GitOps vs. Traditional DevOps: Why Infrastructure as Code (IaC) is the Future

There is constant evolution in the software development landscape as new practices and tech technologies are being introduced to manage infrastructure. Well. There have been numerous evolutions and advancements: the two most prominent paradigms are traditional DevOps and GitOps. While the aim of both is to streamline processes, enhance collaboration, and optimize infrastructural management, the impact and approach significantly differ. Traditional DevOps generally focuses on continuous integration and continuous delivery pipeline that includes manual intervention and proper scripts to manage the entire infrastructure thoroughly. On the contrary, GitOps leverages Git repositories. It is the single source of truth for application and infrastructural management to promote consistency and automation. 

Infrastructure as code or IaC is fundamental to secure these workflows. It allows infrastructure to be managed and defined through codes that enable peer reviews, version control, and automated testing. The approach is not only about reducing the risk of human errors, but it also makes sure that the infrastructural changes are reproduced and transparent. Integration of IaC with GitOps can help organizations achieve a scalable, robust, and effective management process to ensure a resilient lifestyle. 

What is GitOps? 

GitOps can be defined as the operational framework that leverages the power of Git repositories. It works as a single source of truth for application, deployment, and infrastructural configuration. As it is a combination of version control with declarative configuration, GitOps flow, make sure of consistency in infrastructure and ensures rapid rollbacks when there is any issue. The major principles of GitOps include the following. 

• Declarative descriptions – All the system configurations in GitOps are written in declarative format. This means that the desired state of the system has been specified, and it automatically manages all the required steps to achieve its desired state. The approach can simplify configuration management along with reducing the risk of human errors. 
• Version control – Any changes that happen are thoroughly managed through GitOps. Therefore, it provides you with a complete history of all the modifications that have occurred. Hence, teams are allowed to track changes, effectively collaborate, and reverse to previous states if required. Version control also enhances accountability and transparency in the development processes. 
• Observability – The actual state of a system can be continuously compared to the desired state. It includes observatory tools that monitor the system's health and constantly alert teams of any discrepancies to enable prompt corrective actions. The continuous feedback loop can be beneficial to maintain the performance and integrity of the system. 
• Automation – Reconciliation and deployment can be automated through a continuous delivery pipeline. Automation would ensure that all the changes applied are consistent and quick to reduce the overall effort and time required during manual interventions. This will lead to more efficient and reliable deployment. 

Traditional DevOps 

Traditional DevOps is an integration of operation and development teams, which fosters collaboration and automating workflows. The major components of DevOps generally include CI/CD pipelines, semi-automated or manual intervention, provisioning, and consistent monitoring. While it is highly effective, traditional DevOps heavily relies on human intervention and scripting. This can introduce inconsistencies and errors over the course of time. 

• CI/CD pipelines – Continuous integration and continuous delivery pipelines would automate the overall process of deploying applications and integrating changes in code. These pipelines can help to make sure that the code is thoroughly tested and deployed, but it requires manual setup and proper maintenance, which can be prone to bigger errors. 
• Monitoring – It involves the inclusion of monitoring tools that properly track the health and performance of infrastructure and applications. Effective monitoring can help teams resolve and identify issues, but it can also involve complicated configurations and manual oversight. This can sometimes lead to potential gaps in coverage. 
• Manual or semi-automated provisioning – Infrastructure provisioning in traditional DevOps might involve semi-automated scripts or manual steps. While these methods can be easily personalized to the specific requirements of organizations, they are susceptible to human errors and might result in an inconsistent environment. It can, therefore, make it harder to maintain capability and reliability. 

When you compare GitOps vs DevOps, you will get clear knowledge about both. GitOps generally provides a more consistent, observable, and automated approach that can manage application deployment and infrastructure. The GitOps workflow emphasizes automation and declarative configuration that reduces reliance on manual intervention and enhances the overall system reliability. This is what makes GitOps a compelling choice for organizations who are looking forward to future-proofing their infrastructure management practices. 

Why is infrastructure such as code or IaC the future? 

