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13Sep

An Educational Discussion on Kubernetes Operators and Their Functions

September 13, 2022 admin Application, Kubernetes

All About Kubernetes Operators and their Functions

Today, Kubernetes is sure to be among the leading orchestration platforms. The number of Kubernetes users continues to increase as time passes. Multiple factors have helped make orchestration platforms popular. Kubernetes is a strong candidate for being the most popular orchestration platform in the future due to its presence of Kubernetes operators.

Existing Kubernetes users are already familiar with the relevance of Kubernetes operators. The concept of the Kubernetes operator may seem vague and complicated for a new user. However, it’s impossible to perform specific tasks on Kubernetes without having knowledge about Kubernetes operators. This article will enlighten Kubernetes beginners about the facts and purposes of Kubernetes operators in detail.

What are Kubernetes Operators?

In order to understand Kubernetes better, you need to be clear about its purpose. As an orchestration platform, Kubernetes is best utilized for creating, managing, and monitoring applications and servers. Kubernetes operators are now responsible for creating and deploying applications on Kubernetes. The Kubernetes operator manages the entire process, from packaging the application content to managing it.

To be specific, a Kubernetes operator can be considered an application-specific controller. You are supposed to utilize different Kubernetes operators in terms of deploying or managing different applications on Kubernetes. The process of deploying and managing an application on Kubernetes becomes possible with the support of Kubernetes API and kubectl tooling. The fundamental function of a Kubernetes operator is to enhance the productivity and efficiency of a Kubernetes API. That’s how a Kubernetes operator eases up the process of configuring and deploying an application.

Deeping diving into the Kubernetes mechanism, you are supposed to know about the existence of control planes in the platform. Every Kubernetes application comes with its own control plane that consists of controllers. Throughout the process of app development, the controllers of the application’s control plane keep utilizing control loops. Now, what are the functions of the loops? Actually, they compare the present state of the entire cluster with the state required to develop the application successfully. Those control loops notify the controllers about mismatches between present states and desired states continuously. The process keeps going on until the app is deployed successfully.

Once the controllers detect that the present state of the cluster is not matching with the requirements, it troubleshoot the issues immediately. A Kubernetes operator remains liable to operate the controllers in terms of completing application developments. Such an operator utilizes custom resources for managing the application it is dedicated to. When a programmer inputs a specific configuration for an application, the configuration consists of complicated and high-level directives. A Kubernetes operator transforms those high-level directives into easy and low-level actions.

Be it upgrading the version of an application, or scaling an application, a Kubernetes operator does it all concisely. That’s what makes Kubernetes operators inseparable parts of Kubernetes.

The Working Procedure of Kubernetes Operators

As you have attained adequate information about Kubernetes operators, you may be curious about how they work. This segment will describe the functional procedure of Kubernetes operators.

When it comes to the functional procedures of Kubernetes operators, you need to know about Stateless applications and Stateful applications. Firstly, what can be considered Stateless applications? Well, web applications, API services, and mobile backends can be considered stateless applications. Why? Because these applications don’t demand additional knowledge about their functional attributes. The basic, in-built infrastructure of Kubernetes is efficient enough to handle such stateless applications.

Now, let’s focus on Stateful applications. Applications that demand domain-specific expertise are considered stateful applications. Monitoring applications or databases can be categorized under this category. The basic Kubernetes infrastructure doesn’t possess the efficiency to scale and upgrade stateful applications. That’s why Kubernetes requires Kubernetes operators to manage stateful applications.

The job of a Kubernetes Operator is to get the domain-specific knowledge encoded in a particular Kubernetes extension. That’s how the operator eases up the task of scaling a stateful application for Kubernetes. The domain-specific knowledge enforced into the Kubernetes extension helps Kubernetes automate the life-cycle of the specific application as well.

Another major function of a Kubernetes operator is to eliminate manual application management tasks from the cluster where the application is deployed. Naturally, that makes it easier for Kubernetes to scale the application and configure it accordingly.

On top of that, a developer can distribute software on Kubernetes clusters without worrying about support infrastructures with a Kubernetes operator. The operator makes that possible by addressing application-specific problems and fixing them. Alongside, you get the opportunity to write additional codes to automate applications beyond the automation features of Kubernetes. This feature, at times, comes in handy.

It can be stated with confidence that a Kubernetes operator functions identically as a human operator. The operator pattern present in a Kubernetes operator detects the probable human approach towards scaling and maintaining a service. The operator pattern prompts the operator to act similarly. That’s why Kubernetes operators are extremely friendly and easy to work with. You can utilize the Kubernetes operator software development kit to create a specialized operator according to your requirements.

What are you supposed to know about the Operator Framework?

Like every other software architecture, a Kubernetes operator comes with a framework too. Actually, the operator framework offers Kubernetes tools to the developer and the runtime as an open-source project. With those tools, you can customize your operator to build a specific application on Kubernetes.

Now, you may question the contents of the operator framework. Let’s have a glance at what gets included in the operator framework-

  • Firstly, you get an operator SDK tool that helps you create your customized operator even without the basic knowledge of Kubernetes APIs.
  • Alongside, an operator lifecycle management tool also remains present in the operator framework package. This one assists you in managing the lifecycle of an operator.
  • Lastly, the operator monitoring tool helps you to determine operator usage.

These are the tools that you get in an operator framework. With these tools and your expertise, you can build a Kubernetes operator as you want.

Wrapping up

There’s no alternative to a Kubernetes operator in terms of building an application on Kubernetes that demands domain-specific knowledge. This article has offered complete knowledge about Kubernetes operators. Also, we have described the functional procedures of Kubernetes operators in depth.
Kubernetes operators are the best options to scale and monitor complicated applications with special features. As a developer, you can’t turn down the utility and necessity of Kubernetes operators. If you’ve started developing applications with Kubernetes recently, we strongly recommend you utilize Kubernetes developers to enhance your productivity. Now it’s your turn to use your knowledge of Kubernetes operators and generate outstanding results.

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06Jul

An Informative Guide to Kubernetes Environment Variables

July 6, 2022 admin Application, Kubernetes

The application of Kubernetes as one of the seamless orchestration platforms is trending. If you’re seeking a decent orchestration platform to complete your Linux projects, you must try Kubernetes. The best thing about this orchestration platform is its utility and customizable features. With Kubernetes, you get the opportunity to create environment variables that allow you to deploy and run your pods more precisely. Can you find another platform that offers equivalent customizable user experiences? Probably, no.

Anyway, if you’re new to Kubernetes, the concept of environment variables may go above your head. Every new Kubernetes user needs some time to adapt to the features and facilities associated with Kubernetes. Initially, you won’t need to create environment variables in your Kubernetes clusters to complete your tasks. To be specific, the main purpose behind creating environment variables is to make the platform more convenient and make your Kubernetes pods work exactly as you want. As you gain expertise in using Kubernetes, creating environment variables in your clusters will be the best way to make the most out of your pods.

In this article, you will find a detailed guide to Kubernetes environment variables and their functions. So, let’s get started with an introduction to Kubernetes environment variables.

Kubernetes Environment Variables

As a Kubernetes enthusiast, you must have been familiar with the usage of pods in Kubernetes. In short, pods are the units that help you accomplish your tasks in Kubernetes. Now, when you create pods in containers, you’re supposed to create a friendly running environment for the pods to help them run seamlessly. Such environments are called environment variables as you get the chance to create an environment variable according to your preference while creating pods in containers.

How to Manage Environment Variables?

Being a beginner, the task of managing environment variables may seem complicated to you. Ideally, an environment variable is utilized in terms of injecting specific configuration data to run an application with Kubernetes. Therefore, if you want to run specific applications and programs with your Kubernetes cluster, you are bound to inject certain configuration data to run them. Now, how do you inject environment variables into your container runtimes? There are three usual methods that you can utilize to set environment variables during creating pods. Here are the options:

  1. Utilizing the env stanza is possibly the most effortless way to set an environment variable while creating a pod inside a container.
  2. If you want the process to be convenient, utilize configMap as a reliable option.
  3. It’s best to use secrets while injecting environment variables to secure passwords and other sensitive information pieces.

Now, you may be keen to speculate the application of these methods in terms of injecting environment variables in the runtime environment of a specific container. The following example executes the injection of different environment variables using the env stanza and the configMaps.

$ kubectl exec -it app — bash

bash-5.0# env

— output truncated —

LOG_LEVEL=info

channel=mychannel

slackConfig={“webhook”:”https://hooks.slack.com/services/T00/B000/XXX”}

— output truncated –

However, we suggest you use the env stanza if you’re about to inject some simple variables into your container runtime. There’s no point in going for complicated methods like using configMap or secrets in such cases.

