Cheatsheets / Introduction to DevOps

Infrastructure

Scalability
Scalability is a system’s ability to add resources to keep
up with growing demand. A system with great scalability
will be able to do this without interrupting services.

Vertical Scaling
Vertical scaling means adding computing resources to
existing systems. This can be achieved in a variety of
ways such as increasing network speeds or the available
storage or RAM of servers.
Vertical scaling is relatively simple and affordable,
however, the application could experience downtime
as a result of performing upgrades.

Horizontal Scaling
Horizontal scaling means increasing system resources
by adding nodes (i.e. servers) to the system. Each node
is able to serve the same application and a load
balancer distributes requests across the nodes.
Horizontal scaling is complex to setup but can be
achieved without any downtime for existing servers.

Elasticity
Elasticity is the ability of a system to add or subtract
resources automatically in response to fluctuating
demand. An elastic system reduces resources when
demand slows, helping to avoid unnecessary costs with
pay-per-use infrastructure services.

Dependencies
In software development, dependencies are external
files and programs that are not part of an application
but are used by it.
Orchestration
According to RedHat, “Orchestration is the automated
configuration, management, and coordination of
infrastructure.”
Orchestration software, such as Kubernetes, controls
many components working together in harmony. This
software can
Deploy containers across many servers
Restart failed containers
Roll out updates without any downtime
Horizontally scale containerized applications

Immutable Infrastructure
Immutable infrastructure means that servers are not
changed once they are created. Instead, when
infrastructure configurations change, new servers are
created and old ones are destroyed.
Immutable infrastructure and the use of configuration
files guarantees that all servers are created in the same
manner and eliminates the risk of configuration drift.

Manual Infrastructure Configuration

Historically, infrastructure configuration has been
performed manually by people. This has led to high
costs, inconsistency across configurations, and
difficulty in pinpointing sources of errors.

virtualization
Virtualization is the process of running a simulated
virtual computer on a host machine. These virtual
computers, usually called virtual machines (VMs), are
distinct environments each with their own operating
system (OS), dependencies such as binaries/libraries,
and users. Virtualization allows multiple virtual
computers to be run on a single host machine.
Containerization
Containerization is a form of virtualization in which
multiple virtual environments called containers can
share the operating system of the host physical
machine. Containers differ from virtual machines in that
they share the underlying operating system. Containers
are fast, lightweight and portable.

Cloud-based infrastructure
Cloud-based infrastructure refers to infrastructure and
computing resources that are made available to users
over the internet. Cloud resources are generally
managed and housed by a dedicated third-party
provider.

Infrastructure as Code
Infrastructure as Code (IaC) is the act of defining
infrastructure configuration in version controlled
configuration files.

IaC Benefits
Infrastructure as Code (IaC) has the following benefits
over manual infrastructure configuration:
Speed: Configuration can be faster since it is
easily automated.
Consistency: Infrastructure state consistently
matches what is specified in configuration files.
Visibility: Version control makes is easy to tell
exactly when and where changes are made.
Cost: Fewer staff hours are spent configuring
and troubleshooting infrastructure.

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