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Leopards, with their majestic presence and elusive nature, have long captivated our imagination. From the pages of Rudyard Kipling’s “The Jungle Book” to real-life encounters, these magnificent predators have left an indelible mark on our minds. As we commemorate International Leopard Day, let us take a moment to appreciate these fascinating creatures and reflect on the challenges they face in our rapidly changing world. One of the most famous leopards in literature is Bagheera, the black leopard from “The Jungle Book,” who played a pivotal role in saving the young Mowgli from the clutches of Sher Khan, the tiger.While Bagheera’s story is a work of fiction, the real-world plight of leopards is no less dramatic. Today, leopards are facing increasing threats due to habitat loss,human-wildlife conflict, and illegal poaching. In India, leopards are known by various names such as Guldar, Bibat, and Tendua, reflecting their widespread presence across the country. With their remarkable agility and camouflage abilities, leopards have adapted to a diverse range of habitats, from dense forests to urban areas.However,their proximity to human settlements has led to a rise in conflict incidents, posing challenges for conservationists and local communities alike. According to the latest estimates from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and Wildlife Institute of India (WII), the leopard population in India stood at approximately 13,874 individuals in 2022. While this may seem like a substantial number, the increasing instances of human-leopard conflict highlight the urgent need for effective mitigation measures. In recent years, news reports have highlighted the alarming trend of leopards straying into urban areas, causing panic among residents and posing risks to human safety. The reasons behind this phenomenon are complex and multifaceted, with factors such as habitat encroachment, prey availability, and human activities playing a role. To address the challenges posed by human-leopard conflict, innovative solutions are needed. One such initiative is the Human Animal Conflict Mitigation System (HACMS) developed by Valiance Solutions.This cutting-edge system leverages technology to provide real-time alerts to forest officers and communities when leopards are sighted in their vicinity. By raising awareness and facilitating timely responses, HACMS aims to promote coexistence between humans and wildlife while minimizing the risks of conflict. On International Leopard Day, let us reaffirm our commitment to protecting these magnificent animals and their habitats. Through collaborative efforts, innovative solutions, and a shared sense of responsibility, we can ensure that leopards continue to roam free in the wild, enriching our natural heritage for generations to come.

In the heart of India’s lush wilderness, home to over 75% of the world’s tiger population, a technological revolution is reshaping the landscape of wildlife conservation. While India boasts an impressive 106 national parks spanning over 44,402.95 km², and 54 tiger reserves, traditionally, monitoring this vast area has been a Herculean task involving trap cameras that automatically capture images of animals as they pass by. These images are stored in SD cards of the camera which are removable and have limited capacity How Its Done Forest guards manually collect these cards and sort countless images to analyze animal populations—a process fraught with challenges: Challenges in Traditional Wildlife Monitoring The traditional system, however, is fraught with challenges: Species Classification and Identification: Manually sorting and classifying thousands of animal images stored on hard disks is time-consuming and prone to errors. Unique Identification of Tigers: The process of matching tiger stripe patterns to identify individuals is extremely labour-intensive, taking up to 10 minutes per image. Data Storage and Accessibility: Using physical hard disks limits data accessibility and increases the risk of data loss with no backups, not to mention the issues of security and maintenance. Manual Processing: The extensive manual intervention required throughout the data handling process is inefficient and slows down the conservation efforts significantly. Wildlife Data Management and Species Classification Platform To address these inefficiencies, Valiance has introduced a cutting-edge Wildlife Data Management and Species Classification Platform. This innovative platform harnesses the power of cloud computing and machine learning to transform how wildlife data is managed and analyzed. Here are the key features and benefits of the platform: 1. Automated and Secure Classification Instant, automated categorization of images upon upload reduces human error and speeds up data processing, all while ensuring data is encrypted and securely stored in the cloud. The categorization is done in separate folders so that it becomes easy for the users to locate the images of a particular species. 