• Enhances efficiency – IAaC can be beneficial as it allows teams to define their infrastructure by making use of code that enables peer reviews, version control, and automated testing. The approach clearly eliminates manual configuration and reduces the overall effort and time required to manage the environment. By automating the management and provision of infrastructure, IaC makes sure that the environment can be set up quickly and consistently. Efficiency does not only accelerate development cycles but also frees up valuable time so that teams can focus on more strategic tasks and ultimately drive productivity and innovation. 

• Reducing errors – Manual processes are generally prone to human errors. The declarative nature of IaC makes sure that the configurations are reputable, consistent and error-free. Automated testing can further validate that these configurations are proper before deployment. By defining infrastructure as code, teams can easily apply the same validation and rigorous testing processes used in software deployment to the infrastructure. It will reduce the likelihood of misconfiguration and make sure that any issues that have been identified or resolved before they can impact the production environment. This will lead to a stable and reliable system. 

• Enable collaborations – As configurations are stored in Git, IaC fosters collaboration among teams. Operators, developers, and other stakeholders can also contribute to the infrastructural definition to streamline cross-functional workflows. The collaborative approach would ensure that the infrastructural changes are properly reviewed and approved by multiple team members to enhance accountability and transparency. By using version controls, teams make it easy to track changes and revert to the previous configuration. It will facilitate better coordination and communication across organizations. 

• Supporting modern development practices – IaC is known to be the foundation of containerized environment and microservices architecture. It has been designed to integrate seamlessly with orchestration tools like Kubernetes that enable dynamic scaling and significant fault tolerance. As it defined infrastructure as codes, teams can easily manage complex, distributed systems to ensure that they are consistently configured across different environments. The integration with modern development practices would support rapid deployment and scaling to allow organizations to respond quickly to changes in demand and maintain a high level of reliability and performance. 

When you understand more about GitOps vs DevOps, it will get you clear knowledge that provides a more consistent, automated, and observable approach. 

The GitOps flow in action 

It is important for you to understand the GitOps flow before you choose. So here is a typical GitOps workflow that you can expect. 

• Declarative configuration – In a GitOps flow, application states and infrastructure can be defined by making use of different formats like JSON or YAML files. It means specifying the desired state of the system instead of steps to achieve it. Declarative configuration actually simplifies the overall management of complicated systems as it provides a readable and clear description of the desired state. The approach, therefore, reduces the risk of error and ensures consistent and repeatable configuration, which makes it easier to scale and manage. 

• Git repository – All configurations get stored in Git, which serves as the single source of information. It enables version control collaboration and allows teams to easily track changes and revert back to the previous states if required. By using these repositories, teams can easily leverage merging and branching strategies to manage changes and ensure that modifications are thoroughly reviewed and approved before they are applied. It enhances transparency and accountability which makes it easier to maintain a clear history for all infrastructural changes. 

• Automation tools – Some of the most common tools like Flux or AgroCD, are being used for automating configuration synchronization with real-time environments. These tools enable continuous monitoring of theory for any changes and apply them to infrastructure automatically. This approach ensures that the life environment matches the desired state defined by the repository. As it reduces manual intervention, it enhances efficiency and reliability. 

• Continuous monitoring – The GitOps flow includes continuous monitoring to consistently compare the desired state with a real-time environment. These tools track the actual state and automatically reconcile the differences. It ensures that the infrastructure remains consistent with the configuration stored in the representative. Continuous monitoring also provides real-time information about the performance and system health, thereby enabling teams to address and detect issues promptly. The proactive approach becomes valuable to maintaining integrity and reducing downtime. 

Conclusion:  

The GitOps clearly represents a huge shift in application and infrastructural management. As it leverages Git repository and infrastructure as code (IaC), it can address limitations faced in traditional DevOps workflow. It reduces error, enhances efficiency, and ensures consistency across infrastructure. As organizations start adopting modern development practices, GitOps, and IaC can become indispensable choices to manage complex and distributed systems. 

If you’re willing to know more about GitOps flow and its integration, Hexaview Technologies can be a reliable choice. They can provide proper knowledge on how to integrate GitOps and IaC and improve overall infrastructural management. You can get in touch to embrace the future and stay ahead in the ever-evolving tech landscape.