How to Define Environment Variables for a Specific Container?

Inclusion of the env or envForm in the configuration file is the initial step to set environment variables for a container. The following example describes the process of defining an environment variable for a single-pod container. The name of the environment variable in the pod’s configuration file is DEMO_GREETING, and the value of the environment variable is “Hello from the environment”. Now, let’s have a glance at the pod’s configuration manifest-

apiVersion: v1

kind: Pod

metadata:

name: envar-demo

labels:

purpose: demonstrate-envars

spec:

containers:

– name: envar-demo-container

image: gcr.io/google-samples/node-hello:1.0

env:

– name: DEMO_GREETING

value: “Hello from the environment”

– name: DEMO_FAREWELL

value: “Such a sweet sorrow”

When you’ve created the configuration manifest, execute the following steps to complete the process.

  • You’re supposed to create the pod according to the configuration manifest you’ve created. Check out the following example snippet. Here we have created the pod based on the configuration manifest mentioned above.

kubectl apply -f https://k8s.io/examples/pods/inject/envars.yaml

  • As you’re done with creating pods, access the list of running pods using the following code.

kubectl get pods -l purpose=demonstrate-envars

You’re supposed to get the following output on your screen:

NAME READY STATUS RESTARTS AGE

envar-demo 1/1 Running 0 9s

  • Now, it’s time to list out the pod’s container environment variables. Use the following code to make that possible conveniently.

kubectl exec envar-demo — printenv

The following output is supposed to appear on your screen:

NODE_VERSION=4.4.2

EXAMPLE_SERVICE_PORT_8080_TCP_ADDR=10.3.245.237

HOSTNAME=envar-demo

…

DEMO_GREETING=Hello from the environment

DEMO_FAREWELL=Such a sweet sorrow

That’s all! You’ve successfully set the container variables for your pods. Now, you’re all set to inject specific configurations to run all types of applications or programs on your Kubernetes cluster.

When to Refrain from Using Environment Variables?

Though environment variables are completely safe and friendly ones of Kubernetes pods, sometimes it’s wise to refrain from using them. Why? Well, environment variables are applicable for different interfaces and operating systems. Environment variables can be set in containers, pods, operating systems, and programming languages. Therefore, you track down the origin of an environment variable when that has been defined at multiple surfaces. In such a condition, you may remain confused about where to set the environment variable to get the best outcomes.

Another question that may appear in your mind is whether the environment variable will work on the runtime environment of your pod or not. If you’re confused about the origin of an environment variable, avoid using that in your container.

Moreover, there’s no way to change an environment variable if the container of the variable has started running. You’re supposed to set the environment variable before deploying the container to run an application. If you feel like changing the environment variable in the middle of the process, you need to start over the process again. If you’re short of time and you need to run an application badly, consider overruling the usage of the environment variable.

Conclusion

This article has explained everything about environment variables to you. You must have understood the potential utilities of environment variables in terms of running containers and pods in smoother ways. However, the potential drawbacks of environment variables can’t be overlooked at all. Therefore, we have discussed the drawbacks of environment variables elaborately too. Now, it’s your turn to put your knowledge to work. Use environment variables to enhance the performances of your pods and containers on your Kubernetes cluster.

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30Jun

Top 15 Kubernetes Tools for Deployment and Monitoring Applications

June 30, 2022 admin Application, Kubernetes

Kubernetes has outperformed its competitors in container orchestration, even Docker Swarm and Amazon Web Services have acknowledged its brilliance. As a modern container-driven platform for deploying, monitoring, and delivering software applications, Kubernetes is certainly the most advanced. The Kubernetes container platform provides various great tools to help you develop containerized applications. Being an open-source platform, it can easily allow people to use different tools for different purposes. In this post, we will take a look at 15 tools that you can use to enhance K8s so that you can manage and operate your applications even more efficiently.

Top 15 Kubernetes Tools

1. Kubespray

Kubernetes Kubespray is a deployment tool that has a group of Ansible roles to work for. Kubespray can use Google Cloud Environment, Azure, AWS, OpenStack, Bare Metal infrastructure, etc to manage your deployment project. If you have knowledge regarding the Ansible roles, then you can easily work with this tool. It can make managing and provision deployments easy and also allow constant integration tests for verifying the management process.

2. Helm

Helm is a new management tool for Kubernetes orchestrations and it works with Charts or some YAML files to define, install, or make an upgrade on the Kubernetes. Helm can cope with complex Kubernetes environments because its Charts are easy to create and monitor. You can even share the Charts with others and use them to publish them on Kubernetes. Each chart contains the descriptions of the packages, as well as one template with manifest files that you can deploy at different times in different scenarios. Helm works like Homebrew or Yum RPM, or Apt and you can install it for Windows, Mac, and Ubuntu.

3. Apollo

Apollo is a user interface that allows you to manage Kubernetes services such as viewing logs, reverting a deployment, and more. Apollo is a lightweight tool that also offers flexible permissions to manage deployments continuously and you can integrate it with any in-built process. Apollo allows Kubernetes users to manage multiple clusters with different namespaces and you can view the current status of deployments from the live querying option. You can view the status of the pods, logs, and restart the pods whenever required.

4. Aqua Security

Aqua Security is a security tool for Kubernetes. It scans container images before you deploy them on Kubernetes, and makes the images accessible only for reading. As a result, it can detect threats and detect anomalies instantly if they are present on an image. Using Kubernetes, image scans can be performed on every containerized application to detect performance issues and scalability issues. Additionally, it can secure multi tenant environments by isolating processes between tenants for access to data. It can scan multiple security issues, malware, and other malicious threats.

5. Twistlock

With Twistlock, you can secure the entire life-cycle of a container and that too frequently and on a continuous basis. With its VMS, you can examine any part of the container for possible threats, the parts that you perceive to be particularly vulnerable. Furthermore, you can obtain end-to-end security for your Kubernetes containers through an automatic firewall. Scanning images before deployment is another crucial security feature of Twistlock that is compatible with Docker images and Node.js components as well. The focus of Twistlock is to continuously scan container images so that it can detect threats in real-time.

6. Kubernetes Dashboard

Kubernetes Dashboard is a Kubernetes monitoring tool that you can access from your web to manage small clusters. It has a user interface where you can perform discovery, load balancing, monitoring of applications, and more. And there are various performance-related troubleshooting methods available such as monitoring CPU usage, workloads, etc. Installing Kubernetes Dashboard only takes a YAML file that is ready-made and can also support iOS and Android devices.

7. Kubelet

Kubelets are node agents that developers can run on Kubernetes cluster nodes and register the nodes with an API server. Kubelet can monitor these nodes using PodSpecs, which is also a tool used to describe the pods. And Kubelet can access PodSpecs from the API central server and other related sources.

8. Kubectl

Kubectl is one of the CLI tools that come by default on Kubernetes and are suitable for all types of applications and Kubernetes operations. In the $HOME directory, you will be able to detect the config files where the nodes are but the tool is also compatible with other kubeconfig files. You can even set up the relevant environment variable using kubeconfig flag and use Docker to communicate with any API central servers. The commands that are used in Kubectl, are somewhat like Docker commands.

9. Kube-shell

You can use Kube-shell as an alternative to kubectl and it is also a great CLI tool for Kubernetes. Kube-shell is built on top of the kubectl to provide auto-completion of commands and the commands will be suggested to you based on the value you put. Once you run the commands, you will be able to view an in-line description for the commands. You can use arrow keys in the shell to cycle back to the previous functions of the commands.

11. Kubeless

It is an in-built Kubernetes tool and can be used to deploy small applications to Kubernetes. By using Kubeless, a serverless tool for Kubernetes, you can enable various tasks on the platform. This includes automating auto-scaling of applications, monitoring, troubleshooting, routing API calls, etc. Kubernetes Resources can be customized by creating custom Kubernetes Resource Definitions, which can be used to monitor the cluster.

12. Amazon EKS

EKS refers to the Amazon Elastic Container Service that allows the simple deployment, management, and scaling of containerized apps on Kubernetes. With EKS, you can manage your Kubernetes environment through various AWS availability zones. It automatically detects and replaces improper control panel nodes and provides on-time upgrades and patchings.

13. Prometheus

Kubernetes monitoring tool Prometheus allows monitoring of multi-dimensional data models. Apart from that, it has user-friendly protocols and a simple, self-explanatory format that is readable by humans and can be published with the typical HTTP transport.

