I recently started my core DevOps learning journey — and understanding the DevOps Reference Architecture is my very first step into it. This architecture forms the foundation of how real-world systems are planned, built, deployed, and scaled efficiently.

In this blog, I’ll walk you through a real-world DevOps Reference Architecture, from planning and coding to deploying a blog application in production using GitHub, Jenkins, Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform, Prometheus, and more.

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What Is DevOps Reference Architecture?

A DevOps Reference Architecture is a complete blueprint for how code moves from a developer’s machine to a production server — with automation, scalability, and monitoring built-in.

It typically includes:

• Planning & collaboration tools

• Continuous Integration / Continuous Deployment (CI/CD)

• Infrastructure as Code (IaC)

• Containerization & Orchestration

• Monitoring & Feedback

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Full DevOps Flow by example ( Blog App )

We’ll use a simple use case: a blog app where users can register, write posts, and view content.

Each phase includes tools and responsibilities:

1️⃣ PLAN

• Goal: Define what to build and how to deliver.

• Activities:

  • Product team creates user stories

  • Designers share mockups

  • Sprint planning in Jira

• Tools: Jira, Figma, Confluence

2️⃣ DEVELOP

• Goal: Build the frontend and backend code.

• Activities:

  • React for frontend, Node.js for backend

  • Code pushed to GitHub

  • Feature branches & Pull Requests

• Tools: Git, GitHub, VS Code, Postman

3️⃣ BUILD

• Goal: Build and containerize the app

• Activities:

  • CI pipeline triggered on push

  • Run npm build & create Docker image

• Tools: Jenkins, GitHub Actions, Docker

4️⃣ TEST

• Goal: Verify functionality, catch bugs early

• Activities:

  • Run unit tests, integration tests

  • Code linting and analysis

• Tools: Jest, Cypress, ESLint, SonarQube

5️⃣ RELEASE

• Goal: Package the app and prepare for deployment

• Activities:

  • Push Docker image to registry

  • Tag release v1.0.0

• Tools: DockerHub, AWS ECR, Git Tags

6️⃣ DEPLOY

• Goal: Launch the app on infrastructure

• Activities:

  • Terraform provisions EC2, networking

  • Ansible installs Docker, Node, NGINX

  • Kubernetes (on EC2 or EKS) runs pods

  • Ingress routes traffic

• Tools: Terraform, Ansible, Kubernetes, NGINX Ingress

7️⃣ AUTO SCALING

• Goal: Handle more traffic with scale

• Activities:

  • HPA adds pods when CPU/memory spikes

  • Cluster Autoscaler adds EC2 nodes

• Tools: HPA, Cluster Autoscaler, AWS EC2, EKS

8️⃣ OPERATE

• Goal: Monitor app health & log activity

• Activities:

  • Track metrics and logs

  • Setup alerts for failures or high load

• Tools: Prometheus, Grafana, ELK, Alertmanager

9️⃣ FEEDBACK & IMPROVE

• Goal: Use real feedback to improve product

• Activities:

  • QA and user feedback → Jira

  • Start next sprint with improvements

• Tools: Jira, GitHub Issues, Slack

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Here are some architecture examples

AWS Architecture

AZURE Architecture

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Real-World Benefits of This Architecture

✅ Scalable deployments ✅ Quick rollback and testing ✅ Built-in monitoring and auto-healing ✅ Faster feature delivery

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DevOps Reference Architecture Summary

PLAN → DEVELOP → BUILD → TEST → RELEASE → DEPLOY → AUTO SCALE → OPERATE → FEEDBACK

Each stage connects with the next using automation and real-time feedback.

Here is the tools per stage

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🔗 Stay Tuned

I’ll be sharing more breakdowns of each step with YAML examples, CI/CD pipeline files, and real deployments.

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