Regardless of the size of your business, automation will always benefit you.
But when your automation reaches peak levels, DevOps orchestration becomes critical for faster time to market.
While many believe that orchestration simply involves combining automation tasks into larger scripts, it is much more than that. But what is it exactly?
Reading time 15 minutes Published: 29 October 2024
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DevOps orchestration is a coordination process that allows you to put small tasks (like automation tasks) from various tools together into a central, unified workflow by orchestrating them.
Simply put, DevOps orchestration makes it possible to automatically set up, coordinate and manage computing systems and software.
It is more than just combining the little tasks and creating a larger script. It ensures that various tasks such as testing, deployment, and configuration work together seamlessly within a DevOps environment to optimise workflows and improve overall efficiency.
The primary objective of DevOps orchestration is to ensure that all components work in harmony and are efficiently streamlined. This significantly reduces the time-to-market and minimises potential production errors.
"Orchestration allows you to be more efficient, scalable and reliable in software delivery pipelines."
With DevOps orchestration, you can identify, build and deploy release tools for quicker releases while improving processes and gain releases that are free of errors. Orchestration in DevOps is also crucial for managing and enforcing coding standards, guidelines and conventions.
Also, with DevOps orchestration, teams can better control third-party tools and their versions across environments.
You can also set and enforce load and performance levels at the customer and service levels by orchestrating your DevOps.
Yes, DevOps orchestration and DevOps automation are distinct concepts, though they are closely related. Automation means using technology instead of human actions to do tasks frequently. In automation, we want to streamline repetitive tasks to become more productive and efficient.
An example of continuous integration (CI) in software development is when we use tools like GitHub to compile, build and test code every time new code is pushed to a repository. This way, developers don't have to build and test code manually. We can automate a lot of tasks such as running scripts, data processing, backing up data, etc.
On the other hand, orchestration is about coordinating and managing those multiple automated tasks to create a (large) workflow. Rather than focusing on individual tasks like automation, orchestration manages how these tasks interact. This can include scaling infrastructure, running tests, and deploying applications.
A great example of DevOps orchestration is Kubernetes which can orchestrate the deployment of Docker images by automating the running of containers across a cluster of nodes. It handles load balancing and the deployment process and can scale up or down across multiple servers. It handles service discovery and can perform rolling updates to achieve zero downtime deployments.
Here are the key differences:
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DevOps orchestration tools ensure consistent configuration of software components and infrastructure across environments. This also ensures compliance with desired state configurations. You can define infrastructure as code (IaC) and automatically implement configuration changes across distributed environments.
With tools like Ansible or Terraform, you can define your IaC and apply configuration changes automatically across distributed environments.
Orchestration tools can automate infrastructure components and application deployment in various environments, from development, testing, and staging to production. So, you can streamline deployment processes, speed up time-to-market for software releases and reduce human errors.
Automating software deployment can be accomplished by using tools like Jenkins. Here, you can automatically push code to production after testing.
DevOps orchestration tools can dynamically scale applications and infrastructure. They can add or remove resources as necessary (on-demand). Kubernetes (K8) is an excellent tool for handling automatic scaling and load balancing.
K8 tracks system metrics like CPU, memory, and network usage and automatically adjust resources to ensure optimal performance and availability.
Workflow automation is possible with orchestration tools, which enable organisations to automate and define complex processes and workflows along the software delivery cycle.
They support event-driven automation, and workflows, schedule tasks, and handle dependencies, ensuring seamless integration between tools and systems. This coordinates the sequence of tasks, ensuring they run in the correct order and that each task triggers the next.
For instance, CI/CD platforms like GitHub Actions can automate complex workflows, combining code integration, testing, and deployment into streamlined pipelines. With these platforms, you can automate workflows, such as running tests after each code push, ensuring that any issues are caught early in the cycle.
DevOps orchestration tools ensure applications remain available when components fail. They provide high availability and fault-tolerant capabilities to ensure overall system resilience for applications and infrastructure resources. This includes failure detection, monitoring system health, and automated recovery and replacement of failed components.
Kubernetes, for example, can automatically restart or replace failed containers, ensuring minimal downtime and high availability.
Orchestration tools enable services to discover and communicate with each other automatically. This allows applications to find and coordinate with other services in distributed environments dynamically.