14. Kubesec.io

Kubesec.io provides various Kubernetes resources for enhancing the security of Kubernetes containers. You can control your Kubernetes applications however you want, as it will verify the resources based on your Kubernetes best security measures. Kubesec.io contains a lot of links related to containers and Kubernetes security.

15. Virtual-Kubelet

This open-source implementation of Kubelet functions as a Kubelet in Kubernetes to connect with all API servers. Kubernetes primitives can be directly used along with services such as AWS, ACI, Hyper.sh, and others to facilitate creating a smooth Kubernetes environment.

Conclusion

Here we have listed out the monitoring tools for Kubernetes that include Kubernetes Dashboard, Kublet, etc.
Security tools include Twistlock, Aqua Security, etc.
Kubernetes deployment tools include Helm, Apollo, and more.
And Kubernetes CLI tools include Kubectl and more.
You may already be familiar with some of them if you have some familiarity with Kubernetes and its related tools. If not, you are introduced to them in this post. Each of these tools is important for managing different aspects of Kubernetes, and all of them have alternatives. We have covered a lot of detail about each of these tools in other guides, so you can check those out as well. If you want to suggest something, you can leave a comment below.

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25Jun

What is Container Orchestration? What are Its Benefits?

June 25, 2022 admin Application, Container, Software

If you are working with Docker, you may need container orchestration software to manage all your applications and microservices. Container orchestration tool Kubernetes comes with multiple clusters, and those clusters are responsible for hosting application development packages. To manage applications and microservices, developers need a tool that can automate and monitor the process. Container orchestration serves the same purpose by simplifying the process of managing and scheduling each and every container on the Kubernetes cluster. Container orchestration is applicable on Kubernetes, Docker Swarm, Red Hat OpenShift, and other similar open-source platforms. If you want to deploy applications using Kubernetes, you should be familiar with the definitions and benefits of Container Orchestration. This post will help you with most of the information you need to know about container orchestration.

What are Containers and what are they used For?

It is important to know how containers work before diving into container orchestration. Containers are the backbone of web applications. Containers allow you to build and manage packages of software so that when you move it from place to place, its quality is not compromised. Containers are typically isolated from the operating system they were built on or are meant to run on. An application container contains the application codes and other data that an operating system needs to run the software. Using application containers simplifies the process of developing software properly because they offer the following benefits:

Containers are portable: Application containers are portable because they were designed in a way that helps them run on any operating system or virtual environment. Therefore, developers can easily move these applications from one environment to another without losing the data. Developers don’t have to rewrite the same code to execute the application in another environment. Even though the operating system can differ, the Container will work.

Application development: Using containers can speed up the development and deployment time of software because containers often create updates and install them on their own. The microservices and other small parts of the applications can also be updated individually without having to deploy the whole application all over again.

Optimizing resources: Application containers are lightweight. So, they don’t consume many system resources, and you can also run multiple containers at the same time on the same machine without losing their efficiency.

Since containers in Kubernetes and Docker do all these things, they require a proper orchestration technique. However, in order to learn how to orchestrate Containers, you need a deeper understanding of it.

What is Container Orchestration?

Container orchestration refers to the process of managing all the content within the containers effectively and efficiently without losing any data. Additionally, orchestration refers to using Kubernetes to manage and monitor the containers’ lifecycles in dynamically changing environments. Containers are packed with a wide range of workloads that need proper management in order to run freely across different environments. Container orchestration handles the deployment of applications, scaling up and down of application data, networking, load balancing, etc.

You can run multiple containers at the same time but managing them will be a hectic task because they contain a lot of data. Containers are especially hard to manage when they are handling so many microservices at once. Even these microservices run their own containers, and those containers can be operated by other containers. This is especially applicable when you are building a large-scale system where you have translated a containerized application into operating multiple containers at the same time.

The orchestration would, however, be impossible if you attempted to do it manually. The complexity of operating the containers is reduced when you are using the container orchestration method. Moreover, orchestration makes operating containers fast and easy. Let’s take a look at the benefits of using container orchestration for your Kubernetes containers.

What Does Container Orchestration do in Kubernetes?

In Kubernetes, developers can easily build containerized applications and services. And they can also scale, schedule, and monitor these containers using orchestration. Building containerized applications are possible on other platforms such as Apache Meos, Docker Swarm, etc. But in Kubernetes, you can access many tools such as pods, clusters, kubelet, control panes, etc. Here are the reasons why you might need container orchestration for your Kubernetes containers.

  • You can configure and schedule containers
  • Provision and deploy containers
  • Access containers more easily
  • Managing the configurations of the containers according to the need of different virtual environments
  • To scale containers so that they can balance the applications and their workloads across different infrastructures.
  • Container orchestration also monitors the health of the containers
  • It also makes sure that the interaction between multiple containers is secure and protected.

Container orchestration works in multiple ways in Kubernetes to complete these tasks.

What is the way Container Orchestration Operates?

Developers manage containers with the help of container orchestration tools. As an example, these tools have a framework that helps you scale up and down containers as well as microservices within containers. Container orchestration is used for Kubernetes, Docker Swarm, and Apache Mesos. Kubernetes uses the YAML or JSON file to define the configuration of software. The YAML or JSON file will perceive the container orchestration utensil, where to find container images, where to save logs, and how to establish a network. The orchestration engine controls the container’s life process in accordance with the specification provided in the JSON or YAML file.

There are even Kubernetes patterns that you can use to manage the configuration of the configuration files. The Kubernetes patterns will also help you monitor the lifecycle, scale of container-based applications, and more. Basically, you can use container orchestration on any environment that operates containers, and that can also include cloud environments.

If you run container orchestration in Docker, the tools included will be Docker Machine, Docker Swarm, and Docker Compose.
If you run orchestration in Kubernetes, the tools will include automatic deployment and replication of containers, scaling of container clusters, load-balancing of containers, rescheduling of containers, controlling network ports outside of the containers.

Now, it’s worth noting the differences between Docker container orchestration and Kubernetes container orchestration.

What is the difference between Docker Container Orchestration vs Kubernetes Container Orchestration?

The container orchestration engine in Docker is recognized as Docker Swarm that helps developers package applications and run them as containers. In Docker, orchestration finds container images, disposes of a container on a computer or server, and performs several configurations.

On the other hand, orchestration in Kubernetes helps to cluster the containers through the orchestration engine. In Kubernetes, there is a declarative management system that makes the deployment of containerized applications easier. And Kubernetes is an open-sourced container management system. Therefore, you can control it in any environment.

The benefits of container orchestration tools are quite convincing. Here are their benefits in a nutshell:

  • Orchestration tools simplify the installation method and reduce dependency errors of Kubernetes containers.
  • They can help you scale applications with simple commands, and the scaling process only works according to the codes, which won’t harm your software package.
  • Does not risk the security of your web application but it isolates the applications by classifying data inside distinct containers from each software.

Container orchestration also supports multiple cloud platforms that are a part of the IT strategy. It uses multiple cloud services from multiple cloud service providers, and they can be private or public cloud systems. Applications are run by these cloud platforms, which also facilitate container orchestration. Multi-cloud orchestration is the process of operating containers in multiple cloud virtual environments rather than running them in a single cloud.
There can be different reasons why IT sectors choose multi-cloud strategies. It can be to optimize the cost of infrastructure, making the orchestration flexible and the containers portable, improve the scalability, and more. Multi-cloud environments and containers are beneficial for each other because containers are portable, and you can run them on cloud platforms effectively.

Conclusion

There is enterprise container orchestration that is preferred by developers. Real production apps extend the use of multiple containers, and those containers are deployable across multiple server hosts. Red Hat® and OpenShift are used for such enterprise container orchestration systems.
Both Red Hat® OpenShift comes with a number of technologies that help make Kubernetes more suitable for enterprises. The OpenShift Platform and Red Hat® provide a full range of services for Kubernetes containers, which include registries, networking, automation, services, and security. And all these technologies make Kubernetes strong and simple to use.
By using RedHat, developers can develop, host and deploy containerized applications. Developers can easily maintain their containerized apps thanks to their scalability, orchestration, and control.

The way container orchestration works is easy to understand, and so are its benefits. You can check out our other articles for more information about the same. You can also leave a comment below.

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24Jun

How to Containerize Legacy Applications

June 24, 2022 admin Application

A legacy application is an old and popular piece of software. In the past, legacy applications were written for operating systems and hardware platforms. Legacy apps were Mainframe applications. However, it is an outdated application, and to run it, it should be converted into a newer and more efficient code using modern technologies and programming languages. There may be compatibility issues with Windows 10, but this program will run on Windows7. The development team of the vendor must support a third-party application it is running otherwise the operation team will find it difficult to operate the application. This means you should upgrade your hardware, coding language, and operating system.