2. Identification of Unique Tiger The platform utilizes advanced proprietary algorithms to quickly identify individual tigers from images, vastly reducing the time and effort required compared to manual methods. The identification happens with a click of a button. 3. Robust Data Security By storing data on the cloud, the platform ensures enhanced security protocols such as end-to-end encryption, regular backups, and multi-factor authentication to safeguard sensitive information against unauthorized access and data breaches. The Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT) conducted by an external agency VAPT further helps to make the application, cloud, and data secure. 4. Tracking and Geolocation Secure tracking of tiger and elephant movements through encrypted data from camera locations and timestamps aids in detailed and protected mapping of their territories. This helps in understanding the movement and possible conflict zones. 5. Find a Tiger This feature enables the user to identify a tiger from a user-uploaded separate photograph. The feature provides the probabilities of matching with the already uploaded repository data. 6. Comprehensive Risk and Density Analysis The platform provides secure predictions of attack risks and animal density,facilitating better and more secure wildlife management decisions. The attack risks from the carnivores can be identified by checking the canine teeth through available pictures and the herbivore density can be calculated by checking the number of herbivores in that particular area. This interpretation would help us understand that the carnivores have sufficient herbivores to feed upon otherwise there may be a tendency for the carnivore to move for food which might entertain a conflict situation. 7. Efficiency and Timesaving The classification of animal exercise requires much less time than the conventional manual approach. Uploading and classifying 1 Lakh images of nearly 1-1.5 MB takes nearly 24 Hours. Similarly, the automatic identification of a unique tiger exercise with the help of our machine learning algorithm takes much less time than the manual identification process with higher accuracy. 8. Enhanced Visualization Users can access maps showing the geofence of tiger reserves, camera locations,and animal density, along with detailed lists of image data. This helps the user to ascertain greater visibility of the carnivores and herbivores along with their density. 9. Scalability and Data Integrity: The cloud-based solution offers scalable storage solutions and ensures data integrity, backed by stringent security standards. This enables the user to upload any amount of data without thinking about the space available on the hard disk. All the uploaded data in one place provides better analytics. 10. Secure Dashboard and Automated Reporting: With secure access to a comprehensive dashboard, stakeholders can receive automated reports detailing classified images, species counts, and other critical data, all generated through secure, automated processes. Valiance’s platform transcends traditional wildlife management by harnessing the power of technology to revolutionize conservation efforts. This innovative approach not only streamlines the process of data management but significantly enhances the decision- making capabilities of forest officials. By shifting from outdated manual methods to advanced cloud computing and machine learning, the platform ensures the integrity and accessibility of vital data, enabling a more efficient and secure management of India’s rich biodiversity. By adopting this comprehensive and innovative approach, we not only protect iconic species like the tiger but also the entire ecosystem that sustains them. Valiance’s platform is pivotal in ensuring that wildlife management is proactive, predictive, and precise, securing a thriving future for biodiversity on a global scale. With each step forward in this technological evolution, we’re not just preserving the present; we are laying the groundwork for a vibrant, sustainable world for generations to come.!

