Blue/Green is a deployment strategy that aims to minimise the downtime and risk associated with deploying new versions of an application. In a Blue/Green deployment, two identical environments – referred to as Blue and Green – are created. 

The Blue environment hosts the current production application version, whilst the Green environment runs the new version that you want to deploy. Both environments have identical infrastructure, configuration and resources. During deployment, traffic continues to be directed to the Blue environment. Once testing and validation are complete in the Green environment, live traffic is switched over, making Green the new production version. 

So, why would we want to automate this strategy?

Blue/Green automation is designed to not only minimise the manual effort required throughout the switch process, but also reduces the human error factor, and frees up resources. Environments can be automatically patched and smoke tested before the switch from Blue to Green is made. Let’s delve into an example.OS Patching and minor disaster recovery (DR) workflows produce a new stack of instances as their result product. When instances are prepared and operational, all necessary changes to their networking and infrastructure must be implemented to transition to the new stack and decommissioned from the outdated one. When performed manually, this becomes a lengthy, tedious and error-prone process. 

Changes in production that require any downtime usually require a change board’s (CAB) approval, with all modifications requiring careful management and communication. 

Switching stacks can be managed in a couple of ways. One of these ways being the manual replacement of stacks on the load balancer, which can be a complex task, fraught with the risk of human error.

Cloud Elemental’s automated method of switching stacks aims to bypass all of these worries.

By approaching this problem in a Cloud-native way, we have developed an innovative solution that automates the switching process, therefore minimising downtime and human intervention, whilst securing the workflow. When the business is ready to proceed and the CAB has approved all changes, the switch is triggered, and the rest of the process is automated. Blue/Green Automation takes care of all network changes and makes the seamless switch between the two environments. If used in conjunction with Cloud Elemental’s EC2 Automation solution, the entire process can be automatic, and the old stack can be cleaned up to reduce costs.

Automation of people & processes

New stack can be scanned for vulnerabilities before the switch is made

Ease of process reduces the business risks of patching

Cloud Elemental want to simplify your Cloud journey. For more information on how we can apply Blue/Green to your unique organisation, get in touch via email, LinkedIn, X, or Instagram, linked below.