What is a legacy app?

Legacy applications are widely used in factory computer systems, customer accounts in banks, air traffic control, and military defense installations. Furthermore, there is no need to update the software. Additionally, containerizing legacy applications would balance technical probability and business benefits. By containerizing legacy applications, they can be transformed into more efficient code. The operating system, the browser, and the IT system should be updated in comparison to recent software and technology. The migration of data and tools from older technologies to newer technologies is labor-intensive and involves migration of old data and tools to newer technologies. To migrate it, the IT chief information officer and the IT planner are responsible.

Drawbacks of the Legacy approach

A legacy system has uncountable problems like its excessive maintenance costs, data silos, lack of permission to governmental regulations, and reduced security. Such drawbacks are –

  1. Outdated: In the age of new technologies legacy applications are very outdated, slow, worse, and have less accuracy rate.
  2. Security: Insecurity matters outdated applications could be risky. It fails to protect from virus hacking. As legacy systems have large and inflexible nature it fails to correct the vulnerabilities.
  3. Investing in outdated technology is very expensive. Firms that make an initial investment into an outdated system are most likely to fix it or not alter it because they lack the funds.
  4. Exporting data from an old system with legacy technology is difficult and time-consuming. Even after importing it, the format of exported data can be difficult to migrate.
  5. In legacy system files, data formats are supported only to a certain extent. Legacy systems cannot handle formats that enlarge far beyond their capabilities. Affixed to them are businesses which suffer because of the limitation.
  6. Proprietary tools are not fun: Older systems are larger and dominions. They are difficult to change, adapt and customize.
  7. Meeting customers on their terms becomes impossible: Customers move with technology. This older system has problems with customer interaction. When customers find legacy problems they move ahead.

What is Containerization?

It is a form of the Operating system. Through this, applications run in isolated user spaces called containers, so it is an intermodal freight transport system that uses intermodal containers. In computing, containerization is the process of packaging software code, its dependencies, configuration, and other details so they can be opened within the same or another environment. Containerization is mainly used to package up many microservices into a single application. A container is an executable package of software that runs on top of a host operating system. It is possible for a host to support many containers. Technology is quickly supplanted and benefits developers and operations teams as well as software infrastructure.

How does Containerizing Legacy Applications help you?

By using the Statefulset resource, Kubernetes can coordinate sets and data persistence by providing a mechanism to track storage volumes and maintain hostnames after restarting the Container.. This allows Containerization of the parts of the legacy app that manages states such as Databases. It is important to ordain the efficiency advantage of container development for your application. Container software development companies should rebuild their organization to speculum the process of the new Container workflow.

  1. Container images maintain all the binaries, libraries, and dependencies, so environment-specific configuration can be ejected. The same image can now be viewed on multiple systems. By containerizing an application you would be able to isolate the file system and runtime from its host.
  2. Maintainability and scaling: It would be great if you make an architectural pattern in which a complex application forms small independent processes which communicate with each other through APIs. By resolving application conflicts between different environments, developers can impart their software and dependencies to IT operations and production environments.
  3. Container management tools: Legacy applications can take advantage of state-of-the-art orchestration frameworks such as Kubernetes. Third-party container management tools give mechanisms for networking, monitoring, and perseverance storage for containerized applications.

What is the Refactoring Approach?

Refactoring improves the internal structure of a program by preserving the source code. Code refactoring increases the objective quality of code that is linked to ease of maintenance. It helps to understand the code. It makes it easier to understand and comprehend the developers’ design decisions. Through the Refactoring process we can change the software system and improve its internal structure without changing the functionality of the code. Refactoring is part of the DevOps software development approach. In code refactoring, the main objective is to make the code more efficient and maintainable. There are many Refactoring factors- Red -Green Refactoring,

  • Preparatory Refactoring,
  • Branching by Abstraction Refactoring
  • Composing Methods Refactoring
  • User Interface Refactoring.

Refactoring makes downloads faster and updates easier. It improves the quality of existing code while maintaining its external behavior. Refactoring requires extracting software system structure, data models, and intra-application relationships. Refactoring activities produce architectural modification that weakens the structural architecture of a software system. Not only software code, but also hardware description languages have been refactored in recent weeks. These codes refactor in hardware description languages. The majority of Refactoring’s current tools were originally developed for Java. Refactoring plays an important role in application modernization.

What is Lift & Shift Approach?

Lift and Shift is an approach that allows you to move such applications (apps) from- premises to the Cloud. It is a fast, easiest, and budget-friendly process to migrate applications. As it permits the move of an exact copy of an application from one ambiance to another (from on-premises to public cloud), it is known as “rehosting”. Various companies recognize it as one of the most important processes. Applications are migrated using one of three cloud migration models: IaaS, PaaS, or SaaS.

As in the Lift and Shift approach, the management and security system is relatively easy to understand, so one can interpret the requirements to controls that should be implemented against compute, storage, and network resources. Even after the movement takes place, this approach allows the same architectural constructs. So, here it is significant that there are no definite changes required in terms of business processes that are related to the application as well as monitoring and management interfaces. Through the “Lift and Shift” technique a codebase is abstracted from one environment to another environment, without changing the design. For legacy migration projects it is exoteric. Like migration, it does not require effort.

How to Create a Plan to Develop a Suitable Container for Legacy Apps?

Containerization delivers developers to make an open application faster and more secure. When a developer transfers code from a desktop computer to a virtual machine, Containerization sorts out this problem by constructing the application code together with the related configuration files, libraries, and dependencies required to run. A ‘Container’ developed from an operating system can be used on any platform, including non-cloud platforms. For packaging our application and all its dependencies together in forms of containers, Docker is the containerization platform for deploying your application in any environment, be it development, test, or production.

How to Containerize a Legacy Application?

If you follow the below steps, you can migrate your legacy app into a container easily. Before I start migrating, let’s consider the legacy application is called ‘lagecy_file’.

Step 1: Break down the application

It would be easy to break down the application into three major divisions. These are, what service the ‘lagecy_file’ needs to run, which dependencies are going to use, and is it taking any persistent storage or not.

You need to use a separate container for external services. It helps to make the services easy to update and also allows multiple applications for overlapping services. Also, it is better to keep the data and the database in persistent storage individually.

Step 2. Creating a Reliable Base Image

Create a reliable base image for the ‘lagecy_file’ application. You have to select an image that is stable and maintained nicely. By defining a base image, it helps to connect and communicate with the host environment. Also, it helps to have a consistent build. Use a reliable set of libraries, dictionary structures, updated security patches, and dependencies to maintain the base image.

Step 3. Set up configuration

It is better to set the configuration at runtime while building the container. To define the configuration, you need to set logging and log storage, database location, storage, credentials, and access controls. Also, you need to configure your environment variable with each application. You can use different environment variables for testing and live applications.

Step 4. Add the application code

You need to change your application in order to add your application code. The ADD command allows you to include the code on your file. You need to specify the location of your application code, as well as where it should be stored.

Conclusion

A containerization process is a good way to complete legacy application migration easily. You can gain a lot of advantages from cloud infrastructure by containerizing your application. Providing standard and advanced technologies through containers is the right path for your company. No matter whether they’re moving to the cloud or not, containers are already a part of most IT hubs. With this article, we are striving to provide the best high-level guidance and knowledge. I hope this article helps you build a containerized legacy application. Now, do not waste more time and go and start containerizing your legacy application too.

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13Jun

What is GitLab? Why is it So Popular?

June 13, 2022 admin Application

Why is GitLab so Popular?

You must have heard application developers talking about Git and GitLab. While they use it almost every day, it’s not usual for a non-technical person to encounter these terms. That’s why most people have only heard the terms but have no idea what it’s all about and often ask what GitLab is.

Approx. 100000 users use GitLab worldwide. Among these users are IBM, Goldman Sachs, NASA, etc. So, it makes people wonder what GitLab has to offer to these large companies.

It is said that it is a code management tool, but what it does? How it accrues value to the technical groups and how it benefits customers. You should read this guide if you’re wondering why GitLab is used. This article outlines the following:

  • What do you mean by Git?
  • What is Gitlab?
  • How has Gitlab evolved?
  • What are the features of GitLab?
  • What benefits are accrued from GitLab?
  • Why isn’t Gitlab used by many?

That’s all about Gitlab. So, get ready.

What do you mean by Git?

In simple terms, it is a version control application that records every change made to a file. How does it work? Here’s a simplified explanation. Suppose you are building an application with your team. You wrote some code. Someone else changed it a bit and took it forward. In this case, how would you check who made the changes and what exactly were the changes that were made? That’s where Git comes into play.

