A blog by - D Kataki 🏌🏿‍♂️

2025-05-15T02:12:00.000-07:00

🔭 First Impression: Exploring Grafana Mimir

... After Years with Thanos!

Not an observability( OE ) purist, but I do appreciate system(s) that tells me how my pets and cattle are doing - So , let's just say I do and have to keep my eyes on the metrics.

After relying on 'Thanos' for scalable Prometheus metrics for quite some time, I recently built a prototype using Grafana Mimir—mostly to satisfy my curiosity.

What I expected to be a familiar experience turned out to be a surprisingly strong contender for how we think about metrics at scale.

We historically leaned on Thanos for its modularity and open standards, but once your platform grows beyond a certain point, things like compactor bottlenecks, sidecar sprawl, and query performance start to hurt and you notice where the seams show.

So I took Mimir for a spin. Here’s what stood out—first-hand:

1. Query Performance - impressive
Mimir’s sharded querier and query scheduler did a great job slicing large queries, preventing slowdowns. In Thanos, we’ve had to be more tactical with query shaping—Mimir handles that more natively.

2. Cleaner Architecture, Fewer Moving Parts
The decoupling in Thanos brings flexibility—but also complexity. Mimir felt more “batteries-included,” with centralized compaction, consistent ingestion behavior, and better internal coordination.
3. Multi-Tenancy Built-In
We serve multiple product lines and environments. Mimir’s first-class tenant isolation and fine-grained limits gave us confidence we could scale without teams stepping on each other’s toes.
4. Operational Efficiency
Rate-limiting, resource usage policies, and native object storage integration? Much easier to configure and reason about compared to stringing together CLI flags in Thanos components.

❓The BIG Question :

Is Mimir better than Thanos?

In many ways— YES , if your scale and complexity demand it Or If you're hitting the "metrics ceiling," Mimir is worth your time. But I wouldn’t call it a replacement for every scenario. Thanos remains easier to plug into an existing Prometheus setup and is still a great option for teams just getting started or managing smaller environments.

PS: If you're evaluating observability platforms at scale, it’s worth giving Mimir a serious look. Happy to chat if you’re navigating a similar shift.

#GrafanaMimir #Thanos #Prometheus #Observability #SRE #DevOps #CloudNative #MetricsAtScale #EngineeringLeadership

2024-07-22T09:34:00.000-07:00

Expand your network at ease : Six Degrees of Separation!

PC: Psych2Go

Did you know that you are just six connections away from any person on this planet?

Imagine this , you wanted to connect to some influential figures or role models like - 'Elon Musk,' 'Giorgia Meloni,' 'Kamala Harris,' or even 'Donald Trump' , they are just 6 handshakes away? Yes - how wonderful right ?

Any two persons in the world can be connected by around six people.This concept is known as "six degrees of separation". Studies suggest that through a chain of "friend of a friend" connections, you can reach anyone in just six hops, also known as the 'six handshakes rule!'

This idea highlights the incredible potential of networking.

Your network is one of your greatest assets. It can unlock new possibilities and propel your career forward.

For engineers and professionals, this means that the person who can offer you your next big opportunity, provide valuable advice, or collaborate on an innovative project is closer than you think. Don’t hesitate to expand your network for all the right reasons.

Reach Out: Don’t be afraid to connect with people who inspire you or who you think can offer guidance. A simple message can start a meaningful conversation.

Build Relationships: Engage with your peers and seniors, attend industry events, and participate in online communities.

Be Open: Embrace new connections and opportunities that come your way. Each handshake, virtual or real, can open new doors.

Start connecting today!

#Networking #CareerGrowth #ProfessionalDevelopment #Engineering #marketing #management #digitalmarketing #creativity #startup #socialnetworking

2024-07-17T09:33:00.000-07:00

Chinese Whisper & Rope Slams:

>>How do we combat the Chinese Whisper effect in our organizations?

>>How do we ensure “rope slams” reach the tail end?

In this world of excessive data , visuals and narratives , you are just a click away to learn more about the above, so I would rather cut some fat and keep it short :)

The “Chinese Whisper Game” teaches us how crucial it is to communicate in a direct and unambiguous manner in order to avoid misinterpretation and guarantee that messages are received and processed with integrity.

On the other hand “Rope slams” ( Imagine a Gym workout ) highlights the necessity of constant effort to maintain momentum and guarantee that instructions are properly carried out at every level.

In my recent book “Focused Minds” , I made a statement - “Engineers are orbiting around the task instead of landing on them”. They might not be the ‘Cause’ but an ‘Effect’ , and it could have a trenscending effect and could apply to any professional.

Is this because the top to bottom message stream is getting diluted when it comes to “mission & vision” statements of an organization and also the “rope slams” are losing their intensity ?

In any F.U.D situation my advice to any F.U.D affected individual would be -

1. Watch out your empty mind.
2. Watch out what you are consuming ( News / Gossip / rumors and also food )
3. Rise above from your peripheral activities and keep your eyes on the ball.
4. Ensure you are operating at your next level, trust me - its would bring out your v2.0
5. Take regular D.O.S.E !!

**Glossary:

F.U.D = Fear , Uncertainity & Doubt

D.O.S.E = Dopamine , Oxytocin , Serotonin , Endorphin.

RCA - Root Cause Analysis

2023-02-17T06:22:00.004-08:00

An important step in finding the root causes of issues or occurrences that happen within a system or organization is root cause analysis (RCA). It entails extensively examining the issue or occurrence to determine its root cause and creating workable solutions to stop it from happening again in the future.

We'll talk about why RCA is important and how it may help organisations in this blog.

You will also get a sample RCA template at the bottom of this blog post 🏆

1. RCA helps identifying the underlying root cause of problems:

The main advantage of RCA is that it aids businesses in locating the source of issues. Organizations are able to determine the underlying reasons of a problem or incident by doing a detailed analysis of the issue. With this knowledge, businesses can create solutions that work and deal with the problem rather than just the symptoms. This lessens the possibility of the issue recurring in the future and aids in preventing it from happening again.

2. Promotes continuous learning & improvement:

RCA promotes continuous improvement by identifying areas where the organization can improve its processes or procedures. It enables organizations to learn from their mistakes and develop better methods to prevent problems from occurring. This approach helps to build a culture of continuous improvement, where everyone in the organization is encouraged to identify areas for improvement and work towards enhancing the organization's performance.

