Why DevOps Professionals Need to Seriously Consider Adding Docker to their Skill Set?

To start of, Docker doesn't change DevOps. It helps the DevOps process be more effective and enables people to engage in the "DevOps" way of thinking.

There isn’t a single technology tool or platform that allows you to simply turn DevOps on or off. DevOps requires a paradigm shift to occur within the organization. Development and operations teams are both physically separate and each has their own processes. The critical part of the DevOps is breaking down the traditional barriers that exist between Dev and Ops.

So, Why Containerization?

"Docker is Linux containers for mere mortals," ~ Boyd Hemphill

Docker is an amazing way of packaging infrastructure or software into standardized units called containers for development, shipment and deployment.

From a developer point of view, it means, containers allow a developer to package an application with all the libraries and other dependencies it needs, and ships it out as one unit. By doing so, the developer can be sure that the application will run on any other machine regardless of any customized settings that machine might have. The "disposable environment" feature of containers allows developers to try out new configurations and features without worrying about rolling back the changes.

Perform builds in disposable Docker containers in CI systems so that you are always able to reproduce artifacts if need be.

When you are building it locally, and you build it in your CI system, developers will always have the exact same results from the same image that they are building from. Docker, creates a standard unit of work which helps simplify this process.

Getting from development to production all you have to know is how to create a container and how to deploy it out to an environment. If you do it once, you have the ability to do it anywhere. It enables developers to build containers for operations team, with the operations team in mind and, make it easier to reach production deployment. Being able to build, ship and run any applications, anywhere really helps the journey from on-premise to cloud. People see Docker as a way to transition to cloud-based environments.

Advantages of Docker

Standardized Configurations

In DevOps, teams take advantage of consistent baseline configurations to help identify operational issues. Teams package "infrastructure as code" in the form of base images, applications, and dependencies needed to run services. This ensures that systems are identical and reproducible and, monitoring for deviations is quick and troubleshooting is easy. Treating infrastructure as "immutable", allows teams to easily stop problematic systems and re-launch the good ones. This practice is facilitated by the adoption of container technologies such as Docker. Running systems are simply replaced with new ones that incorporate any desired changes.

Micro-services or Modular Systems

The DevOps philosophy is building systems that can be more easily managed by small teams. The tools and approaches used by DevOps teams favor applications that can be assembled in modular fashion. An example of this is micro-services architectures and container technologies such as Docker. Micro-services enable developers to focus on optimizing individual application pieces that interface more easily with other systems via APIs. This streamlines development, integration, and deployment.

Automation & Scalability

The goal of DevOps is enabling greater speed and agility to better serve customers. Teams achieve this goal through high levels of automation and scalability designed to make infrastructure fully programmable. The focus must be on automating the entire software release platform so that it can scale on-demand in minutes to ensure customers always have access to data. Automation also reduces the likelihood of manual operator error, which is a frequent source of costly service interruption or downtime.

Businesses of all sizes today are seeking greater agility and speed to fuel digital transformation. Container technologies such as Docker with DevOps empowers the application developers to focus on what they do best: building and shipping software.

"Today the phrase we use in DevOps champion is, 'Cattle, not Pets.' Tomorrow it will be, 'Ants, not Cattle.'" ~ Boyd Hemphill

Join this 1:1 instructor led hands on online Docker training to fully understand and learn to use the power of Docker for DevOps.