DevOps.com

  • Latest
    • Articles
    • Features
    • Most Read
    • News
    • News Releases
  • Topics
    • AI
    • Continuous Delivery
    • Continuous Testing
    • Cloud
    • Culture
    • DataOps
    • DevSecOps
    • Enterprise DevOps
    • Leadership Suite
    • DevOps Practice
    • ROELBOB
    • DevOps Toolbox
    • IT as Code
  • Videos/Podcasts
    • Techstrong.tv Podcast
    • Techstrong.tv Video Podcast
    • Techstrong.tv - Twitch
    • DevOps Unbound
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming
    • On-Demand Webinars
  • Library
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • On-Demand Events
  • Sponsored Content
  • Related Sites
    • Techstrong Group
    • Container Journal
    • Security Boulevard
    • Techstrong Research
    • DevOps Chat
    • DevOps Dozen
    • DevOps TV
    • Techstrong TV
    • Techstrong.tv Podcast
    • Techstrong.tv Video Podcast
    • Techstrong.tv - Twitch
  • Media Kit
  • About
  • Sponsor
  • AI
  • Cloud
  • Continuous Delivery
  • Continuous Testing
  • DataOps
  • DevSecOps
  • DevOps Onramp
  • Platform Engineering
  • Low-Code/No-Code
  • IT as Code
  • More
    • Application Performance Management/Monitoring
    • Culture
    • Enterprise DevOps
    • ROELBOB

Home » Blogs » Today’s DNS: DevOps’ New Best Friend

Today’s DNS: DevOps’ New Best Friend

Avatar photoBy: contributor on August 29, 2017 Leave a Comment

Continuous development and deployment is a primary focus of DevOps teams. As part of this process, DevOps teams also require the automatic creation or removal of networks, and automated deployment to production. Automation is a closer guarantee that the process will be done right the first time because the fewer the number of manual steps involved, the less likelihood for human error. Intelligent DNS improves DevOps project life cycles by integrating DNS tasks into your software development and automation tools.

Recent Posts By contributor
  • How to Ensure DevOps Success in a Distributed Network Environment
  • Dissecting the Role of QA Engineers and Developers in Functional Testing
  • DevOps Primer: Using Vagrant with AWS
Avatar photo More from contributor
Related Posts
  • Today’s DNS: DevOps’ New Best Friend
  • NS1 Touts a Common Delivery Platform for Devs and Ops
  • NS1 Launches DDI for Modern Distributed Enterprise Application Infrastructure
    Related Categories
  • Blogs
  • DevOps in the Cloud
    Related Topics
  • Agility
  • Cloud Computing
  • devops
  • DevOps bottleneck
  • DNS
  • domian name system
  • intelligent DNS
  • internet
Show more
Show less

DNS Needs an Upgrade

The internet has come a long way since its humble beginnings, from the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) of the 1960s to an entity that is mission-critical for the world’s commerce. This system is now tested and taxed in ways that were not even conceived of when it was originally designed. One of these early elements, DNS, is now a potential bottleneck for network performance in general and DevOps teams in particular.

TechStrong Con 2023Sponsorships Available

One of the benefits of cloud computing is that it enables DevOps teams to automatically create and remove servers as needed for development and testing. Infrastructure as code (IaC) enables cloud computing to build infrastructure automatically using robust APIs that build servers and add applications as needed. Traditional DNS, with its mostly manual management, becomes a bottleneck for this automated rapid configuration of infrastructure. This is why organizations need an intelligent DNS solution. Intelligent DNS with a robust API can seamlessly interface with current DevOps software, removing the bottleneck that traditional DNS can become.

Extending Agile with DevOps

The underlying ideas of agile programming are extended with DevOps. Rather than the traditional way of producing and testing the code, then tossing it over the wall to the network operations team to deploy, DevOps merges the development, testing and operations responsibilities. In short, DevOps should have the ability to break the silos within your IT environment and among the development, QA and operations teams.

DevOps’ blend of cultural philosophies, practices and tools increases an organization’s ability to deliver applications and services at high velocity. DevOps allows organizations to evolve and improve products at a faster pace than organizations using traditional software development and infrastructure management processes. This speed enables organizations to better serve their customers and compete more effectively in the market.

Rapid Change Propagation is Essential

In addition to rapidly delivering applications and services, a goal of DevOps continuous release is to remove bottlenecks to the development, testing, and deployment cycles. This is aimed at creating an environment where the work isn’t hampered with computer delays and frustrations.

When you’re automating the creation or deletion of 100 virtual servers with a single mouse click using IaC, waiting for 30 minutes to see if DNS changes appear at the edge servers delays your project. Your DNS needs to move as fast as your IaC software and service discovery processes. At this point, intelligent DNS with rapid change propagation becomes essential. When choosing DNS vendors to support your DevOps environment, make sure to include speed testing for the network’s propagation for changes.

Where IaC Comes In

The aim of DevOps professionals is to create and sustain server environments that closely resembles the way software developers build and maintain application source code. IaC is the way DevOps teams make that happen.

IaC is based on three primary constituents:

  • Unit/Integration Testing – Lets you validate your infrastructure code within various phases of the DevOps pipeline and lets you feel confident about what you are pushing to production.
  • Infrastructure Blueprints – Supports the reusable, consistent and rapid deployment part of IaC.
  • Version Control – Facilitates the method track and rollback changes to your infrastructure as needed.