3. Reduced costs:

RCA assists organizations in avoiding irrational costs related to reoccurring issues by locating the source of problems. Repeatedly correcting an issue can be expensive in terms of both time and money. Organizations can prevent problems from recurring and lower the cost of correcting them repeatedly by addressing the problem's core cause.

4. Promotes a proactive approach:

RCA advocates taking a proactive stance while fixing issues. It enables businesses to foresee possible issues and take steps to stop them from happening. Instead of waiting for an issue to arise and then responding to it, businesses can create proactive measures that address the underlying causes by determining the problem's root cause.

5. Enhance organizational performance:

By identifying the root cause of problems and implementing effective solutions, RCA helps to enhance organizational performance. It improves the quality of products and services, reduces downtime and disruptions, and increases customer satisfaction. This, in turn, can lead to increased productivity, greater efficiency, and improved profitability.

In conclusion, RCA is a crucial procedure that enables organizations to pinpoint the source of issues and create workable fixes to stop them from happening again. It encourages continual improvement, lowers expenses, encourages taking preventative action, and improves organizational performance. As a result, it is a crucial tool for any organization that wishes to increase productivity, maintain competitiveness, and accomplish its objectives.

Sample RCA template:

LINK : DOWNLOAD HERE

Shark Tank India - The Good and the Bad

2023-02-12T03:46:00.001-08:00

"Shark Tank'' is a popular television show where entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a panel of successful investors, known as 'sharks' a.k.a 'investors'. We also get to see some ultra-wealthy and successful entrepreneurs as the Sharks and understand their point of view and opinions.

For people who dream of being an entrepreneur, Shark Tank gives them hope. They can learn more about how to pitch, what investors are looking for, and how to prepare and pitch their ideas. On the other hand It also encourages viewers to keep trying for their dreams as they watch others reaching for theirs.

After a captivating and successful Season :1 , currently Shark Tank India season : 2 is certainly drawing a lot of traction. Here are some of the pros and cons of the show:

Positive aspects:

Inspiration: The show can be inspirational and motivate aspiring entrepreneurs to start their own businesses, as it showcases their efforts to turn their ideas into successful businesses.
Exposure: The show provides entrepreneurs with the opportunity to gain exposure for their businesses, which can lead to increased sales and investment.
Networking opportunities: Appearing on the show can provide entrepreneurs with valuable exposure and help them make connections with potential investors.
Valuable feedback: The sharks provide valuable advice and feedback to entrepreneurs, which can help them improve their business ideas and strategies.
Educational: The show can be educational, as viewers ( irrespective of any age group ) can learn about different business models, marketing strategies, and negotiation tactics.

Negative aspects:

Pressure: The pressure of appearing on a national television show can be intense and overwhelming , and entrepreneurs may feel nervous or stressed while pitching their businesses.
Unrealistic expectations: The show can create unrealistic expectations about what it takes to start and grow a successful business, leading some entrepreneurs to become discouraged when they face real-world challenges.
Stereotyping: The show can perpetuate stereotypes about entrepreneurs, investors, and business owners.
Unrepresentative: The show may not be representative of the experiences of most entrepreneurs, as the process of getting a business off the ground is often much more difficult and time-consuming than what is portrayed on the show.
Negotiation: The negotiation process on the show can be challenging, as the sharks are known for being tough negotiators. Even a brilliant idea can lose a good offer due to lack of negotiation skills. A good negotiator must understand when to push the bar and when to stop and accept the offer. There is a saying “When the emotions are HIGH , the intelligence is LOW”

Overall, "Shark Tank" is a show of ‘celebrated ideas’ and ingenuity alongside heartfelt stories in addition to being one of the currently most entertaining TV shows for entrepreneurs, investors, and anyone interested in business and entrepreneurship.

"Shark Tank" has received positive reviews and has been praised for its ability to showcase entrepreneurial spirit and innovation.However, it is important to keep in mind that the show is a reality TV program and may not always accurately reflect the realities of starting and running a business.

The story of Lord Shiva and Bhasmasura - what can we learn from it..

2020-06-27T00:25:00.012-07:00

Storytelling is an innate human quality! We often do it to teach , influence and inspire...

Indian Mythology is one of the richest elements of Indian Culture. Through time, different stories in Indian mythology have been passed from generation to generation either by word of mouth or through carefully stored scriptures. It is a very fascinating world , it sparks human thinking , fuels creativity , and has high entertainment values.

One of the stories of Lord Shiva and Bhasmasura ( Asura / Daemon ) goes like this:

PC: various vedic sites from internet. Not distorted , used just for depiction.

Bhasmasura :

Bhasmasura was a very strong daemon but he used to act before thinking. He wanted to become the most powerful Asura in their community. He knew Lord Shiva was very generous and could be easily pleased and was capable of giving any boon of his choice , so he decided to perform severe penance to win the heart of Lord Shiva.. Every day, during his prayers, he used to cut a part of his body and offer it to Lord Shiva to please him. He repeated this for many days.

Lord Shiva :

Out of 10 qualities of Lord Shiva - one of the qualities which made him very different from everyone else, was that he was a 'benevolent deity'. He was a kind hearted lord , "The Bholenath" , and has an ocean-like forgiveness quality.

And hence , Lord Shiva was pleased with Bhasmasura's prayers and came forward to grant him whatever boon he wished for.

The wish of Bhasmasura :

Bhasmasura wanted to be immortal , so he said, "Lord, please grant me the wish that whichever person, place or thing I place my right hand on, is reduced to ashes". Lord Shiva granted him the boon and Bhasmasura was very happy.

Wicked Bhasmasura :

Bhasmasura, being the wicked demon ..as he was .. wanted to try his boon on Lord Shiva himself and tried to touch his head. A panicked Lord Shiva had to run away from Bhasmasura and approached Lord Vishnu to help him.

Lord Shiva himself was immortal , hence, it was a now a severe contradiction which he landed into by granting this boon.

The saviour - Lord Vishnu takes the ‘Mohini Avatar’:

Lord Vishnu changed himself into a beautiful young girl Mohini. Bhasmasura stopped as he had not seen such a beautiful girl earlier.. She was so beautiful and so graceful that for a minute Bhasmasura even forgot who he was. She talked in a way that she caught him in her beauty. He fell in love with Mohini and asked her to marry him.

Mohini continued, 'I am a dancer Bhasmasura. When I was younger I made a promise that I would only marry a man who can dance as good as mine’ . Bhasmasura readily agreed to learn to dance for his new found ꒒০⌵୧ ♡ !!