Living harmoniously has long been a hallmark of Indian civilization. In the realms of lore and antiquity, beasts were revered as divine entities and served as allies to monarchs in safeguarding their realms. Lately, confrontations between humans and wildlife have escalated, propelled by dwindling habitats or, conversely, due to a burgeoning in populations of species such as tigers—a development that, paradoxically, fills us with pride. This uptick in conflicts between humans and animals casts a shadow over the age-old principle of peaceful cohabitation. In response to these challenges, the advent of technology has introduced solutions aimed at fostering peaceful coexistence, notably through the Human-Animal Conflict Mitigation System (HACMS). HACMS is bifurcated into hardware and software components, with our focus being on the hardware aspect of the system. The installation of HACMS hardware is a methodical process that begins with the careful selection of a site and concludes with the strategic installation of camera-equipped poles, reinforced with barbed wire and protective coatings to ensure longevity Herein, we outline the steps involved in the hardware setup process. 1. Identification of Site: Analysing Previous Data: Data obtained from camera traps installed in the area provide valuable insights into wildlife movements and areas prone to human wildlife conflicts. Patterns of wildlife behaviour and frequent conflict zones are identified through this analysis. Consideration of Environmental Factors: Factors such as the availability of mobile communication networks are essential for real time monitoring and communication. Additionally, ensuring full coverage of sunlight for solar panel charging is critical for the uninterrupted operation of the system. 2. Excavation of Pits: Dimensional Requirements: Pits are excavated to specific dimensions to ensure stability and proper anchoring of the poles. The depth of 3 feet provides sufficient depth for the pole’s foundation, while dimensions of 2 feet by 2 feet allow for adequate space for concrete filling and stability. Figure 2: Excavated pit 3. Erection of Pole: Selection of Materials: Galvanized iron (GI) poles are chosen for their durability and resistance to corrosion, making them suitable for outdoor installations. The thickness of 5mm ensures the strength needed to support the various components of the HACMS. While for the places where elephant is existing concrete poles are advised. The poles are fixed with concrete. Height Consideration: Poles are erected to a height of 12 feet above ground level to provide an elevated position for mounting cameras and other accessories, offering a broader perspective for monitoring wildlife activities. For elephant corridors concrete poles of height 20 feet above ground are advised. Figure 3: Mounted Pole 4. Mounting of Solar Panels: Fabricated Stand Design: Fabricated stands are custom-designed to securely hold the solar panels in place atop the poles. These stands are engineered to withstand wind loads and ensure the optimal angle for solar exposure. Wiring and Connection: Proper wiring and connection of solar panels to the power and connectivity box ensure efficient energy transfer and charging of batteries, even in remote areas with limited access to electricity. 5. Mounting of SMART Camera and Accessories: Strategic Positioning: SMART cameras are strategically mounted on an angle to provide optimal coverage of the monitored area. The angle and height are carefully determined to capture clear images and videos of wildlife activities. Integration of LED Lights and Hooters: LED lights and hooters are integrated into the system. The hooters provide auditory alerts when wildlife is detected. This notifies nearby communities of potential conflicts. 6. Battery and Inverter UPS Mounting: Stand Fabrication: Stands are fabricated to securely hold the batteries and inverter UPS systems at a height of 8 feet from the ground. This elevation helps protect the components from potential damage caused by wildlife or environmental factors. Wiring and Integration: Proper wiring and integration of batteries and inverter UPS systems ensure seamless operation and backup power supply during periods of low sunlight or inclement weather. Figure 4: Pole with Solar panel Fabrication, camera and accessories mounted 7. Securing the Pole with Barbed Wire: Deterrence against Tampering: Wrapping barbed wire around the poles provides an additional layer of security, deterring unauthorized access and vandalism. This helps safeguard the integrity of the HACMS hardware and ensures uninterrupted monitoring of wildlife activities. Figure 5: Pole secured with barbed wire 8. Painting: Protective Coating: Poles and other fabricated parts are painted with weather-resistant coatings to protect against corrosion, UV damage, and harsh environmental conditions. Proper surface preparation and application techniques ensure long-lasting protection and aesthetic appeal. The installation phase necessitates the use of a tractor, a critical asset given the challenging terrain and conditions encountered in forested areas. Tractors, equipped with their robust load-bearing capabilities, emerge as