platforms. Additionally, a microservices architecture should be adopted, breaking down applications into small, independent, and reusable services that can be developed, tested, and deployed independently. Furthermore, containers and orchestration tools such as Docker and Kubernetes should be used to package, run, and manage microservices across different cloud environments and platforms. Moreover, continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines should be implemented, and code integration, testing, and deployment processes should be automated using tools like Jenkins and Spinnaker. Additionally, configuration management and infrastructure as code (IaC) practices should be applied, and infrastructure provisioning and configuration should be automated and standardized using tools like Ansible and Terraform. Finally, service meshes and serverless functions should be leveraged, and microservices communication, security, and scalability should be enhanced using tools like Istio and AWS Lambda.

5 What are the challenges and best practices for cloud native DevOps?

Navigating the complexities of cloud native DevOps can be daunting, but there are best practices to help you overcome the challenges and pitfalls. To manage the complexity and dependencies of your microservices, use service discovery, tracing, and logging tools to monitor and troubleshoot your distributed systems. To ensure the security and compliance of your cloud native applications, use encryption, authentication, and auditing tools to protect your data and access. To foster a culture of collaboration and learning, use chatops, code reviews, and retrospectives to improve communication and feedback among teams and stakeholders. Finally, to keep your skills and knowledge up to date, use online courses, podcasts, and blogs to learn and adopt new cloud native technologies and practices.