Bhasmasura Vadh:

( How Bhasmasura was killed )

Mohini started teaching two different dance moves to Bhasmasura. Bhasmasura was fully concentrating and was getting better and better in his moves.

Mohini soon won in her trick and kept her hand on her own head. Without thinking Bhasmasura did the same!

Lord Shiva's boon worked 😇 and he was burned into a pile of bhasma (ashes). Mohini was looking at Bhasmasura's ashes as Lord Shiva appeared before Mohini. Lord Shiva went back to Kailash, thanking Lord Vishnu.

What can we learn from this story :

Beware of friends & followers , not everyone might be a real friend or a follower.

Be generous , but not too much. Understand and anticipate potential implications of any act. Think before you act!

Everyone makes mistakes , even the most powerful and brilliant people.

You must cultivate friends , if Lord Vishnu did not come for Shiva's rescue…

I leave this great indian mythological story for your further interpretation , as that's what indian mythologies do - i.e. spark our imaginations and derive a learning out of it !! :)

Until next time .. •ᴗ• !!

PLOT – Story for successful Change

2019-12-25T21:56:00.000-08:00

Let me start with a small disclaimer - In this post I am not going to lecture around what is
change and incident management. Rather one of the effective ways to plan for a change.
There exists many such tools and flows to effectively carry out a change , however - this is
just one amongst those.

Well , we all know that change is common, natural and inevitable for an organization to grow,

both from a technology standpoint and org structure. Here, I will try to cover various aspects

of the technological / IT production changes and not the latter.

According to a report from McKinsey, 70% percent of change programs fail to achieve their
goals.

But why? Its is said that , the reason for such failures is due to employee resistance and lack of management support.

I would say - it is primarily because - “Changing human behaviour is hard”

Successful change management requires frequent and clear communication between an
organization and its people, and most importantly - convincing ourselves and others that the
change candidate is compelling, motivational and realistic! i.e. every change initiative needs
a convincing narrative.

American systems scientist Peter Senge says: “People don’t resist change, they resist
being changed”.

I think we all agree that - any / all change initiatives must be backed by a process,
so as to ensure it is well organised , and repeatable.

Mnemonics

A bit off-topic , but I think we all would agree that - to remember anything , mnemonics helps us in a great way.

Remember BODMAS - The order of mathematical operations? :D

OR - the phrase "My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas" - to remember the planets, sadly Pluto is gone though.. but anyway!

Here comes another one - PLOT.

What is PLOT ?

Ain't plot is such a familiar word when it comes to movies .. exposition , climax , action etc. etc.

In this case , PLOT is an abbreviation in the areas of effective change management , and it stands for Plan, Lead , Operate and Track.

Fine , how is it helpful?

While there exists numerous processes and flow charts to effectively carry out a change ,
one of them is PLOT - a method designed and documented by Bain & Company -
one of the most prestigious and global management consulting companies headquartered
in the US.

This PLOT flow helps us to convince and align ourselves to an end-to-end change
management process , keeping transparency, compliance , various guiding principles ,
communications points and many such things which is very instrumental to execute a
change effectively.

Below is my adaptation with some small tweaks , however if you google it , you can easily
get their original document with more elaboration.

Step 1: Plan it well.

Step 2: Lead the change

Step 3 : Operate ( Execution phase)

Step 4 : Track it well.

Every organization has its own change management flow , but I am sure this PLOT can be a good chip in that flow for sure.

For. ex.

During the execution phase many things may go wrong depending on how deep or broad
the change is. It is very important to understand that - “when on principle: It’s understandable,
memorable, and repeatable , and eventually drives empathy!”

Closing thoughts ..

No matter where you are in the system life cycle, the system will change!
The desire to change will persist throughout the life cycle.
But, the underlying services should be always stable, reliable, and predictable.

Above images are screenshots from one of my previous presentation, which I know,
is of not the best quality , hence attaching the original PPT herewith.

Download PPT Link

Please dont hesitate to share your thoughts in the comments section..

Happy holiday season and Happy new year 2020!

Until next time ..

Debajit Kataki

The time you spend with yourself!

2019-02-12T08:44:00.001-08:00

That walk from your boss’s cabin to your desk … same distance which is sometimes very short, with a relieved and refreshing mind, and sometimes very long, rattled and engrossed.

Not all conversations go well and often we find it very hard to tackle. The conversation you just had with your boss or anybody for that matter, could either be exposing your limitations and surface opportunity areas or sometimes it can also be very re-energising or trigger a sense of renewal.

What we go through in situations like these are – ‘reflections’ and depending on how we take it, these moments could produce varied sentiments.

“We do NOT learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience.” — John Dewey

Reflections are nothing but, looking into a mirror and describing what you see. It is a way of assessing yourself, your ways of working which helps you to develop your skills and review their effectiveness!

Self-reflection is a very powerful free tool which gives us perspective and helps us to understand ourselves better.

Trust me – it’s not easy to start at this 😃, as it does not come naturally to majority of us, and in-fact even I am still trying to be regular at this and hence the post - where I am trying to share my own experience.

I have found it very productive that - when we create some lonely time for ourselves and do some regular self-introspection, it’s actually a game changer!

But how and where to start:

Most of our perennial learning comes NOT from doing, BUT from thinking about what we do, and why we do.

Often, we go through our day-to-day life without spending too much time “processing” our experiences. This processing is very important and fuels creativity.

Questioning in a positive way, what you do and why you do it and then subsequently pondering over , whether there is a better, or more efficient way of doing it in the future.

The Real Question:

Just think about this - can I sit quietly for about 5-10 mins daily and reflect on - “If I were to re-live today again, what 3 things would I change to make today better?” Yes! That’s where we need to start. And as I said – it’s not easy!

When we participate in new experiences, experiences that are outside of our comfort zone or outside of our routine, there is often a lot of learning that can take place.

If we really wish to be a person of indomitable spirit, we must cultivate ‘habits’, good habits of-course! 😃

One of them is certainly creating ‘time-alone’ for yourself. It’s a time of solitude, where you spend time with yourself.

Our brain is constantly processing and unravelling. Most of the time it’s about our ‘delivery responsibility’ in this busy and competitive world. A cup of tea alone, a walk in the park, writing daily diaries or blogs, or even a quiet five minutes at the end of the day could make all the difference where we may ask Q’s to ourselves, like -

· Did I use my time wisely today?

