--- title: DevOps Practice description: Chef, Virtual Machines, Cloud, & Build/Deploy Pipelines - a brief primer of tools for DevOps. image: https://blog.avenuecode.com/hubfs/Images/Blog/DevOps-image.jpg --- [AvenueCode.com](https://avenuecode.com) [News](https://avenuecode.com/news) [Contact](https://avenuecode.com/contact) [![Avenue Code Snippets Logo](https://blog.avenuecode.com/hubfs/Avenue%20Code%20New%20Logos%20-%202023/AC-Snippets---Black.png)](https://blog.avenuecode.com/?hsLang=en-us) *menu* - Technology [Cloud](https://blog.avenuecode.com/blog/topic/cloud?hsLang=en-us) [Delivery Infrastructure](https://blog.avenuecode.com/blog/topic/delivery-infrastructure?hsLang=en-us) [Web Experience](https://blog.avenuecode.com/blog/topic/web-experience?hsLang=en-us) [Agile Mindset](https://blog.avenuecode.com/blog/topic/agile-mindset?hsLang=en-us) [Quality First](https://blog.avenuecode.com/blog/topic/quality-first?hsLang=en-us) [Design](https://blog.avenuecode.com/blog/topic/design?hsLang=en-us) [Solution Architecture](https://blog.avenuecode.com/blog/topic/solution-architecture?hsLang=en-us) [Data & ML](https://blog.avenuecode.com/blog/topic/data-and-machine-learning?hsLang=en-us) [Mobile Experience](https://blog.avenuecode.com/blog/topic/mobile-experience?hsLang=en-us) - [Whitepapers](https://blog.avenuecode.com/blog/topic/whitepapers?hsLang=en-us) - [Spotlight](https://blog.avenuecode.com/blog/topic/spotlight?hsLang=en-us) - [Extraordinary Women in Tech](https://blog.avenuecode.com/blog/topic/extraordinary-women-in-tech?hsLang=en-us) - [Avenue Code Culture](https://blog.avenuecode.com/blog/topic/avenue-code-culture?hsLang=en-us) - [Cloud](https://blog.avenuecode.com/blog/topic/cloud?hsLang=en-us) - [Design](https://blog.avenuecode.com/blog/topic/design?hsLang=en-us) - [Delivery Infrastructure](https://blog.avenuecode.com/blog/topic/delivery-infrastructure?hsLang=en-us) - [Solution Architecture](https://blog.avenuecode.com/blog/topic/solution-architecture?hsLang=en-us) - [Web Experience](https://blog.avenuecode.com/blog/topic/web-experience?hsLang=en-us) - [Data & ML](https://blog.avenuecode.com/blog/topic/data-and-machine-learning?hsLang=en-us) - [Agile Mindset](https://blog.avenuecode.com/blog/topic/agile-mindset?hsLang=en-us) - [Mobile Experience](https://blog.avenuecode.com/blog/topic/mobile-experience?hsLang=en-us) - [Quality First](https://blog.avenuecode.com/blog/topic/quality-first?hsLang=en-us) - [Whitepapers](https://blog.avenuecode.com/blog/topic/whitepapers?hsLang=en-us) - [Spotlight](https://blog.avenuecode.com/blog/topic/spotlight?hsLang=en-us) - [Extraordinary Women in Tech](https://blog.avenuecode.com/blog/topic/extraordinary-women-in-tech?hsLang=en-us) - [Avenue Code Culture](https://blog.avenuecode.com/blog/topic/avenue-code-culture?hsLang=en-us) # [DevOps Practice](https://blog.avenuecode.com/devops-practice) - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) *perm\_identity* [Raj Thapar](https://blog.avenuecode.com/devops-practice/author/raj-thapar?hsLang=en-us) *schedule* 10/5/16 3:16 PM > DevOps has become the practice du jour among innovative IT departments. But what does it look like day to day? And how did it evolve over time? Below, I'll explore some tools and platforms that help enhance your DevOps practice. ## **Chef** I came across the term "DevOps" about a couple of years ago when the client I work for started using Chef for deployment of applications. It was a significant step towards automating the deployment process. Chef allows you to write automation code in human-readable Ruby scripts. It standardizes the deployment process by policies. It can scale infrastructure quickly by just adding a new "node" to the Chef cluster and running Chef client on it. A "node" is a machine - physical, virtual, cloud - that is under management by Chef server. A question that came to my mind was what is DevOps, and how does automation by Chef falls under that description? Loosely defined by Wikipedia as "a culture, movement or practice that emphasizes the collaboration and communication of both software developers and other information technology (IT) professionals while automating the process of software delivery", DevOps seeks to create a process by which software can be quickly and effectively developed, tested, and released. Chef definitely allowed testing and releasing software by making the deployment process fast, reliable and repeatable. Although during the transition phase the scripts are written by Chef experts, over time developers can contribute by reviewing the scripts and even writing them. The scripts become a kind of contract between the developer infrastructure requirements and the infrastructure implementation. ## **Virtual Machines** A lot has changed in the DevOps field over the years. Provisioning of infrastructure has always been a slow process, and hence a bottleneck for quick delivery of software. Virtual machines helped a lot in this regard by providing flexibility of running different operating system on the same physical resources. The companies do not have to go out and buy new physical machines every time a need arises, but can configure their existing resources instead. This cuts down the release and delivery time. ## **Cloud** With the emergence and mainstream acceptance of cloud, organizations can deliver software even faster. IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) clouds