They manage load balancers, service registries, and routing rules to route traffic to the right service instances. This is based on predefined policies that ensure even traffic distribution.
For example, Kubernetes uses DNS to enable services to discover and communicate with each other. It manages traffic flow through load balancing and routing based on predefined policies.
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DevOps orchestration helps streamline the problem-solving processes. It accomplishes this by automating responses to alerts and incidents. Thus, you can quickly fix issues and troubleshoot as a team. As a result, you’ll have less downtime and minimal disruption of services.
DevOps orchestration allows for more rapid software releases. It accomplishes this by eliminating the need for you to wait on other workers to finish their manual duties. This makes it possible for software to reach the end user earlier on, while waiting time can be redirected to the next project. You can accelerate your time to market and expand your service offerings through increased automation, which can reduce costs and boost revenue.
Orchestration makes complex systems and multistep processes more manageable. It automates and coordinates tasks across systems and development and operations teams. The likelihood of bottlenecks and miscommunication is reduced. This method is far more efficient than manual management, which often experiences delay.
With DevOps orchestration, you can automatically manage resources by scaling them up or down based on real-time demand, ensuring optimal performance. You can also prevent resource overuse by dynamically allocating only what’s needed and thus reducing your operational costs.
By implementing quality control measures and activities such as security testing approvals, scheduling and status reporting automatically, we can reduce the possibility of errors that affect end-users.
Automation reduces human errors, which also relates to higher quality of software releases.
Orchestration improves the collaboration and togetherness of development and operations teams. Having a platform where all processes and activities are streamlined, consolidated, and updated encourages more collaboration, communication, and team alignment.
Teams can automate workflow by routing tasks to the right people for approvals and key decisions. This eliminates delays by ensuring the right person handles each step in the process at the right time. You’ll have clear visibility into goals and milestones, and teams can track progress more efficiently.
Automating security checks throughout the development process ensures that vulnerabilities are caught early, reducing the risk of introducing insecure code into production. Orchestration ensures that security testing is conducted at each relevant stage, adding a layer of defence while maintaining development speed.
When a project’s information and tasks are siloed, it becomes hard to get things clear and open. By coordinating all tasks with orchestration in DevOps and making it centralised, we can involve stakeholders better throughout the development lifecycle, and give them more updates and insights into progress.
DevOps orchestration promotes learning and skill development by encouraging teams to use advanced tools and processes. As manual tasks are automated, team members can focus on higher-level strategic work, developing their expertise in areas like automation, infrastructure as code, continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD).
Orchestration boosts employee engagement by reducing repetitive manual tasks and enabling teams to work more efficiently. DevOps teams can focus on problem-solving and innovation rather than routine tasks, leading to greater job satisfaction and a more motivated workforce.
We believe you should do. Why? DevOps teams must navigate through multiple departments, necessitating skilled management of their tools and processes.
DevOps orchestration has the power to blend automated parts from distinct DevOps toolkits. You need DevOps orchestration to get all your in-use automation tools from different 3rd parties engaged in one workflow.
Furthermore, it resolves the developer experience gap. This stems from managing complex and fragmented toolchains that distract developers from their primary task: coding. DevOps orchestration is critical in closing this gap by coordinating and automating complex tasks into a cohesive workflow.
Not to forget, with DevOps orchestration your business can deliver high-quality software rapidly in a constant manner and meet the evolving demands of customers.
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Azure DevOps by InterceptYou should implement DevOps orchestration after you've taken DevOps automation to a certain extent, since automation alone eventually hits its efficiency limits. At least, if you want to take software releases a step further.
Use DevOps orchestration when your workflow involves many tools, plugins, services or projects. It will help your team work efficiently to handle all DevOps tasks.
When your DevOps team moves from one tool to another, you may face the potential risk of reinvestment. This is when you require DevOps orchestration, which advocates quicker iteration and DevOps processes.
Orchestration can unify these processes when you’ve automated tasks like code builds and testing. This ensures smooth transitions between tools, faster iterations, and minimises the risk of reinvestment when switching between services.
It’s especially valuable when managing a large set of tools or when your team needs to move between multiple platforms.
DevOps orchestration tools play a vital role in streamlining and optimising complex workflows. Let’s now discuss the popular tools that allow for DevOps orchestration.