the sole viable means of transportation, contingent upon the expertise of a skilled driver. Such a driver possesses the finesse required to navigate the demanding and treacherous terrain effectively. Given the inherently unforgiving nature of forest landscapes, ensuring safety during the installation process is paramount. This necessitates conducting operations under the vigilant supervision of forest officials and alongside a cohesive team. Adhering to these precautions ensures the well-being of all involved while facilitating the smooth progression of installation activities. In the face of escalating human-animal conflicts, the implementation of the Human-Animal Conflict Mitigation System (HACMS) offers a beacon of hope for restoring the ancient Indian ethos of harmonious coexistence between humans and wildlife. This article has meticulously outlined the comprehensive process involved in the hardware installation of HACMS, emphasizing its potential to significantly reduce confrontations through strategic monitoring and early warning systems. From site identification to the final protective measures, each step underscores a blend of technological innovation and practical wisdom, aiming to safeguard both human and animal lives. As we advance, the fusion of such technologies with traditional knowledge could herald a new era of conflict mitigation, ensuring the safety and prosperity of all beings sharing our planet. The journey towards peaceful coexistence is complex and fraught with challenges, yet, with each successful HACMS installation, we move closer to a future where humans and animals can thrive together, respecting the delicate balance of

In the fast-paced world of technology, you may have heard the buzz around Kubernetes. But what exactly is it, and why are major tech players making the shift towards it? If these questions have sparked your curiosity, you’re in the right place. This blog aims to unravel the mystery behind Kubernetes in plain and simple language, making it accessible to anyone, regardless of their technical background. Think of Kubernetes as a conductor directing a digital landscape symphony of apps and services. Giants like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon are interested in this potent instrument, but why? What makes Kubernetes so exciting in the tech community? We’ll begin our adventure by delving into the “why.” What are the advantages of Kubernetes that these IT giants are embracing? We’ll get to the “what” after we’ve understood the why. In plain English, what is Kubernetes, without getting bogged down in technical details? Lastly, we will conclude with the “how.” How can Kubernetes be implemented on a real cluster while gradually demystifying the process? Join us as we explore the world of Kubernetes, whether you’re a tech enthusiast, an inquisitive learner, or someone simply trying to understand the major changes occurring in the digital world. By the time you finish, you’ll understand not only why the biggest IT companies are moving, but also how Kubernetes works and how you can use it in your own virtual playground. Let’s dive in! The Why Way Two architectural philosophies have gained influence in the rapidly changing field of technology: the conventional monolithic model and the contemporary microservices design. Large software companies have been moving towards microservices lately, and Kubernetes, a potent orchestration technology, is at the center of this movement. What are Microservices & Monolithic Models? Microservices: A Symphony of Independence With a microservices architecture, a large, complicated program is divided up into smaller, autonomous services. Every service runs independently and communicates with other services via specified APIs. This facilitates easier maintenance, scalability, and adaptability. Monolithic: The Unified Behemoth Conversely, monolithic architecture consists of a single, closely-knit structure with all of its parts connected. Although these applications are easier to scale and change at first, as they get larger, they can become more difficult to handle. Why the Shift to Microservices? Agility and Flexibility: Microservices allow quick changes and feature additions without affecting the entire system. Scalability: Microservices ensure efficient resource usage by simplifying the scalability of only the necessary components. Fault Isolation: In microservices, if one service fails, it doesn’t bring down the entire application. This ensures higher reliability. How Microservices are related to Kubernetes? Similar to a traffic controller for microservices is Kubernetes. It makes sure containerized apps function smoothly across a cluster of servers by orchestrating their deployment, scaling, and management. Handling Microservices with Kubernetes Automation: By automating repetitive processes, Kubernetes facilitates the management and scalability of microservices. Load balancing: It keeps a single microservice from becoming overloaded by distributing traffic among microservices equally. Self-Healing: Kubernetes detects and replaces failed microservices, ensuring continuous availability. Kubernetes as the Standard Portability: Applications become more