Differences Between GitOps and Traditional CI/CD

The manner in which Traditional CI/CD (Continuous Integration / Continuous Deployment) works is detailed below:

• CI (Continuous Integration): Developers push changes to code. This alters the use of tests, builds, and automation within a system.

• CD (Continuous Deployment/Delivery): Code is deployed after the system passes the tests through the use of automatic systems (e.g., Jenkins, GitLab CI, or CircleCI).

It is also worth mentioning that the pipelines are controlled by a set of commands. These commands specify the necessary steps to complete the task in sequence.

GitOps is Deployment as a Service (DaaS) with Git as the single source of truth. 

The procedure is as follows:

• Git has the state of the system as it should be (combination of application and infrastructure configurations)

• Commits are made and your deployment is taken care of.

• Operators like ArgoCD or Flux are looking into the repo and changes are taken automatically.

Traditional CI/CD vs. GitOps

• Method

  • Traditional CI/CD: Inline (manual)
  • GitOps: Environment (Git-powered)

• Where Do You Keep It

  • Traditional CI/CD: CI/CD pipelines
  • GitOps: Git repository

• Who Can Do It

  • Traditional CI/CD: Push-based (CI/CD tools push changes)
  • GitOps: Pull-based (GitOps tools sync changes)

• Reversal of Events Due to Failure

  • Traditional CI/CD: Manual intervention needed
  • GitOps: Through the Git history snapshot

• Security

  • Traditional CI/CD: Pipeline’s secrets
  • GitOps: Git-controlled secret management (more secure)

• Best for

  • Traditional CI/CD: Any deployment model
  • GitOps: Kubernetes & Cloud-native environments

• Automated Infrastructure and Operations Scaling

  • GitOps serves as a sole provider for all aspects of a system, eliminating guesswork in deployment and improving automation.
  • Traditional CI/CD relies heavily on user-performed actions or imperative scripts, making it less reliable.

• Version Goals & Track and Traceability

  • In GitOps, every change is recorded as a Git entry, simplifying restoration of earlier states and audits.
  • Standard CI/CD processes lack built-in tracking for each change.

• Increased Dependability & Consistency

  • GitOps ensures the system state always reflects the desired configuration stored in Git.
  • Standard CI/CD systems can deviate due to ad-hoc changes.

• Enhanced Security and Access Regulation

  • GitOps reduces the need to modify production environments manually, lowering security risks.
  • Traditional CI/CD often grants unrestricted access to production, increasing the chances of human error.

• Quicker Recovery and State Reversal

  • GitOps allows easy reversion to previous states using Git commits.
  • Traditional CI/CD requires complex rollback scripts.

• Straightforward and Self-Service

  • Developers can submit pull requests for changes, streamlining the GitOps process.
  • Traditional CI/CD systems often require additional approvals outside of Git, making the process cumbersome.4o

Use Traditional CI/CD if:

• Your business relies on both new and old applications.
• You do not have your infrastructure on top of Kubernetes.
• You like having total control and prefer push-based deployments.

Use GitOps if:

• You are deploying to Kubernetes.
• You want more control when rolling back.
• You consider your IT service architecture as DevSecOps or cloud native.

GitOps increases performance in Kubernetes environments, but when dealing with non-Kubernetes infrastructure, traditional CI/CD gets the job done perfectly. Always remember to tailor your choice to your project's expectations!

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