· Could I be a person other can respect?

· Did I make a positive impact today?

· Did I respect myself and valued my strengths today? ….

Such introspective Q’s can be really helpful and can potentially provoke us to think - whether I am progressing steadily in the line of my end vision, or just ‘being busy’.

Peter Drucker says:

“Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection, will come even more effective action.”

In my personal experience, I have found that -

· Solitude allows you to reboot your brain and unwind!

· It’s always healthy to disconnect, unplug discover yourself, and find your own voice!

· You will have better ways of solving problems and may get unexpected flashes of creative insight.

So, I urge, go ahead and schedule some ‘time alone’ for you, where its only your and with you.

And please do comment, if you have ever experienced the effectiveness of doing such self-reflection, and if my own reflections about ‘self-reflection’ is reflecting right :)?

Happy Reading!

-Deba ... ( Debajit Kataki)

Database CICD

2019-01-01T23:24:00.001-08:00

DevOps is all about inclusiveness. In one of my earlier posts, I shared why this is important!

I don’t think many organisations or application teams practices CICD or even version their SQL codes as a best practice while dealing with Database changes.

As we go to AWS or any other cloud platform, the code deployments will be completely CICD driven, i.e. code releases will be at the developer's will. Hence, the complementing DB changes should be part of the pipeline / release candidate itself, and we should NOT look at the DB changes and code changes as two separate entities - to get the full benefit of CICD in our quest for 'Speed-As-Habit'.

The database SQL's, unlike other software components is not often versioned. Thus, Continuous Integration (CI) & Delivery ( CD ) for databases has taken a back seat to automated deployments, leaving database automation play a catch up game.

If you have a full-fledged release program mgt. team managing and co-ordinating these changes manually, I think you really need to anticipate the world ahead.

Consider these AWS or any other cloud scenarios:

• AWS application deployments will be completely CICD driven.

• AWS way of doing deployments expects everything in an automated fashion Code/ IaC etc.

• Manual /synchronisation between DB and App teams will be very painstaking as - CI for code will be at the developers will and hence the releases (mostly!)

• Hence, the SQL queries should also be part of the release / deployment automation.

Introducing Versioning of SQL:

Version or source-controlling database changes is the first step in introducing databases to the DevOps / CICD process. If your database changes and application code are in source control ( e.g. GitHub ), you can have a working build anytime, because you will always have a version to roll back to, and you will also have audit trail.

There are many branching strategies you may adopt to suit your development process while introducing a new SQL repo, which is part of your same development stream.

This is the foundation to bring a transparent audit / approval / feedback mechanism in a true DevOps culture.

Proposing a new process:

A process somewhat similar to the below can ensure that - the database changes which is versioned in GitHub, will get reviewed by the DBA’s even before the branch merge. The depicted automation ensures that the CI gets triggered only when the merge happens. This not only helps in early review but also brings the real skin of our DBA’s in the game and ensures that the accountability and ownership get fairly distributed across the right stake-holders.

As a best practice you can create a pool of 2 engineers each from DBA's and Developers to facilitate the code review and subsequent PR approvals.

Introducing CICD:

Below could be a ‘Big-Picture’ , binding all the components together.

Introducing Flyway DB:

FlywayDB is an Apache v2 licensed open-source tool that makes database migrations easy. You can think of Flyway as version control for your database.It integrates wonderfully with Maven. It supports a very wide range of databases. In the above diagram you can see that Spinnaker triggers triggers the FlywayDB instance to manage the changes.

I highly recommend you read more about this tool in the below link –

https://flywaydb.org/getstarted/how

Now when subsequent changes comes , this is how FlywayDB ensures that the changes are safe.

The only overhead is that - FlywayDB maintains a small Schema version table with each of your databases.

This may be a quick small approach towards integrating database changes as part of your DevOps process, which can accelerate the delivery of database changes and promote agility across the entire code-release cycle. I am sure based on the tools and your own IT landscape, this might vary slightly.

Happy to get your thoughts around this and discuss further.

However one thing is for sure - failure to include database changes as part of the DevOps /CICD practice will certainly slow down your release cycle!

DevOps Vs SRE

2018-11-12T06:20:00.002-08:00

Let’s start with very crisp definitions...

What is DevOps?

DevOps is a software engineering culture and practice, that aims at unifying software development and software operation.

What is SRE?

Site reliability engineering ( SRE ) seeks to improve the reliability of currently operating software, while minimising the work involved in its upkeep through various automations.

** 'Traditional Ops' were more focussed on how effectively ( and efficiently! ) execute the day to day tasks.

How are they different (Or) Do they have any common ground ?

Google states that SRE and DevOps are not so different from one another: “They’re not two competing methods of software development and operations, but rather close friends designed to break down organisational silos.

Both these schools highly advocates automation and collaboration - thats what in common!

Then how are they different ?

While DevOps is all about “What” needs to be done ( e.g. Cultural change , Need of Automation, Need of Measurement, need of Sharing i.e. CAMS ) ; SRE talks about “How” this can be done. It’s about expanding the theoretical part to an efficient workflow, with right work methods, tools and so on.

DevOps engineers are responsible for executing the 'Development Automation' or 'Developers Productivity' vision from the very beginning of the SDLC via Agile and CICD practices. DevOps also preaches infrastructure as code ( IaC ) automation.

Hence , It is expected that a DevOps engineer understands the full SDLC and also has the hands-on skills to implement changes, or has the ability to administer it end-to-end. There are many DevOps specific tools which focusses on this segment of 'Developers productivity'.

On the other hand, SRE's main job is to ensure that the site (i.e. “platform/service”) is always operational, and reliable with the right tool, process and metrics.

SRE engineers are very focused on writing codes to automate processes and eliminate toil. Now this can only happen when you help envision or raise a very fundamental question - 'what does your developers think should change, if they were to do the Ops'.

The following analogies might be able to bring more clarity and insight!

While SRE implementation may vary from organisation to organisation, there is a DevOps Checklist portal in the internet - which you may find very useful : The DevOps Checklist

Hope this article was helpful :)

Thanks ,

-Deba

RootConf-2018

2018-05-22T21:05:00.001-07:00

RootConf-2018

RootConf is a conference where prominent DevOps enthusiasts and SMEs collaborate once a year and share their experiences to benefit the industry as a whole. This year’s conference was held in a convention center at Bangalore on 10^th and 11^th of May.