Ideal tool for container management and orchestration.
Kubernetes handles deploying, scaling, and managing containerised applications across clusters. It schedules containers on nodes and ensures they are running properly. For example, it can scale applications based on traffic and handle rolling updates to avoid downtime. This way, you can ensure high availability and performance.
Native tool for clustering and orchestration for Docker containers
Docker swarm is an orchestration tool from Docker that allows you to control a cluster of Docker nodes and turn them into a single, virtualised host. This makes the deployment and scaling of containerised apps easier. It is ideal for teams that already use Docker containers.
For infrastructure as code (IaC)
Terraform is great for IaC as you can define, provision and manage cloud infrastructure as code. It deploys infrastructure across multiple cloud platforms, reduces manual work and minimises errors. You can version control your infrastructure to make your deployments and environments more consistent.
For infrastructure as code (IaC)
Ruby-based domain-specific language for infrastructure management and deployment automation. You can define IaC and create scalable environments.
Best for deployment and management of apps with dynamic infrastructures
Nomad is a simple orchestration tool that handles containerised and non-containerised workloads. It supports multiple workloads: Virtual Machines(VMs), containers, and standalone binaries. And that all within one entire workflow.
Great for teams looking to automate and streamline their CI/CD workflows directly within GitHub.
GitHub Actions combines version control with CI/CD, which enables developers to automate build, test and deploy code directly from GitHub. This integration streamlines development, making continuous integration and delivery faster and more reliable. With GitHub Actions, workflows triggered by each code push help teams move efficiently from code to deployment.
In short, GitHub Actions simplifies workflow automation to keep your pipeline running smoothly.
Great for automating configuration management, automation and application deployment
It's a simple, agentless tool for configuration management and deploying applications. Playbooks let you automate complex workflows across multiple environments, so you can ensure consistent setup and reduce manual labour. It's easy to extend and has a large library of modules that make it easy to orchestrate multiple conductors in different environments with just one language to learn.
Best for automating configuration management across large infrastructures.
Puppet can deploy and configure servers, which helps in setting up consistent environments. It's often used in large infrastructure environments to streamline tasks like applying security patches or deploying updates across hundreds of servers. This helps eliminate manual labour and errors.
First and foremost, you need the right DevOps orchestration tool if you want effective orchestration in DevOps as all tools have different capabilities and features. If you already use Docker, then Docker Swarm is the perfect choice. Use templates wherever possible to get consistent code that is easily maintainable.
Before implementing orchestration, clearly defining what you aim to achieve is essential. Whether it's faster deployment, better resource management, or improving system reliability, understanding your goals will help you choose the right tools and processes
Wherever possible, use templates to ensure consistent and maintainable code. Tools like Terraform allow you to define infrastructure templates, ensuring your setup remains uniform across environments.
Always use version control for your orchestration code to ensure it's consistent, up-to-date, and easy to track. Git is commonly used to manage changes in your orchestration scripts, offering a clear history of modifications.
Continuous monitoring ensures that the health of your infrastructure and applications is always tracked. Use monitoring tools like Prometheus or Nagios to catch issues in real-time, enabling quicker response times. This is vital to ensure that your orchestration processes function correctly and deliver the expected results.
Automating these processes ensures fast, reliable releases. GitHub can automate software testing and deployment, which reduces human error and speeds up the release cycle.
Automation alone is not sufficient to have scalable, observable and reliable operations. Therefore, organisations should use the best DevOps practices and tools for orchestration.
Orchestration plays a vital role in DevOps, acting like an umbrella that brings together and automates all your tasks – such as testing, deployment, and configuration into one workflow.
Implementing DevOps orchestration after automation will make your cloud software development projects and operations more manageable, more accessible to oversee, and more efficient.
And that’s not all: it also frees your developers to focus on what matters most: developing applications and delivering value to customers.
Read also about GitHub vs. Azure DevOps: which Microsoft tool should you choose? to explore the best fit for your development needs.
What is meant by orchestration in DevOps?
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What are the types of orchestration in DevOps?
What is orchestration in a pipeline?
What is orchestration in CI/CD?
What is orchestration in Kubernetes?
What is the difference between orchestration and automation?
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