Cloud Native Architecture

Featurevisor is agnostic of what CI/CD tool you use for your deployment, and also is not opinionated on how you store the generated datafiles making it a cloud native solution that you can customize as per your needs.

Before we dive into how Featurevisor leverages cloud native principles, let's first clarify what "cloud native" means.

What is Cloud Native?

Cloud native refers to a way of building and running applications that fully leverage the advantages of cloud computing. Instead of traditional methods, where software might be designed to run on a specific set of servers, cloud native applications are built to be flexible, scalable, and resilient.

They are designed to run in a cloud environment where resources can be easily added or removed as needed.

Key Benefits of Cloud Native

Scalability: Easily adjust to handle more users or data.
Flexibility: Run your services wherever you want — be it AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, or a private cloud.
Resilience: Built-in fault tolerance means less downtime.
Speed: Deploy updates and new features much more quickly.

Cloud Native in Featurevisor

Featurevisor is an open source project designed for managing feature flags, experiments, and remote configuration for your applications. It's built with a cloud native architecture, allowing it to seamlessly integrate with various cloud services.

In its simplest form, all it requires is a CI/CD pipeline and a CDN for hosting generated static JSON files.

How does it work?

Declarative configuration: Featurevisor allows users to define feature flags and their configuration in a straightforward, declarative manner. This means you specify what you want the system to do, not how to do it.
GitOps Workflow: In true cloud native fashion, Featurevisor adopts a GitOps approach. All changes are made via Pull Requests, reviewed, and then automatically deployed by a CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment) pipeline.
Unopinionated infrastructure: Featurevisor doesn’t tie you down to a specific cloud provider or service. Whether you're using GitHub, GitLab, Jenkins, or any CDN for static file hosting, Featurevisor is designed to work smoothly.
Static JSON datafiles: The configuration files, known as datafiles, are static JSON files. Every time a Pull Request is merged to the master branch, a new build is triggered, producing these datafiles. They are then deployed to a CDN (Content Delivery Network), ensuring fast and reliable delivery.

What Does This Mean for You?

Flexibility: You're not locked into a specific tech stack. Choose the Git provider, CI/CD tool, and CDN that best suit your needs.
Transparency: Every change goes through a Pull Request, making it easier to track who made what change and why.
Speed: Thanks to the CI/CD pipeline, changes can be deployed quickly and automatically.

Conclusion

Cloud native is more than just a buzzword; it’s a powerful approach to building robust, scalable, and flexible software. Featurevisor embodies these principles by offering an open-source, cloud native solution for managing feature flags. Whether you're a developer, either focused on product engineering or DevOps, or a product manager, Featurevisor provides a streamlined, efficient way to manage your software's features while reaping the benefits of cloud native architecture.