devopsy.kinsta.cloud

Author: Logan Rivenes

  • Why DevOps Should Care About SDN

    Why DevOps Should Care About SDN

    Software-defined networking (SDN) and DevOps are not mutually exclusive. Actually, DevOps wants SDN, whether it knows it yet or not.

    Why?

    If software is going to eat the world, then SDN is going to eat networking.

    Networks are becoming more complex, and one way to manage them more effectively is through SDN. Also, organizations are demanding faster changes, yet networking changes traditionally have been a manual process.

    In a profession where network engineers typically work in seclusion and use significant manual processes, it can provide a set of tools to align with DevOps. This is why DevOps needs to care about it.

    Software-defined networking leads to infrastructure as code (IaC), which makes network automation possible.

    Software-Defined Networking and Infrastructure as Code

    SDN, in its simplest form, is controlling networking hardware with software. But there is more to it: Software-defined networking means networking switches and routers no longer need to be controlled with proprietary software. This creates an opening for innovation and is how we now have OpenFlow.

    This implies that networking now can culturally align itself with DevOps. The question will become whether it wants to. IaC is where networking will find its home with the DevOps team—it is like SDN for Ops.

    Why Does SDN Matter for DevOps?

    Software-defined networking will open communication and make automation possible—two ideas that are fundamental to an effective DevOps team.

    Open communication between networking can be easier when the mindset and tools are enabling a similar process. For DevOps, the current stack is providing tools to do exactly this. We see this with the Ansible and Red Hat DevOps networking partnership.

    What’s more, SDN enables network automation. Automation is an important goal for DevOps, which before SDN was not workable. Network automation can mean a better integration of DevOps and networking, as networking comprises many manual processes and, as such, is a bit isolationist. Aligning goals can provide better communication and collaboration.

    The Power of Network Automation

    SDN, IaC and DevOps networking are providing a set of tools and ideas that can push widespread adoption of network automation.

    Network automation is not a new topic, but implementation has been difficult. Technology had to catch up with demand: Before OpenFlow, networking infrastructure ran on proprietary software, which meant manual changes and configurations were commonplace and one-off scripts are the norm.

    With SDN and a technological environment conducive to network automation, we can begin to test different network automation strategies. Currently, however, organizations using automation only use it for segmenting their firewalls. We are in the early stages of what network automation can do.

    Just as DevOps is still finding ways to use automation in testing and development, networking is on its own discovery path to automation. The only difference is DevOps has a goal to automate and networking still views automation as a “nice to have.”

    Using NetDevOps to Bridge the Gap

    We have the conversation about SDN, IaC and network automation because networking does not have its functions accurately defined within the DevOps framework. That is why NetDevOps is a topic of discussion.

    The fact that SDN is still in its infancy stages and network automation is being discussed as “how to implement” shows there is a need for a cultural shift in networking that aligns with DevOps. This will help DevOps with communication and collaboration.

    DevOps wants automation and NetDevOps shares this goal. SDN is what makes this possible, and is exactly why DevOps should care.

  • 5 Reasons DevOps Needs NetDevOps

    5 Reasons DevOps Needs NetDevOps

    Networking’s role in DevOps is not accurately defined.

    Up to this point, networking has been integrated into DevOps through infrastructure as code (IaC), which has been around since the beginning of the DevOps movement. Although important, this does not quite encompass all of what networking needs within DevOps.

    A few of the current terms being used for networking in DevOps are:

    • Infrastructure as code (IaC)
    • DevOps networking
    • NetOps

    We have not agreed upon a universal, concrete philosophy to determine how to effectively bring networking into the DevOps conversation.

    This is why we need NetDevOps.

    NetDevOps is a construct of principles that aligns the networking team more closing with DevOps in your organization. It takes what traditionally are manual procedures in network infrastructure and applies the principles of automation and scalability.

    Why do you need yet another term or concept? This isn’t a new term; it just needs to be widely adopted.

    Therefore, here are five reasons you need NetDevOps.

    Networking + DevOps = NetDevOps

    DevOps needs networking and networking needs DevOps. The two may not admit this, but the open communication is essential. Networking’s biggest concern is network uptime, while DevOps’ ultimate goal is continuous delivery. The result is DevOps having a high interest in network availability to ensure updates can be delivered.

    Adopting a NetDevOps approach promotes networking to apply the same principles as DevOps. The goal of replicating and automating tasks—not automating for the sake of automation, but to take the processes that work effectively on one server and apply them to multiple servers.

    Remote Deployment for Cloud Adoption

    As cloud adoption increases, the need to deploy updates and changes remotely is essential. Cloud computing provides the necessary environment to implement the NetDevOps approach, which installing a hardware infrastructure allows for code deployment.

    In a cloud environment, such as AWS, infrastructure needed to implement this approach is available already. For example, AWS CloudFormation provides the necessary infrastructure for IaC.

    Infrastructure as Code

    IaC has been fundamental to the DevOps movement, and this is the foundation for NetDevOps: The ability to take network hardware and apply a set of code to the environment. The code allows you to automate an environment, which typically has needed to be updated manually.

    Automation is one of the core principles DevOps and NetDevOps share. Automation results in predictable network uptime, which provides an environment to better assist DevOps in achieving continuous delivery.

    Software-Defined Networks

    Software-defined networks (SDN) are a subset of the IaC discussion. It is the enterprise network version of cloud architecture. NetDevOps works in this environment through the use of white-box switches.

    Implementing white-box switches and installing Linux will create an SDN environment, which is conducive to NetDevOps. It is the necessary infrastructure for NetDevOps.

    Current Stack is Providing the Tools

    Once the above is implemented, a NetDevOps environment is ready to integrate with your current Ops stack. Ansible, Red Hat, Puppet and Chef already are providing the tools necessary to create a NetDevOps environment. Now you and your team need to implement it.

    NetDevOps is taking the traditional manual nature of networking and applying a set of DevOps principles. It is an environment of automation that brings networking full circle with DevOps.