FullStack DevOps

https://slides.com/alexfernandez/2016-07-fullstack-devops/

Your Host Tonight

What We Will See

What Is DevOps?

DevOps in JavaScript

Some Case Studies

Build Or Not?

Conclusions

What Is DevOps?

FullStack? Development, 2016

Frontend: JavaScript

Backend: JavaScript

DevOps: ???

So What Is DevOps?

Amateurs talk about tactics,

but professionals study logistics.

Gen. Robert H. Barrow, USMC

noted in 1980.

Paraphrasing:

Amateurs worry about programming,

while professionals care about deployment.

Continuous Deployment

Probably the most important practice in DevOps

Continuous Integration: tested on integration env

Continuous Delivery: tested on several envs

Continuous Deployment: go all the way and deploy!

Use dark launches, feature flags, canary deployments

What Else?

Build

Testing

Logging

Alerting

Monitoring

Provisioning

Orchestration

Balancing

So, Just a Sysadmin? Not So Fast

Development team deploys,

monitors and orchestrates…

writing code, of course!

Everything is automated

DevOps in JavaScript

Guess the DevOps Package!

Java

Ruby

Python

Golang

C

But Node.js is Perfect for DevOps!

Integrate several APIs

Asynchronous code

Concurrent requests

Libraries for everything

Succint code

Stop! Demo Time

Automate Your Cloud

Official AWS API:

npm install aws-sdk 

Official Azure API:

npm install azure 

Official Google Cloud API:

npm install gcloud 

(requires C library) (sucks)

Example: Build an Orchestrator

Use "Native" Mechanisms

Run servers using Upstart or Systemd

Run periodic tasks using crontab

Use Bash wherever possible

Connect using SSH

Some Case Studies

MediaSmart Mobile

We serve mobile advertising

Match bid offers with campaigns

Real time bidding (OpenRTB)

Make bid and compose ad

In near real time (~80 ms)

Guilty!

Some Numbers

50+ countries

Peaks of 325 krps

Average of 200 krps

20 billion requests per day

Deployment Infrastructure

A simple bash script to start

Built for (and with) Node.js packages

Held together with some custom Node.js scripts

Recently migrated to StriderCD

Now with a Graphical Interface!

StriderCD In Action

Nginx Balancer

Previously using Amazon's Elastic Load Balancer

Eating up to 20% of our monthly bill

Replaced by an Nginx balancer

DNS balancer in Node.js

Custom Lua logging

Nginx Monitoring

Custom Node.js script

Reads stats every minute

Runs using crontab

Can kill instances not responding

Traffic Dashboard

Clever Proxy

Filter out 90% of traffic
Decides which requests are less attractive

Written in Erlang (!)

Filter CPU Load

Pricing Server

Decides the price to pay for each bid

Intensive computations

Predictive algorithm:

estimates CTR of bid offer

Written in Go (!!)

Handles queries in ~500 µs (2 ms)

The Limits of JavaScript

The Limits of JavaScript (Realistic)

The Limits of JavaScript (Fearful)

Server Automation

Distribute a command to a set of servers

Custom scripts using AWS libraries

Our next adventure:

migrate to ShipIt

another npm package

Build

Or Not

Do not Be Afraid to Build

Just going to give you emotional arguments

Do not expect answers! Not from me

At most, some uncomfortable questions 

Companion article:

https://alexfernandez.github.io/2016/build-or-not.html

The Joy of Building Things

People build things because they love to

Starting a green field project can be exhilarating

Helps attract and keep elusive talent

Someone had to build first!

Why let them have all the fun?

NIH Syndrome

"Not Invented Here":

Distrust products offered by third parties

Joel Spolsky:

If it is a core business function

do it yourself, no matter what.

As easy as identifying core business functions

Right?

Core Business Functions

Banks: outsourcing IT

Google: self-driving cars

Facebook: providing Internet access

Apple: music distribution, watches

Reinventing the Wheel

Does the world really need a new testing library?

I don't know or care

If I need it, I will surely build it

$7600 Tesla Wheels

Learning, the Easy Way

The best way to learn is by building

DevOps is not just installing a package

Make infrastructure a first-class citizen

Installing a package can be simple if you know how

The best way to learn infrastructure is by building it

Against Craftmanship

Software devs are artisans practicing their craft

Artisans may get carried away

and build too much

Use modules as standard parts

Maintaining software can be hard

and expensive

Open Source Software

Middle ground between building and installing

Software as a community

Build custom extensions

and share them!

E.g.: send diffs by email

using StriderCD

Joining the Pieces

Combine several packages into a larger entity

Continuous deployment requires:

• code repos
• test library
• notification tools
• distributed deployment

May require glue code

So, Should I Build or Not?

There is not a universal path for all destinations

Consider:

• Are you building a state-of-the-art project?
• Which options is more cost-effective?
• Which option is more likely to succeed?
• What is the cost of switching?
  
• Which option is more fun?
  

Conclusions

DevOps Is Cool

Not just install a Jenkins instance somewhere

Merge development and sysadmining

Write code to do fun stuff

Build upon your work

We Need More JavaScript DevOps!

Node.js is perfect!

In-browser is also cool

Emerging Node.js packages

Watch operational constraints

Build or Not?

If it gives you a competitive advantage

build it yourself, no matter what.

Thanks!