It is a repository that records the changes that have been made on a project. No matter the size of the project and how many people are working on it, it improves coordination among the members and tracks the progress.

Multiple users can work together without affecting each other’s work, and it makes supervision easy as it records the changes made and who made them and when they were made.

What Is GitLab?

Although it may sound the same to non-technical people, developers, programmers, software engineers, and other back end technicians have different responsibilities. Prior to DevOps platforms, teams used to complete their work and then hand it off to another team for processing. It was a time-consuming process. This delayed product delivery.

This is where Gitlab comes in. Through this platform, professionals involved in a project can collaborate on planning, coding, managing, monitoring, etc. Together, the teams build better software, reducing cycle time and delivering value to the customers on a timely basis.

There are no handoffs, no integration points, and it is open source, so it’s free. It has some very useful features which the professionals can use, plus if they need more features, they can get a paid version and increase their productivity.

A Brief History of GitLab

GitLab was initially open-source and free software. Nevertheless, things changed in 2013, and it was split into two versions- Community Edition and Enterprise Edition. The license requirements for CE and EE were the same, and they were distributed under MIT licenses. These were free and open source editions back then.

Then in 2014, a new version of the EE License with features different from those in the Community Edition was introduced. The CE version remained unchanged. Since then, there have been some significant changes, and in 2018, Gitlab became the USA’s fourth fastest-growing company.

Features of GitLab

Gitlab can be called a one of its type platform. Development, operations and security teams all flourish under its umbrella and customers are delighted with reduced cycle times. It’s the features of GitLab which make it different.

These features are:

  • GitLab uses CI/CD development pipelines. There are no messy integrations. The entire team works in the same loop.
  • Users can also pay and use the exterior services by manually integrating them with the existing ones.
  • Kubernetes integration has been made easy by GitLab. It fits perfectly within the Gitlab infrastructure allowing teams to collaborate and work effectively.
  • It allows Git-based repository management.
  • Provides integration with Kubernetes, JIRA, Docker Jenkins, etc., and IDE like Eclipse, Koding, Visual Studio, etc.
  • It allows cloud-based installations and performance monitoring.
  • The other features offered by GitLab are Wiki, ChatoOp Tool, Code Quality, Hosting static websites, code review and Review Apps, Repository mirroring, etc.
Benefits Of Gitlab

The utility of GitLab has been understood by groups such as Alibaba and IBM. The benefits that accrue from this platform which has made it popular among tech-savvy groups. These benefits are listed below-

Reduced Cycle Time

The rate at which the market is changing is faster than ever. It’s better that the idea turns into reality at the earliest. By serving the market as quickly as possible, you can anticipate their other needs and start looking for other opportunities. This doesn’t have to take months. You can adjust quickly, collect feedback faster, and move ahead.

Shorter Feedback Cycle

The biggest advantage of GitLab is that the entire team looks at the project the same way. It allows them to perceive changes faster and give feedback so that changes can be made without moving forward. It means smaller deployments and smaller iterations which are easy to troubleshoot.

Reduce Engineering Risk

Troubleshooting an entire program after the code has been written and the development phase has been completed is hectic. With GitLab, teams can coordinate easily while attending to every small change in codes, making iterations simple and shorter and easy to supervise and change.

Enhanced Security

GitLab is a cloud-native platform. Plus, it focuses on shorter cycle times which mean every security issue and vulnerability can be addressed and removed. Plus, there are audit logs and single sign-on features.

Disadvantages of GitLab

Nothing is perfect, and GitLab is no different from others. Apart from all the advantages it bestows, it is not perfect.

  • GitLab has its own bug in the application that slows it down.
  • Plus, its UI is complicated and reviewing is not as easy as expected of GitLab.
  • It is a free and open-source platform, but for additional features, you have to pay.

Conclusion

The developer, engineer, and programmer communities have been searching for a secure, collaborative platform that allows them to plan, code, develop, test, and address security issues all at the same time. However, integrations make it difficult.

The concept of value engineering fits here. To reduce the cycle time, eliminating non-value adding processes is essential. By designing GitLab, Sid Sijbrandij fulfilled this need of such a platform.

GitLab stands out because of its numerous features. Several benefits have been noted when GitLab is mentioned, including speeding up cycle times and reducing the number of errors. Security is paramount as an issue in today’s era, and GitLab has enhanced security features.

We hope that this guide has been helpful as it answers the basic questions, such as what GitLab is, why it is used, what its benefits are, etc., and helps you understand why major industry giants are its loyal users.

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06Apr

What is a Data Center? A Complete Overview

April 6, 2022 admin Application

Different organizations use data centers to store, process, and distribute data or applications to complete their shared IT operations. Data hubs centralize an organization’s most important assets (data), making them vital for performing daily tasks. Therefore, ensuring the reliability and security of data centres is the top priority for every business that uses them. From on-premise physical hubs with no internet to complete cloud-based online solutions – data centers have come a long way to become the core of any organization, be it a small one or a large one.

If you own a business in the 21st century, you should know what a data center is, how it can benefit you, and how to utilize it. Let’s get started!

What is a Datacenter, and how does it work?

In this digital age, the electronic exchange of data is required at every point. Be it a business transaction, a personal instruction, or just a TV broadcast. These days, data is delivered over the wires and radio waves in digital form. As we expect everything to be online and instant, the demand for computer clusters and advanced networking equipment has grown exponentially. Yes, in parallel with our demand for near-instantaneous digital information delivery, different organizations are incorporating high-tech to serve and handle our requests. That’s how the modern data center was born.

However, data centers are referred to as a singular thing, but in reality, they are composed of many technical components, i.e.,

  • Compute: The high-end servers of a data center provides total memory and processing power that is required to run different applications.
  • Storage: A data center generally houses the enterprise data on different storage components, ranging from tape drive media to solid-state drives. Alongside, it keeps multiple backups as well.
  • Networking: This is the most important component in a data center framework. Networking is the interconnection between the data center counterparts as well as to the parts in the outer world like routers, application-delivery systems, nodes, switches, etc.

These components need to be managed properly to ensure continuity for IT operations. If you want to increase the efficiency of your data center, a thorough process of upgradation and strict security measures for both software and hardware is required.

What is a Data Center used for?

As mentioned, data centers are an integral part of all enterprises – big or small. It is built to support and benefit different businesses through the below-mentioned services.

  • A data center stores data, manages it, and renders proper backup as well as data recovery support.
  • It enables email and file-sharing through different nodes.
  • Runs productivity applications smoothly.
  • A data center is capable of handling high-volume e-commerce transactions.
  • Provides proper Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system.
  • It allows communication and collaboration through Virtual desktops.
  • Supports Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and medium to large databases.
  • Big data, Machine Learning (ML), Artificial Intelligence (AI) is also supported.
  • Online gaming communities are also supported by data centers.

If your business involves any of these activities, relying on a data center will be your best bet to deliver uninterrupted services to your customers. It may surprise you to learn that there are currently 7 million data centers around the world. Data centers are used by every type of organization, from government to small businesses. A data center may be a physical location or a cloud-based system (public or private).

The digital revolution has given us a handful of options to choose a data center for our business based on our requirements. Yes, you can rent servers at a colocation facility, use a public-cloud service from providers like Microsoft, Amazon, Google, or Sony; or, avail of third-party data center services.

How to Maximize Data Center Efficiency?

To maximize the efficiency of a data center, you need to optimize certain components. But before we know it in detail, you must have a clear overview of data center architectures and requirements.

Well, every data center is built upon different architectures, and their requirements differ too. For instance, a private data center for a Government entity requires a bulletproof security system as they dedicatedly store huge amounts of classified data. Whereas a data center for public-cloud service providers like Amazon will need proper infrastructure, facility, and security too. But in both cases, the requirements for individual data centers will significantly differ from each other.

However, irrespective of this huge classification, the efficiency of a data center depends on a few core counterparts. You can achieve an effective data center operating system through a balanced investment in the equipment and facility. Here we’ve listed a few key areas where you need to focus on improving the data center service.

1. Facility:

It is the usable space available in a data center for IT equipment. So that each IT operation runs smoothly, the facility needs to provide 24×7 access to information. Data centers rely on a good deal of resources, which make them among the world’s most energy-intensive facilities. The equipment should be kept at a certain temperature to maintain an optimal environment. This will result in improved efficiency in your data center.

2. Core Components:

The core components of a data center iare its storage and IT equipment/software, i.e., servers, media drives, network infrastructures like routers, switches, and different information security components like Firewalls. All of these core components consume huge power upon running for a long time. If you optimize the power usage of these parts while ensuring time-to-time storage clean up and maintenance, it will optimize the overall power usage of your data center and increase its efficiency.

