Preparing for worst-case scenarios helps prevent downtime and avoid catastrophic failures
In DevOps culture, software engineers and developers often focus on the speed at which they can deliver a product to market. But in today’s ecosystem, it’s not enough to just be fast — DevOps teams must also be resilient. Preparing for worst-case scenarios, mitigating possible risks, and creating extensive testing protocols must be built into DevOps infrastructure from the start in order to avoid devastating setbacks in the lead-up to launch. After all, being first to market isn’t going to mean anything if you’re unable to mitigate issues or scale efficiently.
Balancing the hectic pace of development with the need for resiliency is often challenging in the modern DevOps landscape, but with thoughtful planning, engineers can do so while remaining flexible. By building a resilient DevOps infrastructure step by step, you’ll be well-poised to hit the ground running on launch day and beyond.
5 Steps to Building a Resilient DevOps Infrastructure
Step 1: Set Ambitious (But Realistic) Goals
The first step on the path to a more resilient DevOps infrastructure is defining your objectives and working backward from there. What’s your target launch date? What features should be available at launch? How quickly can you scale while still leaving room for the checks and balances that are needed to create a quality product? Do you have a balanced team that collaborates well and doesn’t rely too heavily on any sole individual?
While you’re answering these questions, you want to consider the time it’s going to take to incorporate the hallmarks of a resilient DevOps infrastructure. Be specific; “as soon as possible” isn’t a realistic or helpful launch projection, and could create pressure to skip some important steps in the process. Finally, don’t overcomplicate your objectives. Simplicity helps keep DevOps infrastructure agile and efficient, and introducing too many complications could slow you down.
Step 2: Incorporate Automation
Automation is a key feature of modern DevOps culture. By automating processes throughout the standard application lifecycle, developers can achieve faster and more consistent results while still prioritizing resiliency. There are many parts of the software development cycle that can be automated, from security measures to regulation compliance to infrastructure management. Efficient DevOps teams should evaluate their own needs and objectives in order to find opportunities for automation.
One thing to keep in mind is that while automations can be helpful, it’s the effective orchestration of these automations that affords the greatest overall impact. DevOps orchestration turns individual automations into a holistic workflow, ensuring that all parts of the process are working together as intended. No-code/low-code solutions are ideal for incorporating automation into DevOps projects without overcomplicating them, making the orchestration of multiple shortcuts easier to manage. Click here to find out how DuploCloud’s no-code/low-code automation solution can help you build a more resilient DevOps infrastructure.
Step 3: Determine Your Fault Tolerance and Plan for Redundancies
In a perfect world, DevOps projects could be completed without a single complication and make it to launch without any additional pressure on its engineers. Unfortunately, that doesn’t reflect reality. Software development is incredibly complex, which increases the likelihood of unexpected challenges. The only way to mitigate the downtime these issues cause is to make sure they’re not unexpected; in other words, prepare for everything to go wrong.
This starts with establishing your fault tolerance, or the ability of the various systems involved in software development to continue operating if one or more components fail. Having a single point of failure can be catastrophic. Duplicating these vulnerable components is a cornerstone of a resilient DevOps infrastructure, so it’s well worth building redundancies into your system to avoid extensive downtime later on. This refers to key personnel as well; you need to ensure that no single person is carrying a disproportionate amount of responsibility. Otherwise, losing a team member unexpectedly could stop your project in its tracks.
Step 4: Create a Disaster Recovery Plan
Redundancy planning is an important way to mitigate damage when something goes wrong, but what about when everything goes wrong? Even when all reasonable measures are taken to avoid catastrophe, the unavoidable truth is that disasters happen. Data loss, server outages, even natural disasters like fires in the building can create significant roadblocks in the development cycle. If you’re not prepared for a worst-case scenario, it might be impossible to recover.
This is why it’s critical to have a disaster recovery plan in place from the very start. If you wait until alarms start going off to decide what to do next, it’s already too late. By establishing comprehensive protocols ahead of time, everyone on the team will know exactly what to do in the event of a devastating setback. Being able to adapt to changing conditions is a necessary part of a resilient DevOps infrastructure and will allow your team to recover much more quickly.
Step 5: Establish Consistent Monitoring
Even with thoughtful automations in place, there’s no setting it and forgetting it in DevOps. Engineers and developers must frequently monitor the systems that are in place and evaluate their performance. Testing, data collection, and analysis are all part of the process, so make sure continuous monitoring is built into your DevOps infrastructure. As a result, you’ll be able to detect anomalies before they become problems and remain agile throughout the development cycle. Monitoring also ensures that any security measures are working as intended, avoiding potential vulnerabilities that might otherwise not be discovered until after launch.
Create a Resilient DevOps Infrastructure with DuploCloud
You might associate creating a resilient DevOps infrastructure with the need for numerous solutions and tools, but it doesn’t have to be that complicated. The right partner will work with you to deploy automations while establishing security protocols and regulation compliance. Becoming resilient doesn’t have to mean slowing down; at DuploCloud, our no-code/low-code DevOps automation platform can get you to market ten times faster, all while reducing costs 75% when compared to the standard application lifecycle. Want to know more? Get in touch for a personalized demo.
