DevOps Shack
DevOps Best Practices
I. CULTURE & MINDSET
1. Adopt a DevOps Mindset
○ Understand that DevOps is a culture, not just a set of tools.
○ Focus on collaboration, automation, continuous feedback, and
learning.
2. Break Down Silos
○ Developers, operations, and security teams must work together
from planning to deployment.
○ Encourage cross-functional teams.
3. Promote a Blameless Culture
○ When failures occur, focus on solving issues, not blaming
individuals.
○ Use post-mortems to document lessons learned.
4. Embrace Agile Principles
○ Use agile methodologies like Scrum or Kanban to iterate quickly.
○ Regularly review and refine development processes.
5. Encourage Continuous Learning
○ Upskill teams through certifications, workshops, and hands-on
learning.
○ Keep up with new trends in cloud, automation, and security.
6. Enable a Feedback-Driven Environment
○ Set up a system for continuous feedback from end-users,
developers, and operations teams.
○ Use this feedback to improve processes.
7. Shift Left in Development
○ Integrate security and quality assurance early in the development
cycle.
○ Catch and fix issues before they reach production.
II. INFRASTRUCTURE & AUTOMATION
8. Adopt Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
○ Use tools like Terraform, AWS CloudFormation, or Ansible.
○ Ensure that infrastructure changes are version-controlled.
9. Implement Configuration Management
○ Automate system configurations using Ansible, Puppet, or Chef.
○ Store configurations in a central repository.
10.Leverage Immutable Infrastructure
● Deploy new instances instead of modifying running ones.
● Reduce configuration drift by using tools like Docker or Kubernetes.
11.Use Containers & Orchestration
● Adopt Docker for consistent environments.
● Use Kubernetes to manage containerized applications.
12.Standardize Environments
● Ensure that development, staging, and production environments match.
● Use automation to replicate environments.
13.Automate Everything Possible
● From code builds to deployments, monitoring, and scaling, automate all
repetitive tasks.
● Reduce manual intervention.
14.Use Serverless When Appropriate
● Leverage AWS Lambda, Azure Functions, or Google Cloud Functions for
cost-effective, event-driven architectures.
III. CI/CD (CONTINUOUS INTEGRATION & CONTINUOUS DELIVERY)
15.Implement Continuous Integration (CI)
● Developers should merge code frequently into a shared repository.
● Use tools like Jenkins, GitHub Actions, or GitLab CI/CD.
16.Run Automated Tests on Every Commit
● Implement unit, integration, and end-to-end tests.
● Use tools like Selenium, Jest, JUnit, or Cypress.
17.Implement Continuous Deployment (CD)
● Ensure every successful build passes tests and gets deployed
automatically.
● Use feature flags to enable safe deployments.
18.Use Blue-Green Deployments
● Reduce downtime by having two environments: one live (green) and one
idle (blue).
● Switch traffic seamlessly between them.
19.Implement Canary Releases
● Deploy new versions to a small percentage of users before a full rollout.
● Monitor and roll back if issues arise.
20.Ensure Zero Downtime Deployments
● Use rolling updates and load balancers to prevent service disruptions.
21.Maintain a Well-Defined Rollback Strategy
● Automate rollback procedures to quickly revert to a previous version in
case of failures.
IV. MONITORING & LOGGING
22.Implement Centralized Logging
● Use tools like ELK Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana), Graylog, or
Fluentd.
23.Use Application Performance Monitoring (APM)
● Monitor applications with tools like Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog, or
New Relic.
24.Set Up Proactive Alerting
● Use monitoring tools to alert teams before an issue affects customers.
● Implement thresholds for CPU, memory, and response times.
25.Enable Distributed Tracing
● Use tools like Jaeger or OpenTelemetry to trace requests across
microservices.
26.Monitor Business Metrics, Not Just Infrastructure
● Track customer experience, transaction times, and conversion rates
alongside system health.
27.Use Chaos Engineering to Improve Resilience
● Simulate failures using tools like Chaos Monkey to ensure systems can
withstand disruptions.
V. SECURITY & COMPLIANCE
28.Follow DevSecOps Principles
● Integrate security into CI/CD pipelines.
● Automate security scans and compliance checks.
29.Implement Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
● Limit permissions based on roles.
● Use IAM policies in cloud environments.
30.Encrypt Data in Transit and at Rest
● Use TLS for network traffic and encrypt databases with AES-256.
31.Regularly Conduct Security Audits & Penetration Testing
● Identify vulnerabilities before attackers do.
32.Use Secrets Management Tools
● Store credentials securely using HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, or
Azure Key Vault.
33.Enforce Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
● Protect accounts with an additional security layer.
VI. CLOUD & COST MANAGEMENT
34.Adopt a Multi-Cloud Strategy (When Needed)
● Use AWS, Azure, or GCP strategically to avoid vendor lock-in.
35.Leverage Auto-Scaling
● Automatically adjust resources based on demand.
36.Optimize Costs Using Reserved & Spot Instances
● Use reserved instances for predictable workloads and spot instances for
batch processing.
37.Implement FinOps for Cloud Cost Governance
● Regularly review cloud expenses and optimize resource usage.
38.Use Cloud-Native Services
● Prefer managed services like AWS RDS, GKE, or Azure Functions to reduce
operational overhead.
VII. PERFORMANCE & RELIABILITY
39.Optimize Database Performance
● Use caching, indexing, and read replicas for scalability.
40.Implement Rate Limiting & API Throttling
● Prevent abuse and ensure fair usage of APIs.
41.Use Content Delivery Networks (CDNs)
● Improve response times for global users.
42.Reduce Latency with Edge Computing
● Process data closer to users with services like AWS Lambda@Edge.
VIII. GOVERNANCE & STANDARDIZATION
43.Maintain Proper Documentation
● Use markdown-based repositories or tools like Confluence for sharing
knowledge.
44.Enforce Code Reviews
● Use GitHub/GitLab merge requests to enforce best practices.
45.Use Feature Flags for Safe Releases
● Toggle new features on/off without redeploying.
46.Version Control Everything
● Store all infrastructure, configurations, and documentation in Git.
47.Conduct Regular Disaster Recovery Drills
● Test backup and recovery processes.
48.Standardize Naming Conventions
● Use clear, meaningful names for infrastructure components.
49.Set Up Governance Policies
● Ensure compliance with regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, or SOC 2.
50.Always Keep Learning & Improving
● Iterate on processes, learn from failures, and stay updated with industry
trends.
