Learn how to use DevOps techniques to build and deploy apps on AWS

Learn how to use DevOps techniques to build and deploy apps on AWS

 The popularity of cloud computing has skyrocketed in enterprises around the world. As a result, many new cloud platform providers present themselves as options for business organisations. This includes big names like Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, IBM Cloud Services and Amazon Web Services.

AWS or Amazon Web Services is Amazon’s cloud computing platform and holds the largest market share across the world. It provides all the features you would generally find in an in-house data center, such as compute capacity, databases and security. Cloud professionals widely use DevOps techniques to create and deploy apps on the AWS platform.

What is DevOps?

 DevOps combines operations and development and can be defined as a mix of practices that enable agile software design. It is a highly simplified development methodology, which means you have several options from which you can choose. Amazon defines DevOps as a combination of tools, practices and cultural philosophies that can increase an enterprise’s ability to create, build and deliver applications and services at a rapid pace. It helps to evolve and improve products much faster than traditional development or infrastructure management processes would allow.

AWS DevOps – Overview:

Amazon created AWS DevOps to implement the philosophy of DevOps using dedicated services and tools and its cloud platform. According to Amazon, AWS offers a flexible set of services that have been created to allow businesses to create and deploy products more reliably and rapidly by combining DevOps techniques and AWS best practices.

AWS DevOps offers app development teams all the necessary tools to implement CI/CD (continuous integration and continuous delivery) efficiently. This allows them to store version app source code securely as they automatically build, test and deploy the application to environments that are either on-premises or on the AWS platform. Training for an AWS DevOps certification will teach you all this and more in greater detail.

Cloud computing has three primary and widely-adopted categories:

• SaaS (Software as a Service)
• PaaS (Platform as a Service)
• IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)

AWS comes in the category of IaaS. It provides enterprises with a scalable computing infrastructure that is controlled entirely by the customer, which includes operating systems and virtual servers.

AWS DevOps Best Practices:

 Application developers looking to combine the best of AWS and DevOps techniques should keep the following factors in mind:

• CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery:

A CI/CD pipeline is the driving force of the philosophy behind DevOps. Continuous Integration (CI) refers to the creation and regular validation of the project which is done by regularly updating the code at fixed periods. Continuous delivery (CD) takes it one step forward from there and automatically deploys code within the production environment.

• Infrastructure automation:

This technique focuses on high-quality code and testing it regularly and automatically.

• Infrastructure as Code:

This technique manages and provisions an enterprise’s cloud resources in AWS. It writes a template file that can be understood by both people and machines. The most important tool for AWS developers to implement this method is AWS CloudFormation.

• Monitoring and logging:

All the activity must be recorded and monitored to ensure all events get triggered at appropriate times. This also helps in bringing any processes back on track that might have steered off course.

• Communicating and collaborating:

Each department and internal team must agree to the project objectives and execution and must remain informed at all times. You also need to have a forum where stakeholders can share valuable feedback that could shape the final output.

AWS DevOps Tools: 

AWS DevOps provides a highly-detailed offering of tools designed for building and deploying software within the cloud. Some of the most widely-recognised and used tools are:

•  AWS Cloud Development Kit:

This is an open-source development framework tool. It uses popular programming languages to model and provision cloud app resources.

• AWS CodeBuild:

CodeBuild is a service designed to enable integration. It is continuously scaling and processing multiple builds. A user can write and test their code using the continuous scaling feature.

• AWS CodeDeploy:

CodeDeploy is a tool that helps automate software deployments across other services such as AWS Lambda, AWS Fargate, EC2 and other on-premise servers that developers might choose.

• AWS CodePipeline:

This tool helps automate code that is continuously delivered to ensure accurate and rapid updates.

• AWS CodeStar:

As a tool, CodeStar is instrumental for conducting DevOps methodologies on AWS. It makes for an intuitive UI that allows developers to develop, create and deploy apps effortlessly on AWS.

• AWS Device Farm:

Mobile apps have taken over smartphones and even browsers today. Device Farm enables developers to improve the app quality for their web and mobile applications by letting them test these apps across dummy devices and browsers that are hosted on AWS.

If you already work in the field of DevOps, AWS DevOps is a great upskilling opportunity. With an AWS DevOps certification to your name, your skills and expertise are validated by Amazon itself. Give your career a boost and enrol in a training course today.