Videos from the conference:

Day 1: https://hasgeek.tv/rootconf/2018-day-1
Day 2: https://hasgeek.tv/rootconf/2018-day-2

Hope you enjoy some of these sessions!

Spinnaker for Continuous Delivery in AWS

2018-05-22T01:51:00.003-07:00

We have been using Spinnaker for a little over 1 year to practice Continuous Delivery ( CD ) in AWS and also for restacking of AWS ec2's with new AMI's.

Recently I was contacted by TrustRadius - a community of professionals sharing software reviews, and best practices to write a technical review on this tool. Sharing my insights here too , hope you find it useful.

Pros and Cons:

· Spinnaker is very strong in its ability to baking of AMI(with ROSCO) and code deployments for Linux based ec2/AMI. Below are some more points:

· Out of the box deployment strategies.

· Open Source and active development.

· Multi cloud deployments ( also can integrate with kubernetes)

· Automated triggers.

· Manual Judgements.

· In-house bakery service, which helps in immutable deployments.

· Easy pipeline setups using the UI , no need to write complex CFNs for code deployments.

· "One click resize" of the underlying ec2s.

· Exactly "one click rollback"

· Pipelines can be scripted (SPEL)

· Excellent search feature to search LBs , clusters etc from the UI

· Both high level and low level view of clusters, which has fine-grained options to control cloud infra from Spinnaker UI itself.

· SSO and RBAC supported.

· Wide range of deployment strategies like Blue-Green , Highlanders etc.

· We also get a centralised view of all pipelines in single place. This helps for a large enterprise. Maven is very popular, so generating RPM from existing POM.xml is cool!

Opportunity areas for Spinnaker:

· It does NOT support CFN based deployments

· Windows based systems finds it difficult to onboard to Spinnaker.

· Pipeline level access authorisation is not there.

· Support for EBS volume encryption is probably missing.

· Attach/detach EBS volumes during deployments is difficult.

· No support to deploy the artifacts without re-creating the servers. Only pure immutable deployment are allowed.

· Open-source - so good and bad!

· Spinnaker on its own has 10 underlying micro services. Managing Spinnaker needs a focussed platform approach.

· User authentication is easy but authorisation management is not straight forward.

Return on Investment:

· It's open source!

· RPM based deployments can be scripted at Maven file itself , so very easy!

· RPM based deployments bundles all code and configs together, so awesome!

Other Software Used:

AWS CodePipeline

Likelihood to Recommend: Very Likely! 👍

Why Database CI/CD?

2017-12-18T00:53:00.002-08:00

Making the Database Part of Your Continuous Delivery Pipeline

The database, unlike other software code is not a collection of versioned files. Thus, Continuous Integration(CI) and Continuous Delivery(CD) for Database has taken a back seat to source code, leaving database automation to play a game of catch up at a high risk.

In this analogy below, the conveyor belt represents Jenkins ( or such CI tools ) , the chocolates signify the application code releases / release cycle ( powered by CICD currently ) , and Lucy and Ethel are ‘handling’ the database code.

More to come..  :D 

Stay tuned!

--Debajit Kataki

AWS re:Invent summary 2017

2017-12-04T08:53:00.002-08:00

As you might know, this year’s AWS re:Invent was held @ Las Vegas 11/27 – 12/1.

Below links could be a good start to explore all the new features and services announced at AWS re:Invent 2017

Product Announcements :  

https://aws.amazon.com/new/reinvent/

Categorised summary of news
and analysis:  

http://searchaws.techtarget.com/conference/Your-guide-to-AWS-reInvent-2017-news-and-analysis

Links to YouTube recordings
of AWS re:Invent 2017 sessions : 

https://gist.github.com/stevenringo/108922d042c4647f2e195a98e668108a

Hope this helps!

Architectural Tradeoffs

2017-11-05T20:43:00.000-08:00

"In the 1620's Sweden and Poland were at war. Wanting a quick end to this costly war, the King of Sweden commissioned the building of a ship called the "Vasa".

Now, this was no ordinary ship. The requirements for this ship were unlike any other ship of that time; it was to be over 200 feet long, carry 64 guns on two gun decks, and have the ability to transport 300 troops safely across the waters into Poland. The ship architect had never designed such a ship before. Smaller, single gun deck ships were his area of expertise. Nevertheless, the ship's architect extrapolated on his prior experience and set out designing and building the Vasa. The ship was eventually built to specifications, and when the eventful day came for the launch, the ship proudly sailed into the harbor, fired its gun salute, and promptly sank to the bottom of the ocean. The problem with the Vasa was obvious; anyone who has ever seen the deck of a large fighting ship from the 1600's and 1700's knows that the decks on those ships were crowded and unsafe, particularly in battle. Building a ship that was both a fighting ship and a transport ship was a costly mistake. The ship's architect, in an attempt to fulfill all of the kings wishes, created an unbalanced and unstable ship"

( Image Credit : Ancient-origins )

Software architects can learn a lot from this story and apply the learnings from this unfortunate event to the design of software architecture. Trying to fulfill each and every requirement (as with the Vasa) creates an unstable architecture that essentially accomplishes nothing well.

Lesson to remember:

Every software architect should know and understand that you can't have it all. It is virtually impossible to design an architecture that has high performance, high availability, a high level of security, and a high degree of abstraction all at the same time

#ArchitecturalTradeoffs ( Mark Richards )

#97 Things Every Software Architect Should Know ( book )

8c tips for Freshers / NCG's

2017-09-02T10:48:00.001-07:00

I have been having a great company with some of the very talented NCG’s ( New College Hires/ Grads ) last ~2yrs. I work for Intuit Inc. (India) and for the group I work for , we have this great culture of putting our goals and objectives into a tool called BetterWorks.

What I love most about this tool is - it makes things very transparent and gives you a picture about how the entire org is moving along in the desired direction , taking the right steps forward - to meet the mission and vision of the organization in a very effective way.

Now with this background , let me set the context first. Last week , while setting up the objectives for one of my NCG , I had to help her setting up one personal development goal which is strongly encouraged at Intuit.

The goal I spontaneously suggested was : "Please see something around these C’s , or sign-up for some technical online or instructor led course of your interest"

The C's what I had in mind , and which eventually made a total of 8 C's are as below:

(1) Curiosity

The first thing , any individual , especially the new college grads , should be fostering is - the element of 'curiosity'.

