DevOps Fundamentals – MKSS 2 Lecture

These vocabulary flashcards cover key terms, people, principles, metrics, tools and cultural aspects introduced in the MKSS 2 DevOps lecture, providing a comprehensive study aid for exam preparation.

DevOps

An approach that bridges the gap between agile development and operations to accelerate delivery, improve quality and foster collaboration.

Patrick Debois

Belgian consultant credited as a founder of DevOps; created DevOpsDays after seeing Flickr’s ‘10+ Deploys a Day’ talk (2009).

CAMS

DevOps framework standing for Culture, Automation, Measurement, Sharing (Edwards & Willis, 2010).

CALMR

Extended DevOps acronym: Culture, Automation, Lean, Measurement, Recovery (Jez Humble, 2014).

The Three Ways

Gene Kim’s DevOps principles: flow, feedback, and continuous learning/improvement (Phoenix Project, 2013).

High vs. Low Performers

Forsgren research shows high-performing IT orgs double their success in product delivery, efficiency, satisfaction, quality.

Deployment Frequency

One of the four key DevOps performance metrics describing how often software is released to production.

Lead Time for Changes

Time from code commit to running in production; shorter lead time indicates higher DevOps maturity.

MTTR (Mean Time To Restore)

Average time to recover from a failure; lower MTTR signals effective DevOps practices.

Change Failure Rate

Percentage of deployments causing incidents; a key DevOps stability metric.

BOFH

‘Bastard Operators From Hell’—stereotype of obstructive sysadmins who always say ‘no,’ hindering change.

Throw-it-over-the-wall Mentality

Developers releasing code without caring for operations impact; contrasts with DevOps collaboration.

Value Stream Management (VSM)

Lean technique to measure and optimize flow of value from idea to customer using metrics like lead time, cycle time.

Lean Principles

Identify value, map the value stream, create flow, establish pull, and pursue perfection; basis for DevOps flow.

Silos

Isolated departments (Dev vs Ops) that DevOps culture aims to dissolve for shared responsibility.

Team Topologies

Skelton & Pais model: Stream-aligned, Enabling, Platform, and Complicated-Subsystem teams for fast flow.

Stream-Aligned Team

End-to-end responsible team that builds and runs a product or service.

Enabling Team

Specialists who coach other teams, remove obstacles and spread practices.

Platform Team

Creates and maintains internal platforms offered as self-service to development teams.

Complicated-Subsystem Team

Handles areas requiring high expertise (e.g., algorithms, databases) so others can focus on value flow.

Version Control System (VCS)

Tool for tracking file changes, enabling collaboration, rollback and branching in software projects.

SCCS

Source Code Control System (1972) – first-generation local VCS by Bell Labs.

RCS

Revision Control System (1982) – improved local VCS simplifying SCCS use.

CVS

Concurrent Versions System (1990) – client-server second-generation VCS enabling network access.

Subversion

Centralized VCS (2004) designed to fix CVS limitations; adds transactional commits.

Git

Distributed VCS created by Linus Torvalds in 2005 offering speed, integrity and branching power.

Continuous Integration (CI)

Practice of frequently merging code to a shared repo where automated builds/tests verify each change.

Token-and-Bell CI

Manual CI approach using a shared token and bell to coordinate team check-ins before automation.

Continuous Delivery (CD)

Ability to push any change to production safely and quickly through automated pipelines.

Deployment Pipeline

Automated path from commit through build, test, staging to production; business decides release timing.

Continuous Deployment

Extension of CD where every passing change is automatically released to production.

Infrastructure as Code (IaC)

Managing infrastructure through code stored in VCS, enabling repeatable, consistent environments.

Terraform

General IaC tool for provisioning infrastructure across clouds via declarative configuration.

Pulumi

IaC tool allowing infrastructure definition in general-purpose languages (e.g., TypeScript).

Ansible

Agent-less configuration-management tool for automating provisioning and deployment.

Docker Compose

Tool for defining and running multi-container Docker applications via YAML.

Kubernetes

Container-orchestration platform automating deployment, scaling, and management of containerized apps.

Virtualization

Use of VMs/containers to create isolated, scalable, repeatable environments in DevOps pipelines.

Monitoring

Real-time observation of infrastructure, application performance, logs and user experience with alerting.

Observability Dashboard

Visual interface (metrics, logs, traces) helping teams detect issues and optimize systems.

Automation

Core DevOps practice of replacing manual, error-prone tasks with scripts and tools to improve speed and reliability.

Measurement

Systematic collection of data (lead time, MTTR, etc.) to inform improvements—part of CAMS/CALMR.

Sharing

Open dissemination of knowledge, practices and tools across teams to build trust and learning culture.

Recovery (Resilience)

CALMR element emphasizing fast restoration from failures through robust processes and architecture.

Culture over Tools

DevOps maxim stating that collaborative culture is more critical than any specific technology.

Waste (Muda)

Non-value-adding activities targeted for reduction through Lean and DevOps practices.

Pull System

Lean concept where work is initiated by downstream demand, reducing overproduction and queues.

Bottleneck

Constraint limiting flow; optimizing before/after it is ineffective (Theory of Constraints).

Cycle Time

Duration from work start to completion; used in VSM to identify delays.

Downtime

Period when service is unavailable; tracked in monitoring to gauge reliability.

MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures)

Average operating time between inherent failures; complements MTTR.

Automated Tests

Unit, API, UI, regression, etc.—executed by CI to keep software in a releasable state.

Feature Toggle

Technique allowing code deployment without enabling features, supporting safe releases.

Kanban Board

Visual tool for tracking work items and flow, often used to expose value stream in DevOps.

First-Time-Right

Lean rule: activity adds value only if done correctly the first time, guiding software quality focus.

Change Management

Coordinated process of introducing modifications while minimizing risk—streamlined in DevOps.

CI/CD Toolchain

Integrated set of tools (VCS, build server, test, deploy, monitor) enabling automated delivery.

State of DevOps Report

Annual Puppet (and others) study providing data on DevOps adoption and performance.

DevSecOps

Extension of DevOps integrating security practices into the pipeline from 2019 onward.

Phoenix Project

Novel by Gene Kim et al. illustrating DevOps principles through fictional company crisis.

Accelerate

Book by Forsgren, Humble, Kim detailing scientific findings linking DevOps to business performance.

Continuous Learning

Ongoing improvement cycle where teams reflect, experiment and share insights to evolve practices.