offer virtual machines as a service. PaaS (Platform as a Service) offers a development environment to developers. SaaS (Software as a Service) offers applications as a service. Organizations have an option to use third-party cloud services on a pay-as-you-go cost or they can deploy cloud services in house (on-premise). ## **Build/Deploy Pipeline** It has become easy to setup a build/deploy pipeline using cloud services. Building software is as simple as provisioning a machine on cloud and running an CI (Continuous Integration) server like Jenkins on it. Deploying software is as simple as pushing the published artifacts from build step to the cloud. Spring Boot comes with embedded tomcat server so it cuts down the deployment time. The client I work for has started to use a separate build/deploy pipeline for individual projects. This cuts down the investment on proprietary CI servers and decouples the problems associated with using the centralized CI server. The pipeline can be set up within a few hours once the process is tried a couple of times. That is remarkable improvement over the existing practices. It requires collaboration of infrastructure team and developers - infrastructure manages and provides the resources that developers can use. It is correctly a good DevOps practice. --- [![LinkedIn Icon](https://blog.avenuecode.com/hubfs/Images/Blog/linkedin.png)](https://www.linkedin.com/in/raj-thapar-0b353111?trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile) ### Author # Raj Thapar I have 20 years of experience in software development. I have held various posts during my tenure - from software engineer to manager. I like to travel, listen to music and play tennis. --- ### Related Posts ### Value Your Time: 11 Tips for More Efficient Meetings [READ MORE](https://blog.avenuecode.com/tips-for-more-efficient-meetings?hsLang=en-us) ### Tips for Organizing Documentation in Agile Projects [READ MORE](https://blog.avenuecode.com/tips-for-organizing-documentation-in-agile-projects?hsLang=en-us) ### Synergistic Digital Transformation: Potentiating Results with Systems Thinking [READ MORE](https://blog.avenuecode.com/potentiating-results-with-systems-thinking?hsLang=en-us) ### How A/B Testing Can Transform Your Business [READ MORE](https://blog.avenuecode.com/how-a/b-testing-can-transform-your-business?hsLang=en-us) ### Leave a Comment! ### Avenue Code Social [![Facebook Icon](https://blog.avenuecode.com/hubfs/Images/Blog/facebook.png?t=1486470796564)](https://www.facebook.com/avenuecode) [![Twitter Icon](https://blog.avenuecode.com/hubfs/Images/Blog/twitter.png?t=1486470796842)](https://twitter.com/AvenueCode) [![LinkedIn Icon](https://blog.avenuecode.com/hubfs/Images/Blog/linkedin.png?t=1486470796556)](https://www.linkedin.com/company/avenue-code) ### Newsletter Want to stay on top of all tips and news from Avenue Code? ### Popular Snippets ![ac-logo-inverted.svg](https://blog.avenuecode.com/hubfs/Images/Logos/ac-logo-inverted.svg "ac-logo-inverted.svg") ### About Us - [Who We Are](https://www.avenuecode.com/who-we-are) - [What We Do](https://www.avenuecode.com/what-we-do) - [Portfolio](https://www.avenuecode.com/portfolio) - [Partners](https://www.avenuecode.com/partners) - [News](https://www.avenuecode.com/news) - [Events](https://www.avenuecode.com/events) - [Blog](https://blog.avenuecode.com/) - [Contact](https://www.avenuecode.com/contact) ### Our Offices San Francisco [+1 415 766 4178](tel:+553125161448) [ac.inquiries@avenuecode.com](mailto:brazil.info@avenuecode.com) Belo Horizonte [+55 31 2516 1448](tel:+553125161448) [brazil.info@avenuecode.com](mailto:brazil.info@avenuecode.com) São Paulo [+55 11 3205 3232](tel:+553125161448) [brazil.info@avenuecode.com](mailto:brazil.info@avenuecode.com) ### We're Hiring! - [Belo Horizonte](https://www.avenuecode.com/who-we-are) - [New York](https://www.avenuecode.com/what-we-do) - [San Francisco](https://www.avenuecode.com/portfolio) - [São Paulo](https://www.avenuecode.com/partners) --- ©2015 - 2017 Avenue Code [![Facebook Icon](https://blog.avenuecode.com/hubfs/Images/Icons/facebook-2.png)](https://www.facebook.com/avenuecode) [![Twitter Icon](https://blog.avenuecode.com/hubfs/Images/Icons/twitter-2.png)](https://twitter.com/AvenueCode) [![LinkedIn Icon](https://blog.avenuecode.com/hubfs/Images/Icons/linkedin-2.png)](https://www.linkedin.com/company/avenue-code) [![Glassdoor Icon](https://blog.avenuecode.com/hubfs/Images/Icons/glassdoor-icon-1.png)](https://www.glassdoor.com/Overview/Working-at-Avenue-Code-EI_IE456173.11,22.htm) [![YouTube Icon](https://blog.avenuecode.com/hubfs/Images/Icons/youtube-2.png)](https://www.youtube.com/user/AvenueCodePlay) /\*\* DISQUS SCRIPTS \*\*/ Please enable JavaScript to view the [comments powered by Disqus.](http://disqus.com/?ref_noscript) © 2026 Avenue Code ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Raj Thapar", "url" : "https://blog.avenuecode.com/author/raj-thapar" }, "datePublished" : "2016-10-05T18:16:00.000Z", "headline" : "DevOps Practice", "image" : [ "https://blog.avenuecode.com/hubfs/Images/Blog/DevOps-image.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://blog.avenuecode.com/devops-practice", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://blog.avenuecode.com/hubfs/Avenue%20Code%20New%20Logos%20-%202023/Avenue%20Code-primary%20versions_LOGO%20HORIZONTAL%20group%201-7.png" }, "name" : "Avenue Code" } } ```