Curiosity means having the desire to learn new things. We must ask questions and have an opinion. Try to be non-bias / non-judgmental and try to look at things through fresh eyes. Research shows that - the primary thing which contributes to non-curiosity is (a) Fear (b) Disapprovals and (c) Absence of caring and guidance. My suggestion here would be - exert yourself to read diverse kinds of readings, don’t take things as granted , and always keep an open mind.

Out of the 8 operating values we have at Intuit , we have these two great values - “Be passionate & Learn fast “, it aligns very much to this quality.

(2) Creativity

Creativity is a struggle to go beyond what we were yesterday. Creativity or innovation is the process of leaving the known and venturing into the unknown. Being a new entry to the organization , you must first try to understand and absorb things quickly and then also wear a customer lens to suggest process change or improvements ( if any) , apply automations or even suggest newer / smarter ways of doing things.

Creativity can transform any obstacle into opportunity!

(3) Courage

At Intuit we strive to live 'these values' every day – and the first one is ‘Be Bold’ which encourages us to create a vision that inspires and we always strive to think beyond what is accepted as possible.

We must always be willing to take a step forward no matter what...

(4) Competency

There is no short cut for learning , we have to upgrade our knowledge on a daily basis. We must keep learning new things ; something new , day after day.

Please sign-up of for daily feeds on sites like DZone, mashable, techgig, HBR, readwrite.com – and it will point you to something new, every day.

(5) Communication

Communication is the key, both verbal and written. While there are myriads of tips and writings how to be a better communicator , please don’t worry - communication is an art, and nobody masters that overnight, at-least I haven’t yet! :))

One thing we must first try to focus on is – ensure we know how to articulate and we are understood.

(6) Connect

Connect to people and invest time on networking. This helps to understand industry trends , bouncing ideas, solicit feedback or getting input, formulate diverse perspectives , and also learn from others. So please ensure you have made at-least one professional connect every week , as you start walking into this new world ahead.

Professional networking is the fuel that accelerates success!

(7) Conduct

Your behavior is everything. Don’t react, don’t push rough shots and always have a ‘Win Together’ mindset. Conduct is also about Integrity – which will help you to win trust , earn more responsibilities , gain respect , and build a brand / class which is very important in this journey forward.

As it is said - its not about ‘what’ we do , but ‘how’ we do!

(8) Consistency

And finally , whatever we do , consistency in what we say and what we do is very important , and it will have a multiplier effect - to generate the trust on you as a professional.

I personally believe that - these 8C’s will certainty generate lot of ‘awesomeness’ and ‘effectiveness’ in you and will help you maintain the right ‘attitude’ all the time.

If you are wondering , why the title is 8c, well , - it is a mere co-incidence that the count came to 8 and I know for a reason that - in Buddhism there is the concept of Eightfold Path to achieve Nirvana - the end of suffering :)

Also ‘c’ is one of the letter in English alphabet , which has maximum no. of words in the dictionary and hence the higher probability of having a strong synonym / title for all the thoughts that I explained above.

Now is this a SMART goal ? Well, yes. The only thing is that – it does not have an ‘end date’ and it’s a journey!

'Optimism Bias' leads to poor decision making!

2017-07-30T11:12:00.002-07:00

Effective Time-management and Time-boxing is a concern for 'always ready people'. Being from a background that I am from, I am probably one of them! While doing project planning , factoring in some room for the unknown or unseen is very helpful , but that might not be possible all the time.

Today I came across Hofstadter's Law and then it naturally took me to read more about "Planning Fallacy"

Hofstadter's Law states :

It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's Law. - Douglas Hofstadter

The planning fallacy, first proposed by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky in 1979, states it to be

- "a phenomenon in which predictions about how much time will be needed to complete a future task display an optimism bias and underestimate the time needed" ( ref : wikipedia )

If we analyze the pattern why many of us often tend to miss the project deadlines , you will find that - we usually fall prey to this "planning fallacy" , which is nothing but our tendency to underestimate how long it will take to complete a specific task .

Its because , we have an optimistic bias ( TED Talk by Tali Sharot ) towards the task that involve us.

Optimism bias, or unrealistic optimism is the tendency of individuals to underestimate the likelihood that they will experience adverse events, such as - incomplete or delayed projects , serious diseases or road accidents etc. . As a consequence of this bias, some individuals underestimates the need of precautions that might curb such risks. This bias leads us to believe that we are less likely to get affected from misfortune and more likely to attain success , while the reality might be otherwise.

Planning carefully and conservatively can save us from lot of consequent / unwanted frustrations.

We must remember - the risk of 'Optimism bias' is - poor decision-making!

Basics of 'escalation'

2017-07-04T21:02:00.003-07:00

This will be probably my shortest post ever!

Every project that you handle - there is an escalation mechanism / matrix defined. Many of us either do not use it in the fear of conflict, some overdo this , and many of us do it wrong!

Escalating a problem at the right time, to the right person with the adequate amount of information is the key for successful projects!

My observation:

Excessive escalation can cause stakeholders and sponsors to get numb - hope you remember the 'cry wolf' story :)
Not doing it with the fear of conflict is a sign of sheer un-professionalism!!
Doing it with a business continuity aspect in mind is what gets praised!

Regarding #how to do it right -

The golden rule is - "Escalate to the right person who can unblock you!" - and that person need not have to be a leader.

While DACI is an effective model for decision-making , role clarity, and communications - crisis management is a different aspect all together!

Wear your 'TIE' for a great conversation!!

2017-07-02T07:13:00.003-07:00

This is NOT a post about how to 'Tie a Tie'. Rather , just an effort to remember a few fundamentals before we strike a conversation with someone.

Too often, a conversation results in wasted time. 'TIE' - I am using here as a ref. to help us remember these fundamentals which can help add meaning to your conversations and ensure effective outcomes.

T I E , Let's break it down:

      T= Time and Timing.
      I= Interest and Information
      E= Energy and Emphasize

Time and Timing ( T ):

Devoting genuine and sincere 'time' for any conversation is key to ensure a good two way dialogue.

At the same time opening up on a topic requires certain atmosphere or frame of mind which I am referring here as 'timing'.

Interest and Information (I):

Good conversation is never one-sided. When we talk to someone , our brain is unconsciously but constantly searching for - where the individual's interests lies. Think of a Venn diagram. When you find these intersections of interests , these conversations flows with great intensity and becomes very lively. We like people who are like us!