portable while using Kubernetes since it offers a uniform environment across many infrastructures. Community Support: A sizable and vibrant community guarantees frequent updates, assistance, and abundant user-generated content. Cost-Efficiency: Kubernetes optimizes resource utilization, which is cost-effective for any organization. Real-Life Example: Kubernetes has emerged as the standard for deploying and managing containerized applications. Most organizations are now implementing it. Netflix is one of the companies that has successfully adopted Kubernetes to efficiently manage and orchestrate containerized apps, enhancing its streaming capabilities. Here’s a quick illustration: Use Case: Scalability and Content Delivery Netflix uses Kubernetes to scale its infrastructure for content delivery dynamically in response to demand. Kubernetes automatically scales up the necessary microservices and containers to manage the increased load during periods of high viewership. This optimizes resource utilization and cost-effectiveness by scaling down the system during times of reduced demand and ensuring flawless streaming experiences for customers during peak times. Essentially, Kubernetes automates the deployment, scaling, and maintenance of Netflix’s containerized apps, allowing the streaming giant to continue providing a responsive and dependable service. Solving Real Problems The issue of effectively scaling and managing containerized apps is resolved by Kubernetes. Because of its capacity to automate operations, scalability, and deployment, it is a vital tool for tech companies, ensuring that their applications function flawlessly in the rapidly evolving digital ecosystem of today. In conclusion, the adoption of Kubernetes by tech heavyweights and the move towards microservices highlight a shared endeavor to embrace scalability, agility, and reliability. The partnership between Kubernetes and microservices will probably continue to be a major force behind efficiency and innovation in the digital space as technology develops. The What Universe Consider yourself the captain of a ship navigating the enormous and ever-changing digital application sea. Let me now present you to Kubernetes, your trustworthy first mate who will steer your ship through the constantly shifting currents of the virtual ocean. But first, what is Kubernetes, and how can it make the complicated world of application management easier to understand? But let’s keep things basic first before we get too technical. Consider Kubernetes as a digital traffic controller, making sure every application has the resources it needs to run smoothly and without creating bottlenecks. It has to do with preserving peace in the fast-paced world of digital operations. In this segment, we will dissect Kubernetes, investigating its essential elements and comprehending how it functions to streamline the deployment and administration of applications. So grab a seat, and join us as we explore the fundamentals of Kubernetes, your reliable first mate in the vast world of digital possibilities. Understanding the Basics What is Kubernetes? Kubernetes is an open-source container orchestration platform that automates the deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications. Imagine it as the conductor of a containerized orchestra, ensuring each component plays its part harmoniously. Understanding Kubernetes’ role is the first step in grasping its significance. Kubernetes Architecture Several essential parts of Kubernetes work together to support

In the era of big data, data lakes have become central to data storage and analysis strategies. However, as the volume of data grows exponentially, so does the cost associated with maintaining these vast reservoirs of information. This blog post aims to demystify the strategies for optimizin costs in data lake architectures, ensuring efficient use of resources without compromising on performance. Understanding the Cost Components of a Data Lake Storage Costs: Data lakes primarily incur costs through data storage. Effective cost management starts with understanding the types of datastored and their access patterns. For frequently accessed data, high-performance storage solutions are essential, whereas infrequently accessed data can be stored in more cost-effective solutions. Processing Costs: Data processing, particularly ETL operations, can be a significant cost driver in data lakes. Efficient processing strategies, suchas streamlining ETL pipelines and using cost-effective compute resources, are crucial. Management and Operational Costs: Overheads for managing a data lake include administration, monitoring, and ensuring security. These oftenoverlooked aspects can balloon costs if not managed judiciously. Optimizing Storage Costs In the vast digital expanse of data lakes, the optimization of storage costs stands paramount. Storage costs can quickly spiral if not carefully managed, considering the sheer volume of data that enterprises are now handling. Two primary strategies to control these costs are selecting the right storage solutions and leveraging data compression and format optimization. Choosing the Right Cloud Storage Options and Pricing Models Amazon