3. Support Infrastructure:

The support infrastructure of a data center secures sustainability and the highest possible availability. The Uptime Institute has segregated the data centers into four tiers, depending on their availability. It ranges from 99.671% to 99.995%. We will discuss the tiers in detail in the next section. However, a support infrastructure includes the following counterparts, and optimizing each will increase the overall potential of your data center.

  1. UPS – Uninterruptible Power Sources or UPS includes battery banks, redundant power sources, and generators. When the whole power source backup renders robust services, the uptime of your data center automatically increases.
  2. Environmental control- CRAC, HVAC, and exhaust systems are included in the part of support infrastructure. When you use premium quality parts, they consume less power to give maximum output. This eventually results in increasing the data center efficiency.
  3. Physical security system – It includes biometrics and the CCTV surveillance system, which must run round the clock. You’ll ensure the reliability of your data center while ensuring its continuous service.

4. Staffs:

The personnel involved in the IT operations are also an integral part of the complete efficiency of a data center. Since they will monitor the operations and maintain the equipment, it’s mandatory to address their every concern.

Standards of Data Center Infrastructure:

As mentioned above, a certain standard of data centers is accepted and used worldwide.

The set standard is ANSI/TIA-942, which addresses the design and infrastructure of a data center. An ANSI certified data center ensures compliance with one of these four data center tiers mentioned below. Tier 4 data centers are more complex than Tier 1 data centers, but that does not mean a Tier 4 data center will only fulfill your business needs. Tier 4 data centers can be an over-investment if they are not right for your business. The same applies to the other three. This is why learning about each data center in detail is vital before choosing one.

Note: These data center tiers are rated depending on the level of fault tolerance and redundancy that a data center can handle.

Tier 1: Basic Data Center Infrastructure [99.671% Availability]

Downtime: 28.8 hours annually

A basic data center infrastructure provides 99.671% availability. It means a basic site infrastructure renders limited protection against any physical event that can occur in a data center. Tier 1 data center incorporates single capacity components and only one non-redundant sharing path is used for both power and cooling.

Tier 2: Redundant-capacity Component Data Center Infrastructure (99.741% Availability)

Downtime: 22 hours annually

The Tier 2 site infrastructure offers improvised protection against any physical event. It prevents data loss or another unexpected damage that can lose your work efficiency. It incorporates both redundant-capacity components and a sole non-redundant distribution path.

Tier 3: Concurrently Maintainable Data Center Infrastructure (99.982% Availability)

Downtime: 1.6 hours annually

A tier 3 data center is designed with multiple paths to supply power and cooling to the whole site. It ensures multiple independent distribution paths and renders redundant-capacity components to protect the data center from physical events. The best part is, all these components can be removed and replaced without disturbing the others components in case of any technical glitch.

Tier 4: Fault-tolerant Data Center Infrastructure (99.995% Availability)

Downtime: 26.3 minutes annually

From the name, you can understand that a Tier 4 data center is built to tolerate the faults completely and provide the highest level of redundancy. Yes, the redundant-capacity components and different distribution paths allow you to maintain the availability of the data center even if there is a fault anywhere in the data center; you can repair that component or remove it without causing any downtime.

Types of Data Center:

Apart from the standard, the data centers can be classified into 4 specific types. This classification is done depending on a few parameters-

  1. Who owns the data center, any individual or multiple organizations?
  2. How does the data center fit into the topology of other centers?
  3. What are the computing and storage methods used in that particular data center?
  4. Is the data center energy efficient?

Now that you know what factors to consider to categorize a data center, let’s have a look at the four categories now.

1. Enterprise Data Center

An enterprise data center is built, operated, and owned by a specific company to provide its end users with maximum service efficiency. This type of data centers are housed on the corporate campus and managed by the enterprises only.

2. Third-party Data Center

These managed services data centers are operated by third parties on behalf of a single company, which takes the equipment and facility on lease instead of buying it completely. A third-party data center can be located anywhere other than the company’s own campus.

3. Colocation Data Center

A colocation data center runs with both parties’ contribution, i.e., the company and the third party. That means, A company rents a space within an already existing data center, which is owned by others. The colocation data center hosts the infrastructure, including building, bandwidth, cooling, security, etc. Whereas the company provides as well as operates other components like servers, firewalls, and storage.

4. Cloud Data Center

Unlike a traditional data center, a cloud data center is a form of off-premise data centers. The data and applications in a cloud data center are hosted by well-known cloud service providers, such as Microsoft (Azure), Amazon Web Services (AWS), IBM Cloud, etc. Cloud data centers are being used by companies that prefer remote working and want to protect their databases from physical damage.

Conclusion

We’ve reached the final section of our guide. You got every information you need to choose your own data center. To add further, you can even build and maintain hybrid cloud data centers or just rely on leasing space within a colocation facility or using public cloud-based compute and storage services. Whatever option you choose, make sure that you are prepared to deal with this multi-cloud era. It’s because one application doesn’t reside in just one place these days. The software is instead operated in various public and private clouds, as well as in traditional environments. Thus, optimizing your data center should only happen after you take the needs of the end users into account.

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05Apr

What is Application Security? Everything About Securing Software

April 5, 2022 admin Application

When you are running an organization, checking for flaws in your software is one of the most important tasks. But only checking does not help; you will have to do something to eliminate those security flaws. Application security is the process of finding and fixing the security flaws of your applications. Mostly, the security process happens during the development of the applications. Once you deploy the apps, you will need various tools and apps to secure those applications.

If the right security measures are not applied then, hackers can easily access your database and attack their target applications. Application security is not a single thing. It comprises various techniques, tools, and practices that take responsibility for your applications’ security. If you implement application security properly, then there won’t be any particular vulnerability that an attacker can easily identify. Thus, it can help you protect your company’s sensitive information. Read this post throughout and find out more information about application security.

Importance of Application Security

If you test 100 applications every day, you will find at least one with some security flaws. And among these applications, the security flaws can be severe to minimal. But not each of these applications comes with security risks. However, the number is slowly growing every day. Therefore, if you test for security issues in your applications as soon as you complete the development process, the safer your organization will be. Security flaws can happen, and it is not rare, but the challenge is finding what is causing the security issues and fixing them at the earliest. These security problems can occur from a simple coding error, and that simple flaw can lead to SQL injection attacks and eventually data leaks.

Application security techniques need to be in the final stage of your application development process. That is how you can make the workflow simpler and more effective. Application security tools can save time and cost during compliance audits by catching flaws quickly so that you can resolve them. The speedy growth of application development is influenced by the evolving nature of organizations and business-related apps and how they are developed in recent years. These days IT teams work on deployment and integration that define the app regularly, sometimes daily, and on an hourly basis. This means that the security tools work hard to keep up with the daily requirements of enterprise applications. But what do these tools save your applications from?

Security Vulnerabilities of Applications

There is a Most Dangerous Software Weaknesses list available by MITRE that tracks Common Weakness Enumerations. And the vulnerabilities have a number that rates their frequency level. Here are the top Common Weakness Enumerations according to the MITRE:

  1. OS command injection
  2. Cross-site scripting
  3. Out-of-bounds read
  4. Out-of-bounds write
  5. Cross-site request forgery
  6. Use after free
  7. SQL injection
  8. Improper input validation
  9. Improper restriction of operations within the bounds of a memory buffer
  10. Exposure of sensitive information to an unauthorized actor

These security vulnerabilities can be easily eliminated by the security tools available for applications.

Application Security Tools

There are various application security software categories, but there are only two types of tools. One is security testing tools, and the other one is application shielding products. These two elements are the main techniques for securing your enterprise applications from vulnerabilities. Application shielding products have many serious vendors, and among them, IBM, CA, and MicroFocus are the most popular ones. So these tools include the following ones:

Static testing: Static testing analyzes the application codes at the fixed stage during development or deployment. With static testing, developers can easily define the codes while writing so that they can easily identify any potential security problems.

Dynamic testing: Dynamic testing analyzes the codes that are running the applications. If the developer can use this right, it can analyze attacks and their patterns that are done through a combination of devices.

Interactive testing: Interactive testing includes elements from static and dynamic testing.

Mobile testing: Mobile testing is for analyzing how the attackers can use the mobile operating system to launch attacks on smartphone environments.

Runtime Application Self-protection (RASP): Runtime application self-protection tools are the combination of both testing and shielding. These tools provide extensive protection against every possible attack in the application environment. These tools monitor the behavior of the applications regularly and frequently. This makes RASP tools great for mobile environments where developers rewrite apps frequently. RASP tools can send alerts to the users, terminate their processes if required, and can even terminate the app if necessary. Many software development teams use RASP tools for security solutions.

