Introduction 

Every DevOps engineer aspires to have effective tools that enable them to deploy applications more quickly. DevOps technologies are used for automated activities to develop, test, and release very dependable and scalable software and apps. But selecting the appropriate instrument is a complex process. 

Since no single tool can meet all the requirements, you must choose from the available tools you will utilize in your infrastructure. You should consider a number of things, including monitoring, automated builds, code deployments, configuration management, server provisioning, operating model, tool design, usability, your experience, and many other technical or commercial needs. 

DevOps teams now make every effort to use automation as much as feasible. This process will minimize the overall volume of repeating procedures, cut down on labor hours, slow down development, and lower the likelihood of mistakes. It is also necessary for the company to save overhead expenses, speed up the CI/CD process, and improve customer satisfaction. Several different sectors must be automated to create a completely autonomous infrastructure. Luckily, there are various tools we can take advantage of to help us automate our infrastructure and make sure we have well-developed DevOps processes. This blog will go over several of the best DevOps tools for our infrastructure systems.

Benefits of DevOps Infrastructure Automation tools 

Infrastructure automation is the process of writing a script to describe the setup. Every setup is built with a specific goal in mind. Then, to govern operating systems and communications, it is processed. In a nutshell, there are two main justifications for automating your infrastructure. 

The DevOps engineers save a ton of time on routine activities while resolving urgent problems. For quicker growth, automation facilitates the management of complex situations. You can maximize the benefits of infrastructure automation using DevOps technologies. 

We'll look at the key technologies utilized in a specific DevOps context to achieve quicker delivery. 

DevOps Tools for Infrastructure Automation and Monitoring  

1. Docker 

2. Kubernetes 

3. Terraform 

4. Prometheus 

5. Grafana

Docker 

One of the most popular tools for continuous integration and deployment is Docker. Docker is an automation tool that supports containerization and is built on top of Linux containers.  Docker builds separated environments for programs known as containers by utilizing the idea of process-level virtualization. The program doesn't need to be changed to move the containers to another server, and there are no OS-related requirements on the application either. DevOps professionals mainly utilize Docker on the cloud, and the Windows and Linux communities actively embrace it.  Docker is intended to help both developers and system administrators, making it an essential component of many DevOps toolchains. Developers may develop code without having to be concerned about the testing and production environments. Infrastructure is not a concern for system administrators because Docker can quickly scale up and scale down the number of systems. Docker enters the picture at the deployment step of the software development cycle.  Companies and developers mostly employ Docker containers because they significantly improve cloud development and DevOps. Containerization has shown to be an effective method of increasing efficiency in IT development processes. Docker is a helpful tool for laying the basis for every contemporary application. It primarily allows for simple cloud deployment. Aside from that, Docker technology is more controlled, granular, and a microservices-based strategy focused on efficiency. 

Kubernetes 

Another open-source orchestration tool used for the deployment, administration, and monitoring of containerized applications is Kubernetes (K8s). DevOps is a shift in IT culture that merges the activities of developers, operations, and quality assurance (QA) testers to achieve outcomes that are greater than the sum of their parts. Orchestration services can be most beneficial in a DevOps setting. Traditional automation at this level is still constrained by the natural barriers that exist between the groups, but orchestration is meant to function both inside and beyond those barriers.  Orchestration services can not only overcome but also benefit from hurdles. When you consider what DevOps entails from the standpoints of developers, QA, and operations, it illustrates a logical workflow method for application deployment.  Benefits of using Kubernetes:  Kubernetes greatly improves container capabilities, making it easier to manage running applications' deployment, network routing, resource consumption, load balancing, and fault tolerance. This platform is now widely available from Cloud providers via the -as-a-Service paradigm. Simultaneously, nothing prevents you from installing it on a collection of real or virtual computers, whether in the cloud or on-premise. 

Terraform 

Terraform is a tool for swiftly and securely constructing, modifying, and versioning infrastructure, built by HashiCorp, the industry pioneer in infrastructure automation for multi-cloud settings with headquarters in San Francisco. In addition, it may manage well-known and current service providers and unique in-house solutions.  Terraform can handle multi-cloud by using a single workflow for each cloud. Various types of Terraform architecture might be hosted on private clouds like CloudStack, OpenStack, VMWare vSphere, or public clouds like Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure, and Amazon Web Services. Terraform considers IaC (Infrastructure as Code). Therefore, we do not need to be concerned about the infrastructure straying from the intended design.  Benefits of using Terraform: 

• Terraform supports several cloud providers, and moving between them is simple. 

• Gradual resource adjustments are not a concern because the whole infrastructure is handled as code. 

• Integrates with the construction and deployment processes without difficulty 

• Effective aid with networking. 

• Any objects created by Terraform that are removed by another operation can be recreated. 

• Permits the conversion of current resources to a Terraform state through import 

Prometheus
Prometheus is an open-source monitoring and alerting tool. It actively scrapes various metrics using adaptable queries in a pull mechanism based on HTTP. The most recent technologies are supported, and a sizable user base actively supports the tool. In addition, the TCO investment and learning curve for Prometheus are cheap due to its open-source nature.  Benefits of using Prometheus: 

• Prometheus monitoring helps gain insight into containerized workloads, APIs, and other distributed services and applications.   

• It enables you to execute customizable queries and establish real-time notifications. 

• Helps with cloud-native security by spotting unusual behavior or traffic that might develop into an attack 

Grafana
Grafana is a data visualization application with a dashboard that offers several possibilities with graphs to see and comprehend the data. It is an open-source application for viewing metrics, running queries, and receiving log-generation warnings. Data sources are used to create graphs and charts, which are then accessible via a web browser. Additionally, it offers plugins so the program may function in a cloud setting with the available storage backup.   Benefits of using Grafana: 

• Gives consumers personalized graphs and charts so they may examine the data in their templates and be confident that any variances will function well in the cloud environment 

• Grafana, coupled with a system, allows the cloud to gather data, and some cloud-based tools may then be used to analyze it. 

• Grafana dashboards communicate with various data sources, which aids in the tool's development and acquisition of data from the sources. 

• Grafana's dashboards and themes are explained in greater detail in the documentation, which is also designed to be more user-friendly. 

• Grafana also offers network or system metrics visualization. 

How can we help? 
For any DevOps team, infrastructure automation is essential for success. However, choosing the infrastructure automation and monitoring technology suitable for your needs is not simple. The ideal tool for your organization depends on various aspects, including pricing, skill level, functionality, and others. Promact is home to an excellent team of DevOps engineers. Our team can help you pick the right tools for your organization, connect now!