A DevOps engineer automates the stages of product creation, helps choose the application architecture, and monitors the performance of the development environment. Let’s look into the peculiarities of the profession together.
Introduction
Before the appearance of the DevOps-engineer profession, in companies different departments were responsible for development and separately for the service of programs on the server. Each department dealt with its own tasks, specialists usually had no contact with each other. But with the emergence of the profession DevOps-engineer there was a combination of job duties.
Who is a DevOps engineer?
A DevOps engineer is a specialist who synchronizes the work of testers, sysadmins and programmers. He is responsible for automating application configuration and deployment. The duties of this specialist also include ensuring stable operation of the servers.
DevOps is more of a methodology than a profession. Since automation pervades the entire workflow, a DevOps specialist needs to have a good understanding of all stages of product development, from development tasks to release.
DevOps engineer — key roles and duties
The DevOps-engineer profession requires the competence in two IT directions – programming and system administration. Nowadays there is a catastrophic lack of such developers on the domestic market and the demand remains high.
Typical tasks of a DevOps-engineer are:
● configuring servers, automating code validation and pouring;
● ensuring the full product lifecycle;
● automating routine processes;
● ensuring that the product automatically goes through different stages of continuous integration and continuous delivery;
● monitoring and investigating performance issues.
Benefits of being a DevOps engineer
The DevOps engineer profession has plenty of perks.
- You can immerse yourself in a wide range of technologies and constantly learn the latest tools.
- Such specialists are in demand: there are far fewer of them than there are vacancies on the market.
- The salary of DevOps engineers is higher than that of the other IT-professions.
- In the profession, you have to regularly invent and implement your own tools and approaches, which develops creativity.
- You can find a job in another country: there are many times more vacancies for DevOps engineers in the West.
The disadvantages of working as a DevOps engineer
There are also disadvantages to this profession. The first one is the high entry threshold; it can be difficult even for those with experience and technical background. The second disadvantage is the irregular working hours: experts often work even at night, since there are failures in services.
How to become a DevOps engineer
This profession is trained in universities. Students receive not only modern professional knowledge, but also acquire the skills of research and organizational and management activities. If you are thinking about becoming a DevOps engineer, you should start by studying the basics of computer science and programming. You can use an essay writing service to help you with college paper writing so that your work is perfect.
You can also learn DevOps-engineering skills in specialized online courses. During your studies, you will build up a portfolio that will help your chances of getting a job at a large company.
There are many ways to learn a new profession. You can find books, video tutorials and other training materials on the Internet and study on your own. To become a DevOps specialist for a beginner, you need to learn operating systems, databases, monitoring tools – you can learn all this on a course in an online school.
Let’s tell more about each form of training and give recommendations for aspiring DevOps engineers.
On your own
The self-education path is suitable if you already have at least some experience as a programmer or sysadmin. If you plan to study on your own, the following books will be
helpful:
● “Computer Networks”; by V. and N. Olifer.
● “The Unix Linux Desktop Book of the System Administrator” by E. Nemeth.
● “The DevOps Handbook. How to achieve world-class agility, reliability, and security in technology companies” by D. Kim.
● “Project Phoenix. A novel of how DevOps changes business for the better” by D.Kim.
● “Continuous delivery. The Practice of Continuous Updates” by E. Wolf.
But if you’re new to IT, self-study is a long, complicated and unpromising way to go. You’ll spend several years mastering the basic tools of a DevOps specialist: Linux, Git, Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD, etc.
In addition, you won’t have practice with real projects and team development experience, which will make it difficult to find a job. Employers are usually looking for experienced candidates, so you will have to start as a sysadmin or development intern.
Online courses
An online course is a convenient, fast, and effective way to learn. You will master the main DevOps tools, practice all the knowledge and make the final project in one of the cloud services.
You will receive a document on education, they will help you to write a CV and a portfolio, they will offer an internship or tell you how to find a job in your specialty quickly. But what if you need to write a research paper or an essay? Then, the best thing for you is to search for a cheap essay writer company. There are plenty of affordable online services that can offer high-quality essays for reasonable prices
Other advantages of a distance learning course:
- No rigid schedule – you can watch webinars online or in recordings, combine studying with other things.
- A lot of practical training – homework with revision, workshops, pre-graduation practical training.
- Communication with industry experts – lectures are given by engineers and developers from big companies.
- Unlimited access to training materials – lessons can be included several times and stay with you forever.
- There is a personal mentor who helps – answers questions, gives recommendations.
What you need to know to become a DevOps engineer
Let’s list the tools and technologies you need to master to become a DevOps engineer:
- Operating systems – you can choose to specialize in Linux or Windows.
- Scripting programming language – Bash, etc.
- Working with Docker or Kubernetes containers.
- Tools for continuous integration and continuous CI/CD delivery – Jenkins, Gitlab, etc.
- Building tools: composer, webpack, grandle, node.
- Database administration.
- Software to automate testing.
- Cloud providers: Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform and Microsoft Azure.
Where to get experience
A guaranteed way to get experience is to take a distance learning course. You’ll have plenty of hands-on training, and on a program that lasts more than six months, you’ll have the opportunity for an internship.
Many online schools organize internships for students in their own projects or send the best students to partner IT companies. In this case, you will take part in the development of a real software product and learn how to work in a team.
Building a career
Typically, a career as a DevOps engineer goes through several levels.
Junior
This is the level where career development begins. The engineer will be mostly working with Linux, writing generic scripts, mastering containerization software and doing simple monitoring.
Middle
It will take several years for the specialist to get to this level, if he or she is constantly learning. The engineer carries out detailed tasks, understands data types and programming languages and uses them.
Senior
It is possible to become a senior after 5 years of active work. He becomes a real expert: he fully supports the work of the whole infrastructure, understands where the company is going next, searches for new tasks and knows what is more of a priority.
About one third of DevOps engineers go into development or become technical project managers. Other specialists usually increase the value of their services in the market by extending their competences. The rest of them pump up their managerial skills and become technical directors.
Future prospects of a DevOps engineer
To always be in demand and earn a lot, follow a few rules.
- Upgrade your skills regularly. For example, the earlier you learn how to work in a team, the better. You should also look for defects in the system on your own and be able to offer options for fixing them.
- Develop management skills and become a manager or business owner.
- Try to master related areas such as TechOps or DataOps.