Code obfuscation: Hackers use the obfuscation technique to hide malware in the apps, but the Code obfuscation tool can detect the malware and protect the code from being attacked.

Encryption and anti-tampering tools: Encryption and anti-tampering tools prevent attackers from getting access to your application code.

Threat detection tools: Threat detection tools analyze the network or environment where the applications are running and detect the potential threats from inside and outside of the IT infrastructure. These tools also provide fingerprints to determine the category of the threats — whether or not the device has been rooted or compromised.

All these application security tools have their advantages, but their benefits are mutual.

Benefits of Application Security

Applications are almost the main part of an enterprise. So keeping them secure is essential. Here are the benefits that organizations can obtain by investing in appropriate application security features:

  • Reduce potential risks of attacks from internal and outside sources
  • Makes your business credible
  • Keeps user data secure and create trustworthiness
  • Protects data leaks
  • Boosts trust among investors and other business associates

These benefits will only serve you right when you can rightly enable application security.

How to Enable Application Security?

The most powerful application security includes applying codes. Apart from that, there are some other best application security practices that you might need to know:

  • If you consider your cloud infrastructure as insecure, you will take the necessary steps to secure the applications as much as possible.
  • Apply security features to every element of your application starting from when you started to develop the applications. Make sure to apply the right security measures to every part of the application development.
  • Automate installation and configurations of the applications even when they are previously performed. This will help you save more time in installation and configuration processes.
  • Frequently test and reset the security measures to make sure they are performing well and if they do, it still will be worth it to check for breaches.

There are different types of application security involved in the method of securing your applications. And these terms will help you apply them each for your company’s advantage.

Types of Application Securities

There are different types of application security features. We have mentioned them below:

Authentication: Software developers add numerous authentication processes in the application to ensure only genuine people can access it. Authentication proves that the users are who they claim to be, and for that, the users have to enter usernames and passwords while logging into the app. There are also multi-factor authentication systems that include more than passwords such as your pet’s name, etc. Or it can also include fingerprint and facial recognition.

Authorization: Authorization will validate the user’s identity by identifying the credentials of the users using their identities.

Encryption: Encryption protects the data of the users so that outside traffic or hackers can’t lay a hand on the information the users are accessing.

Logging: The logging feature will help you see who has accessed your application and what data they have accessed.

Conclusion

With the right type of application security techniques, you can secure all types of business applications no matter the size and user base. But to find out how to secure your application, you will need to determine the type of application you are testing. You will have to focus on the customers, their satisfaction, and what they want from your app project. Once you figure it all out, implementing the right application security won’t be difficult.

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26Mar

What is Application Virtualization?

March 26, 2022 admin Application

Today as the technology is evolving day by day it is helping everyone in reducing their workload and cost of managing the companies. The technology world has turned tables with the introduction of the concept of virtualization. It has helped the industry take productivity to another level and made every task simple and efficient. One of the major changes is the virtualization of applications, allowing the users to access and use the application even when they are not installed on the same machine on which they are working. This results in reducing the cost of purchasing applications and installing them on individual machines.

Using the application virtualization, IT teams can set up the application on the centralized server that will deliver the application to the end user’s system. The users will feel as if the application is installed on their physical machine without having any impact on the performance.

If you are not aware of this concept, then you can go through this article to understand application virtualization, its functioning, features, benefits, strategies, and how it is different from desktop virtualization.

What is Application Virtualization?

Virtualization is a new and advanced technology that has changed the working of the entire industry by saving a lot of cost for infrastructure, buying software, and applications. Application virtualization is the process that allows you to run applications on the centralized server from where multiple users can use the application on their system without actually installing it.

These applications may be running on servers in different locations and on the operating system of that server. Any user can access those applications over LAN or WAN as per their company’s structure.

How Application Virtualization Functions?

You can use and leverage the applications that are running virtually either via streaming or remotely.

Many IT experts use the streamlined-based approach that will provide the application to the users without the need to install them on their machines. To use this approach, the user must be connected to the network while downloading or using the desired application as per their requirement.

While some of the experts like to implement the remote-based applications on the server using a hosting service and then they will deliver the desired applications to the dedicated systems of the users over the WAN.

Whatever approach you take, all the applications are being processed on the server of the hosts. It will give the users a feeling that they are accessing and using the applications as if they are installed on their machines. For this, the users can select the required options, open dialog boxes, click menus, and enter the desired text.

To ensure smooth functioning of the application virtualization, IT experts should use any of the application virtualization products like:

  • Citrix XenApp
  • AWS AppStream 2.0
  • Microsoft App-V
  • VMware ThinApp
  • App Volumes
  • Parallels Remote Application Server
  • Horizon Apps

By using such software, they will be able to transmit the applications as pixels directly from the hosting services to the desktop of the user using remote display protocol like VMware View.

Features of Application Virtualization

Here, we have mentioned the salient features of application virtualization:

  • You can support different types of applications.
  • You can deliver applications to a wide range of endpoints along with some restrictions like driver management and others.
  • It will provide you with an easy deployment environment.
  • It allows you to package the applications within a single package that can be run individually on any platform.
  • It ensures security using the access control via proper authentication, IP address, and others.

This application virtualization is based on separating the physical from the virtual that creates the base for the application virtualization. Using the application virtualization will prevent you from any type of incompatibility issues while running any application due to the underlying operating system. In this virtualization, the application is using the operating system of the host where it has been installed for use by multiple users.

Benefits of Application Virtualization

This kind of virtualization has made remote working possible and people do not have to sit tight completing the hectic office hours. You can get the most out of using the application virtualization. Today most companies are working using this technology and leveraging huge benefits. Some of the major benefits are mentioned below. So take a look and implement it for your business.

  • It allows you to install the application to the server and make it virtual to be used by multiple users over the network. Thus reducing the need to install the desired applications on individual systems and saving the cost for installing and licensing the software for every machine.
  • This has made the deployment of the applications an easy task for the clients or partners. You can easily deliver the executable file of the desired application to your clients making the deployments easier.
  • You can place the virtualized applications anywhere on the server or make required copies, saving them in different locations. Thus you can use such applications on any type of endpoints either Windows, macOS, iOS, or Android. Thus providing you the portability and you do not have to worry if any of the endpoints have been compromised, you are still able to use your application from another endpoint.
  • You can easily remove the unwanted virtual applications directly thus saving you from uninstalling the applications from individual systems.
  • Having application virtualization will save you from having conflicts among various applications running on the system due to any compatibility issue.
  • In case of the virtual application failure you can easily roll it back to its last stable state and it is done centrally so that every endpoint can access it.
  • This allows you to update the application only in a single place preventing you from making individual application updates for every system.
  • The virtualized application relies on the operating system of the host where it is installed. One need not worry about the OS installed at the endpoint or any other compatibility issue.

Drawbacks of Application Virtualization

Application virtualization offers a wide range of benefits. However, there can still be some challenges faced while using it. It may be possible that all the applications can be virtualized. Also, you need to check if the virtualized applications can be run in your environment or not.

For example, some of the Windows-based applications are not designed to run in the virtual environment. You won’t be able to run Graphic-intensive Windows-based applications and may have lower performance on the new desktop as they need to have some basic system specifications to run which may not be available on all systems.

You are not able to virtualize the stem monitoring applications as they may face some challenges during troubleshooting the issues. So to overcome such issues, companies like Microsoft are using the testing server App-V which is used as an application virtualization app for managing the Windows server applications.

Most of the drawbacks may result in many more problems if you do not have the right IT provider. You must have application virtualization technology to reduce IT complexity, business disruption, and management costs.

Application Virtualization Strategy

You need to have the right strategy to make sure that the application virtualization functions properly. You must take care of the following strategies while implementing the application virtualization.

  • If you do not have the right application virtualization in place then the number of images will increase in size and it will create a difficult situation for handling the environment. But if you virtualize your applications, the images will get reduced and can be managed easily.
  • With the help of application virtualization, you can easily simplify the traditional desktop management as these devices can easily and efficiently use the virtualized applications.
  • If you remove the hosted application component then you can easily and efficiently simplify the aspect of the virtualized applications as you will be required to use a few resources.

Desktop Virtualization vs Application Virtualization

If you refer to desktop virtualization then it allows you to virtualize the desktops and the operating systems to a local client. While virtual application refers to making the applications be hosted on a remote server to be used by various endpoints without worrying about the underlying desktop.

You can refer to desktop virtualization as the virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI has overcome the same problem as the application virtualization. But they differ on some aspects that cannot be used interchangeably.