Some other tips would be - asking genuine questions in between , keep asking yourself how you can add value into this ongoing conversation, endear them!

I personally believe that - before going for any planned meeting, we should always arm ourselves with the topic. The Information element. And if we could not - we can just support the ongoing discussion. For. ex. say “I don’t know a lot, but I do know that…”

Never try yo dominate a conversation. Conversational Narcissism is bad! Really bad! On the other hand we should NOT be a non-contributor either.

Don’t overshare - don't be someone who pours out his life story as soon as you meet him. Within couple of minutes you know why his girlfriend dumped him..etc. etc.

Energy and Emphasize (E):

By 'energy' I do not mean exercising extremes in autonomy or to dominate a conversation , BUT a well balance mix of - effective body language , gesture , stance , pitch and pace.

This is NOT about exerting overuse of energy which might add noise to the conversation , rather bringing your 'whole being' into the conversation.

We also must 'emphasize' the important words and effectively underline important points during such conversations.

Above all these , let's also remember the saying - "the key to the art of conversation is not in the talking, but in the listening"

Well , that's it for now! Wear this 'TIE' to add meaning to your next conversation , and see if it helps! :)) Don't forget to share your experience.

CICD Assessment

2017-03-11T09:46:00.001-08:00

( A story on - how we formulated a process around measuring and achieving CICD, and how these journey lines has now become a means to cherish and celebrate our collective achievement as 'one team', with a very transparent and clearly defined objectives )
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CICD is the automation of Agile!

Last year we had setup a dedicated team to improve the CICD abilities for various teams across our organization. The overall objective was to - 'Improve the speed of software delivery by implementing CICD practices and processes".

Primarily we focused on :

Implementing repeatable and reliable software release and deployment processes
Automate testing(s), builds, and deployments
Get everything in source control (not just code! Including config and control files)
No post deployment manual steps! (Enables one click rollback when needed)
Software is NOT Done until “released and accepted”
And all these , with a shared vision that - all stakeholders (i.e. Dev, QE, OPS, RM, RE) will demonstration equal responsibility for the release process!

When we set out on this transforming journey , we also wanted to measure this progress for various teams. My friend 'Alison Gabriel-Reilly' reminded of this phrase : “You don’t know when you’ve arrived, if you don’t know your destination”

We looked around and could not find any such tool which we could use to measure this CICD initiative and also to capture this progressive journey line for diff teams.

Essentially , our need was :

We should have a comprehensive list of all applications , which has an active SDLC track. ( worthy to mention - we are an IT organization and many apps are in contained mode or waiting for sunset )
Consistent, holistic view of the initial overall status of various applications for CICD
An ongoing means to measure and its subsequent improvement ( Continuous Improvement)

We quickly designed and exposed an evaluation URL , basically an internal tool , with an underlying process defined , that -- as soon as we take up any of such CICD implementation work for any team or app , starting point would be to assess the current state.

Now talking about this tool, this is what the initial screen looks like:

[ Landing page ]

With this flow , once an app is selected from the drop down , we render an expanded view of four key pillars of CICD i.e. 'Continuous integration' , 'Test Automation' , 'Continuous Deployment' and 'Continuous Monitoring'.

Many people debated - how can monitoring be an integral part of CICD. The answer was simple: if my Pre-Prod is down , my build pipeline is stuck. And frankly , not many organization pay a focused attention on monitoring their Pre-Prod environments ; and CICD pipeline primarily encompasses your Pre-prod. When we have a final production ready release candidate , its a 'release' or a 'release program charter' , which solicits all party approvals for a go/ no-go! Which is decision driven, rather than an automated build & deployment flow.

Again , coming back to the tool , these compositions are nothing but some very fundamental, inherent elements aligned to those broader individual CICD aspects as said above. And for teams - this now becomes clearly defined objective(s) to strive and then achieve them progressively towards that big uber goal of CICD.

The composition screen looks like this:

[ Calculate CICD score ]

We also introduced a very fun and exciting element in this whole process , that - you potentially can earn a 'badge' based on where you stand. and we display it at the organization level.

[ Badges as per the CICD score range ]

We also have a quarter wise QlikView dashboard , which the leaders of respective group(s) can keep a track of their own team's CICD status , their progressive journey line, and continue to encourage them further..


[ Org level view ]

[ Journey line graph - Quarter wise , for individual app ]

Here I wish to mention that - this entire thing has now become a proven and well established process for our entire org towards an ongoing means to measure and then take up the subsequent improvement steps for those teams/apps - who has been aspiring to be on the CICD orbit ( i.e. Continuous Integration , Continuous Delivery )

With this tool, and with these underlying scores , it is really allowing us to understand - the current CICD status of those teams or apps , clearly envision the end state, track the ongoing progress in the CICD journey and collectively agree on ( and act!) - where to focus our time and effort towards enabling these team(s) to achieve complete CICD.

With this established process , these CICD journey lines has now become a means to cherish and celebrate our collective achievement as 'one team', with a very transparent and clearly defined objective.

Be agile , deliver continuously!

Thank you!!

http/2

2016-03-03T05:51:00.001-08:00

We probably all knew http/2.0 was in the making ( IETF have removed the minor version to avoid confusion, so you can just call it http/2 or h2 )

Recently, I had an interesting read on how the industry is adopting http/2 , and below is just a loosely unorganized excerpt with some useful links:

The current web fact is : unlike late 90’s , every initial landing page today on an avg. has 2 MB+ statics ( after compressed L) , 125+ objects , ~52 RCP connections , and ~28 domains embedded – the need why the existing protocols are relooked.

Majorly (i) multiple round trips , and (ii) nervous/jittery congestion control design , from the previous version i.e. http/1.1 was looked into, and was the anchor point in this whole research.

· Last year IETF passed the draft of http/2.

· HTTP/2 was based largely on Google’s own protocol SPDY ( which will be deprecated from May 2016 to give lead to http/2)

· Currently 76%+ existing browsers supports http2 ( includes Mozilla, Chrome , IE etc. )

Main features for http/2:

- Single Connection ( unlike http1.1) / avoid multiple round trip.

- Multiplexing!

- Server Push! ( proactively additional content can be sent to client for latter’s later use.

- Binary and not text.

- Header Compression ( uses HPACK compression)

See a demo:

· http://www.http2demo.io

· https://http2.akamai.com/demo

Does my site supports http2:

You can actually check it here : https://tools.keycdn.com/http2-test

Can we ? :

Well, yes - but do we really need it? Also, It calls for work on the existing infra.