S3: AWS S3 provides a range of storage classes designed for different use cases: S3 Standard for frequently accessed data, S3 Intelligent-Tiering for varying access patterns, S3 Standard-IA (Infrequent Access) for less frequently accessed data, and S3 Glacier for long-term archival. Each class is priced differently, with costs varying based on data access frequency, retrieval times, and resilience. Azure Blob Storage: Azure offers similar tiered storage solutions: Hot for data that’s accessed often, Cool for infrequently accessed data, and Archive for rarely accessed data. Azure also charges for operations and data transfer, which must be factored into the cost. Google Cloud Storage: Google Cloud’s storage classes include Standard, Nearline, Coldline, and Archive, each optimized for different access patterns and long-term storage requirements. Google also employs a pay-per-use model, which includes costs for operations and data egress. Strategic Use of Cloud Storage Features Lifecycle Policies: All cloud providers allow you to implement lifecycle policies that automatically transition data to cheaper storage classes based on age or access patterns. Data Lake Storage Integration: Integrate your data lake with the cloud-native storage solutions that offer hierarchical namespace capabilities, which can simplify management and can reduce costs by eliminating the need for separate data silos. Data Compression Compression Algorithms: Utilize built-in compression algorithms like GZIP, BZIP2, or LZ4 to reduce the size of stored data. Cloud providers often support these algorithms natively within their storage services. Impact on Costs: Compressed data takes up less storage space, reducing costs. Additionally, transferring compressed data across networks can also reduce network costs, which is particularly relevant when using cloud services. Data Format Optimization Columnar Storage Formats: Formats like Parquet and ORC organize data by columns rather than rows, which is highly efficient for analytical queries that only access a subset of columns. This can lead to substantial reductions in storage requirements and costs. Performance Benefits: These formats not only reduce storage space but also improve performance for read-intensive workloads. They are optimized for batch processing and are typically the preferred choice for big data applications. Enhanced Data Retrieval Speed: By enabling more efficient data compression and encoding schemes, columnar formats like Parquet and ORC reduce I/O operations, which can enhance data retrieval speeds and reduce compute costs during analytics. Integrating Compression and Format Optimization Automated Conversion Tools: Use tools and services that automatically convert data into these efficient formats during the ETL process. Query Performance Consideration: When choosing a format, consider the type of queries that will be run against your data. Columnar formats can significantly speed up queries that access only a small fraction of the data. Effective Data Management for Cost Reduction Managing the cost of a data lake is not just about cutting expenses but optimizing the entire lifecycle of data. By instituting a strategic approach to data lifecycle management and employing intelligent data tiering and archiving strategies, organizations can significantly reduce their data storage and processing costs. Data Lifecycle Management Ingestion: At this stage, it’s important to determine the value and expected longevity of data. Not all data needs to be ingested into the most expensive, high-performance storage. Some can go directly to cheaper, slower storage if it’s not needed immediately. Processing: Cost savings can be found by processing data in ways that require less compute time. For example, filter and process data as close to the source as possible to reduce the volume that needs to be moved and handled downstream. Storage: Regularly assess the data’s value. As data becomes less relevant over time, move it to progressively cheaper storage options. Archival/Deletion: Ultimately, data that no longer serves a useful purpose should be archived or deleted to avoid incurring unnecessary costs. Lifecycle Management Tools Automated Lifecycle Policies: Use automated policies available within cloud storage services to manage the transition of data through its lifecycle stages. Data Cataloging: Implement a data catalog to track metadata about the data, including its lifecycle stage, to make automated management easier and more effective. Data Tiering Principles Performance vs. Cost: Analyze the access patterns of data to determine the most cost-effective storage tier. “Hot” data that’s accessed frequently should be on faster, more accessible (and typically more expensive) storage. “Cold” data that’s accessed infrequently can be moved to slower, cheaper storage. Automated Tiering: Cloud services often offer automated tiering, which can dynamically move data to the appropriate storage tier based on predefined policies. Archiving and Deletion Archiving: When data is no longer actively used but must be retained for regulatory or historical reasons, archiving moves data to the least expensive storage available. Policy-Based Deletion: For data that can be