Desktop Virtualization Application Virtualization
Ensures flexibility to virtual infrastructure. Less flexibility as compared to desktop virtualization.
Ensure an amazing and interactive desktop experience. Provides different experiences that may differ from application to application.
Maintenance of applications is challenging as you need to redeploy the changes to all VDI instances. Ensures easier maintenance and change of applications, without impacting the performance.
May incur a cost as per the scenario. Cost-effective solution.
Applications rely on the underlying OS. Applications do not rely on the underlying OS.
Users will get the experience of a complete desktop. Users will get an application-specific experience.
Complete virtualization may impact the underlying hardware. Application virtualization has a low impact on the hardware.
Challenges in implementing access and authentication management. Easy implementation of access and authentication management.

Conclusion

Well, there is no doubt on the effectiveness and benefits of application virtualization. You do not have to worry about implementing the applications on your system. Also, you do not have to maintain the minimal requirement for running those applications as they will run on the hosted server so that you will get a feeling that the application is running on your system. You will not face any lack of performance issues as the application runs. There will be no overload on your system and you do not have to face any compatibility issue due to the underlying OS of your system.

So enjoy the latest technology that has been designed to make our lives simpler. But make sure you place the right strategies to implement and enjoy it.

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26Mar

What is Application Modernization?

March 26, 2022 admin Application

The IT industry has changed and evolved a lot since the digital transformation. The modernization of tools, companies, and technology has become a necessity over time. Modernizing their technology in order to make benefits out of it is the goal of every company these days. A growing number of companies are now using cloud technology for storing their data, accessing various services, and much more. The IT industry has gained a new perspective as a result.

Companies are now adopting technologies like cloud, mobile, and big data. Not only this, they are fastly moving towards technologies like AI, IoT, and blockchain to ease their working. But, some of the companies are still at the early stage of this change, so there is a need to accelerate change and leave behind the old infrastructure and traditional ways of creating applications. Once you implement the change, you will move towards growth.

To reach the new level of innovation, companies need rapid innovation changes for using the new business models, optimizing the complex business processes, and responding to the new rules and regulations. It is high time that you stay a step ahead of your competitors and that is only possible if you will start making a change in your business model. This is where Application Modernization comes into the picture.

In this article, we will focus on what is Application Modernization, its benefits, key technologies, tools, challenges, how to modernize, and some of its best practices.

What is Application Modernization

Application modernization is a project or process that was designed for creating a complete new business value from the existing, old applications by updating them with the help of new modernized features and capabilities. If you migrate your legacy applications, you will be able to include the latest features and functionalities that will help in better alignment of your business as per the changing needs.

To keep legacy applications running seamlessly without any issues, along with meeting today’s advanced needs, may consume a significant amount of your time, energy, and efforts. If you are using outdated software and technology, it might be difficult to run your applications due to incompatibility.

Benefits of Application Modernization

Application Modernization has helped many developers to scale and deploy their application’s components independently. Apart from this, you will get various benefits of modernizing applications.

  • With Application Modernization you will get reduced operational costs for updating the applications. Also, it eliminates the need to have the physical data centers by moving the monolithic applications to the Cloud.
  • Whenever a system is upgraded you will get business agility as an outcome. Also, it will help the employees to work better allowing them to focus on the main tasks rather than being involved in maintenance work.
  • Moving the applications to the cloud also helps you to remove the burden of maintaining the old applications and helping the clients through them. In this way, the user will be able to get records easily improving the customer experience and support for such applications.
  • With application modernization, you will be able to integrate new security measures, minimize the possible cybersecurity attacks, avoid continuous monitoring, and manage the regular and frequent updates.
  • It helps in easing the process of managing the compliance by making the process completely automated and ensure regular updates to meet all the compliance.
  • With app modernization, you can easily fit automation to every process, step, and task to make the system easier to manage and maintain.

Key Technologies for Application Modernization

Various technologies have contributed towards application modernization. Here, we have listed a few technologies for your easy reference.

  • Cloud computing – whenever we talk about Application Modernization, we refer to migrating the traditional applications to the modern cloud platform to run and process them. It can be private, public, hybrid clouds as per your business requirement.
  • Containers- with Containers we mean that we package the application along with its required dependency files to run them in an independent environment without relying on the underlying infrastructure. This allows the applications to be run on any platform. Such containers are well-suited for cloud environments. It helps in improving the scalability, portability, and efficiency of running the applications.
  • Microservices- Here, we decouple various components into smaller packages that are independent of other running packages on the same platform. These smaller services can be independently deployed, updated, and operated efficiently.
  • Orchestration and Automation- with orchestration, you can easily automate various tasks related to Containers like deployment, scaling, and networking. With automation, you can automate the deployment, operations in order to scale at a larger level.

Legacy Modernization Benefits

With Application Modernization, you will get an insight of the functionality of the existing and modern applications. It requires you to place a strategy for re-platforming of the applications to the cloud for achieving scalability and other performance benefits. Here, we have mentioned some of the benefits below. Let’s take a look.

  • New advanced applications and their features are better and ensure faster delivery improving the performance of the applications.
  • With modernized applications, you will save a lot of time, effort, and money. You will save money by avoiding updates, data centers, and dedicated servers, and others.
  • It helps in improving productivity by allowing the employees to focus more on the development part instead of the maintenance work.
  • With this, businesses will be able to deliver the best quality products and enhance the user experience. This will allow the business to expand, scale, and improve its outputs for increasing sales.

Application Modernization Challenges

Apart from various benefits you can avail using the modernized applications, you will face some challenges that will limit to some cases. Here, we are about to focus on some challenges that you might face.

  • As a project takes time to implement the complete application modernization, the company has to stick to a single container or cloud vendor so they can easily scale in the upcoming time as per the changing requirement. But this will incur some costs that will increase with time.
  • If we start modernizing the older versions of various applications like SAP, Oracle, Siebel, etc. then you might face some difficulty as they are strong monoliths and you cannot break their design to implement the modernization. Or you can say that these legacy applications and their related data, infrastructure, and security are tightly coupled with the underlying systems whose link is strong enough that you cannot upgrade the application components.
  • If you are running a large business, then it is a better approach to install and run applications on different infrastructures but it makes the testing more challenging and makes it difficult to optimize and maintain a budget.
  • If you have thousands of applications running, then it might be difficult for the IT team to manage them as the tools are either application-specific or infrastructure-specific. Thus it is difficult to implement all the overlapping product points into a coherent mesh of application delivery service.

How to Modernize Legacy Applications

Sometimes it becomes difficult to modernize the applications as it boils down to huge complexity and costs. You can be benefited if you re-platform the legacy applications but somehow the complexity of modernizing the applications will overpower the benefits as some of the legacy applications are tightly coupled to their infrastructure and systems.

Basically, for successful modernization of the legacy system completely depends on the type of steps you implement for the application modernization that will result in better ROI and user experience. Modernizing any application will require refactoring, replatforming, scaling, and re-architecting as well as other steps. However, we need to verify that these changes are optimized for this purpose in order to be successful.

Application Modernization Best Practices

If you are looking to overcome the challenges being faced during modernizing the applications, you need to evolve the implementation way for it. Here, we have mentioned some of the best practices you can implement for developing a mainframe application modernization framework.

  • First, you need to create a roadmap for modernizing the applications that consist of the organizational structure, network configs, storage, security, and how you can efficiently deploy them on the servers. You have to break down the model into smaller components and consider all the networking between them. Then you can seamlessly create a virtualized application environment with the help of open-source and other tools.
  • You need to abstract and separate all the applications from their respective underlying infrastructure that consists of data, security, and network configurations. This will allow the applications to run on any platform using different infrastructure without the need to make changes to the base code and achieve portability and avoid vendor lock-in.
  • An application lifecycle comes with various phases that include the deployment, testing, and development of an application. Breaking the application down into smaller components will make it possible for each component to run independently without interfering with other components. This will allow you to debug the components quickly and easily.
  • It is necessary that we implement security within every phase of the application lifecycle from the design phase to the deployment phase. With this method, you won’t have to worry about where you are running the application.

Conclusion

Today, it is important to modernize applications in order to stay on top of trends and to remain competitive. There is an endless race between businesses to be successful and to create the best product. This is only possible if you migrate your older versions of infrastructure and applications to the cloud and use orchestration tools to manage these applications regardless of their underlying infrastructure.

Every business tends to grow and it is only possible if they move to the cloud to scale accordingly as per the changing business requirement. We have mentioned detailed information on how you can achieve application modernization within your business efficiently. Reach out to us for any questions.

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