Apache 2.4.17+ onwards ships with mod_http2.

Some cool reads :

Patrick Stox here , and also, 'Stephen Ludin' from Akamai explains it more here on emerging web performance technologies.

Who in the world has already adopted it ( see it here).

Thx/- Deba

Auto-pilot teams!

2016-02-20T06:36:00.003-08:00

At times we tend to question the role of a pilot above many thousand feets from the ground , when the plane is in 'auto-pilot' mode :)

“Your job as a manager is to make yourself redundant.” - this is a very old line which has always been so very thought provocative for many leaders to cogitate and prepare to be one, and by being vulnerable at times.

Its always a 'win-win' when our team is 'self-sufficien't.

Self-sufficiency comes from empowerment and empowerment should be via setting the right direction.

I personally prefer a crack! team around me :) ( Creative/Collaborative , Representative, Authorized/Autonomous , Committed, and who is knowledgeable - if at all you are wondering the expansion of 'CRACK' :) !! )

Self sufficiency combined with creativity, excellent collaboration skills and mutual respect for each others builds a great working environment.

As a leader we should exhibit sincere behaviors which tells our team(s) that - I am genuinely interested and engaged with them in thoughts and spirits. Sometimes it might be that - technically you are not able to coach or guide them - but with a very 'natural dialogue' we can speak about it. Yes - I can not know everything in the world.

Leaders, most definitely, cannot be successful without genuinely engaging in the work of others.

As a leader we should also try to drip our teams with the importance of 'curiosity'. Not every clock tick needs an invention, but - I have seen that with a ' culture of innovation' people often occupy their heads with 'good' thoughts and this only emits positive vibes and energies. So , don't forget to keep them occupied with right things.

Sincerity fosters confidence. As a leader we must strive to be very open and transparent and willing to admit mistakes. Also remember that people don't like phonies. People don't like deceitful behaviors and culture. Giving someone their due credit is the best thing a leader can do, and having that culture of recognition they feel more secured and more connected.

This kind of a culture is what propels a team to heights that even the leader doesn’t often foresee.

I don’t want , nor need people coming to me for every decision. I usually empower my peoples and have the expectations set and encourage them to make routine decisions. That is a big positive attribute and at the same time brings that challenge - how we keep a close tab on things then.

Rainbows does not last long and the other side of the rainbow might not have the gold pot all the time.

So, if this culture sees people debilitating a well set harmonious culture - by running rough shots over colleagues or subordinates ... or something such, we have to be equally vigilant too! There are office idiots who chronically complains and contributes more than what is needed and less than their potential.

Self sufficiency combined with creativity, excellent collaboration skills & mutual respect for others makes for a great working environment. - See more at: http://katenasser.com/leaders-do-you-prefer-self-sufficient-team-members/#sthash.EHrPjeCS.dpuf

I have not seen what a pilot does during the 'auto-pilot' mode :) - but for us, with such 'self-sufficient' teams, we can definitely focus on things which will (only) bring more productivity in us, and to the organization.

-( Deba )

Disruption (vs) Disaster

2016-02-02T06:15:00.006-08:00

Any disruption could have been stopped at some point with a proper Recovery Plan. But then , when to call it a disaster?

Disruption:
Incident < RTO
Impacts are limited and controlled
Disruption < $ (business determines threshold)

Disaster:

Incident > RTO
Impacts are extensive and outside of your control
Disaster > $ (business determines threshold)

All of this requires Recovery Objectives to be identified prior.

-Deba

the end is where we begin ..

2015-05-23T05:32:00.003-07:00

What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from - T. S. Eliot

I have noticed in some meetings, which are limited recurrings in nature - say: brainstorming , idea-jam's etc. where the entire 97% time goes very structured way. But due to whatsoever reason - the last 3% of the time we rush so much that, we actually end up very abruptly. It defeats the whole momentum for the upcoming next, because you as a leader - did not think enough, and realize enough that its NOT the end of the ongoing series. And you will actually have to address the same audience in the very next upcoming one(yet again!). Moreover, if you missed to appreciate someone's effort in the current in this hurry sickness - you got a whole diff problem on hand now :-). And I bet - you will be embarrassed on this act of yours!

By now you know where I am coming from.. Yes, we should be very conscious about that last few minutes on such meetings, . and also create a visible and transparent agenda along with the need and importance of why we will be meeting again. Leaders sowing the seed of curiosity!!

Also lets not forget to reiterate once , on - what is expected out of whom for the next and lastly - name the person who is going to send out the minutes ( MoM) for today. Hope you had a official scribe ? :-)

So.. please try to maintain that momentum and enthusiasm - so that you actually get a very good participants and some focused minds for the next one.

Is not this 'end' is actually a beginning of the 'next'? You never know - those 'focused' minds may come up with some brilliant ideas by knowing - what we are doing in the next huddle. This is looking forward and preparing ahead.. YES! the end is where we start from!!

-Deba

Separating alert DL from regular team DL

2015-05-23T05:02:00.002-07:00

Most IT organizations usually keep it simple by sending all the alerts to everyone. This is still a sustainable model 10's or 20's of systems. However with more monitoring s added , the noise increases and the focus , attention and the rigor needed for the same ,usually starts dipping.

Alert management and distribution is a real pain when done via email way. Hence , in absence of a dedicated DL for alerts there can be a lot of assumptions or unnecessary noise onto who is attending those or is it actually being taken care of. We also get engaged in a unnecessary back and forth on query and answering mode - rather then paying attention to the real issue in hand.

Typically in any organizations - we just have a few dedicated resources who jumps onto such incidents/issues real fast , and that too -with an honest intention to solve it for the organization. Hence providing a conducive environment for their work is indeed a prime importance.

Moreover , separating alerts DL from the primary email DL could be a very good practice, specially when you have other people who are not responsible for attending OR acting on such alerts. Also on the flip side - it can be so very noisy for those members, who will go on an never ending stride being part of that DL. Because - important emails might get lost when there is are flurry of alerts. Of-course you can filter those alerts - then why should you be part of that DL(alert) anyway?

Tip:

1. Keep a primary group DL , which is for regular business communications and discussions.

2. Keep separate DL for alerts - and keep ONLY those engineers, who is accountable for triaging day to day alerts or OnCall related issues.

-Deba