Infrastructure blueprints can be created using configuration as code (CaC). Using tools such as Terraform, Ansible and Chef allows DevOps teams to build these blueprints by enabling a declarative way of handling infrastructure configuration. Infrastructure blueprints should always go hand in hand with unit/integration testing. Having a robust, API-driven DNS network to couple the full automation of DNS changes alongside the infrastructure and configuration changes ensures a smoother process.

IaC is next-generation technology for DevOps environments. When combined with CaC products, it changes the way software is built and delivered. Continuous integration and continuous deployment are a large part of the DevOps world that all still depends on DNS technology to connect everything on the network.

The Role of Service Discovery

Service discovery is needed to enable your apps or servers to identify which services are available on the network and which IP addresses and ports are associated with them. Previous methods of tracking this information no longer work in the DevOps age.

Since modern infrastructure is so scalable and changes so quickly, keeping track of service information inside a periodically updated database doesn’t work anymore. Instead, you have to be able to discover services in real time and update your service information continually. Three common service discovery tools are: Consul, Apache Zookeeper and Etcd (with Registrator and confd).

A tight integration with your managed DNS provider as part of your overall strategy means that service discovery can work hand in hand with the DNS configuration so both systems remain in sync.

Moving Toward Intelligent DNS

DevOps needs the same types of robust features you would want for your external internet traffic: end user-facing DNS. You should align with a vendor that can provide the flexibility, agility and reliability you require to deliver your applications.

Look for features including:

  • Zone Transfers allowed and easily facilitated
  • An anycast DNS network
  • A robust API to support automation, IaC, service discovery and other architecture and tool needs
  • Native integration with common DevOps tools such as Terraform, Ansible and Chef
  • An SLA that meets your needs for reliability and performance

These elements are necessary, but a more important item on your checklist needs to be redundancy in all layers of the stack, including DNS. Because no vendor is completely bulletproof, use at least two authoritative DNS providers to set up redundancy. Following these guidelines will improve your DevOps’ life cycle by using intelligent DNS.

About the Author / Kimberly Lacerte

Kimberly Lacerte has 14 years of experience in computer and technical writing. She is currently the Content Marketing Manager at NS1 in Bedford, N.H. Previously, she has written for Veritas, Symantec, Health Dialog and Dyn. Kimberly holds an English BA from UNH and an MBA from Southern NH University.

Filed Under: Blogs, DevOps in the Cloud Tagged With: Agility, Cloud Computing, devops, DevOps bottleneck, DNS, domian name system, intelligent DNS, internet

« Simulating DevOps to Discover the ‘Culture Thingy’
CloudCoreo: Get Your Cloud Security on at Jenkins World »

Techstrong TV – Live

Click full-screen to enable volume control
Watch latest episodes and shows

Upcoming Webinars

Achieving Complete Visibility in IT Operations, Analytics, and Security
Wednesday, February 1, 2023 - 11:00 am EST
Achieving DevSecOps: Reducing AppSec Noise at Scale
Wednesday, February 1, 2023 - 1:00 pm EST
Five Best Practices for Safeguarding Salesforce Data
Thursday, February 2, 2023 - 1:00 pm EST

Sponsored Content

The Google Cloud DevOps Awards: Apply Now!

January 10, 2023 | Brenna Washington

Codenotary Extends Dynamic SBOM Reach to Serverless Computing Platforms

December 9, 2022 | Mike Vizard

Why a Low-Code Platform Should Have Pro-Code Capabilities

March 24, 2021 | Andrew Manby

AWS Well-Architected Framework Elevates Agility

December 17, 2020 | JT Giri

Practical Approaches to Long-Term Cloud-Native Security

December 5, 2019 | Chris Tozzi

Latest from DevOps.com

Cisco AppDynamics Survey Surfaces DevSecOps Challenges
January 31, 2023 | Mike Vizard
Jellyfish Adds Tool to Visualize Software Development Workflows
January 31, 2023 | Mike Vizard
3 Performance Challenges as Chatbot Adoption Grows
January 31, 2023 | Christoph Börner
Looking Ahead, 2023 Edition
January 31, 2023 | Don Macvittie
How To Build Anti-Fragile Software Ecosystems
January 31, 2023 | Bill Doerrfeld

TSTV Podcast

On-Demand Webinars

DevOps.com Webinar ReplaysDevOps.com Webinar Replays

GET THE TOP STORIES OF THE WEEK

Most Read on DevOps.com

Microsoft Outage Outrage: Was it BGP or DNS?
January 25, 2023 | Richi Jennings
The Database of the Future: Seven Key Principles
January 25, 2023 | Nick Van Wiggerern
Don’t Hire for Product Expertise
January 25, 2023 | Don Macvittie
Software Supply Chain Security Debt is Increasing: Here̵...
January 26, 2023 | Bill Doerrfeld
Harness Acquires Propelo to Surface Software Engineering Bot...
January 25, 2023 | Mike Vizard
  • Home
  • About DevOps.com
  • Meet our Authors
  • Write for DevOps.com
  • Media Kit
  • Sponsor Info
  • Copyright
  • TOS
  • Privacy Policy

Powered by Techstrong Group, Inc.

© 2023 ·Techstrong Group, Inc.All rights reserved.