Is SOA still relevant in today’s world of microservices and cloud-native architectures? Yes, it is a resounding yes! Despite the emergence of newer approaches, SOA remains a fundamental principle for developing loosely coupled, interoperable systems. This blog will look at how SOA can coexist with and complement these modern trends, allowing you to create the best architecture for your needs. Tech architectures come in a variety of flavors, each serving a specific purpose and meeting a different set of requirements. Let’s divide the landscape into two major categories to help you navigate it: 1.Architecture Levels: These define the architecture’s scope and focus: Enterprise Architecture (EA): The big picture, encompassing all of an organization’s information technology systems, from core applications to data architecture and integration strategies. Consider it a blueprint for the entire IT landscape. Solution Architecture (SA): Is concerned with designing specific solutions within the EA to meet the needs of individual applications, systems, or components. It delves deeper into the “how” of specific functionalities within the context of the overall picture. Architecture of Technology (TA): The nuts and bolts, detailing the specific technologies, platforms, and frameworks used to build and deploy the higher-level applications and systems. You’ll come across programming languages, databases, and cloud platforms here. 2.Architectural Styles: These are the patterns and structures that are used to organize components within an architecture: Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA): This popular design is based on independent services communicating loosely via standardized interfaces. Consider it modular units that connect like Lego blocks. Microservices Architecture: Microservices, a more granular approach than SOA, divide systems into smaller, self-contained services that can be developed, deployed, and scaled independently. Instead of one large department store, imagine a collection of small, specialized shops working together. Monolithic Architecture: The traditional “all-in-one” approach in which a single application contains all functionalities. Consider it a self-contained structure with everything under one roof. Client Server Architecture: A two-tiered model in which a dedicated server delivers resources and services to thin clients (typically desktops or mobile devices). Consider a waiter taking customers’ orders and bringing them food from the kitchen. Event-Driven Architecture (EDA): Instead of being driven by a predefined sequence, applications react to events. Consider it similar to a newsfeed in which you react to what appears rather than following a predetermined script. In this blog, we’ll focus mainly on SOA, so let’s start our journey together SOA is a software design style that emphasizes the creation of applications as a collection of loosely coupled services. These services are self-contained functional units that provide well-defined business capabilities and can be accessed and consumed by other applications via a standard set of standards and protocols.Here’s a rundown of the key SOA concepts: Services: Independent functional units that carry out specific tasks. Interfaces are well-defined and encapsulated. Other applications can access and consume it over a network. Loose Coupling: Services are self-contained and do not require knowledge of the internal workings of other services. This increases the flexibility and ease of maintenance of applications. Standards and Protocols: Common standards and protocols, such as SOAP, REST, and XML, are used by services to communicate with one another. As a result, services can be used with a variety of platforms and technologies. To help you understand SOA, consider the following analogy: Consider a restaurant to be a SOA application. The kitchen is a food preparation service. The waitstaff are customers who order food from the kitchen. The kitchen does not need to know who the wait staff is or what they will do with the food. It only needs to provide the food requested by the waitstaff. Similarly, SOA services do not need to know who their customers are or what they intend to do with the data they provide. They only need to provide the information that their clients require. SOA Benefits: Flexibility: SOA applications are more adaptable to changing business requirements. Agility: New services can be quickly and easily added to existing applications. Scalability: To meet demand, SOA applications can be easily scaled up or down. Reusability: Services can be reused in multiple applications, which reduces development time and costs. Here are some key scenarios where SOA is a particularly advantageous approach: 1. Heterogeneous System Integration: When it comes to connecting disparate systems, technologies, and platforms that weren’t designed to work together seamlessly, SOA shines. It enables services to interact regardless of their underlying implementation by providing a common communication layer and standards-based interfaces. Example : Integrating a legacy mainframe system with a modern web application or connecting systems across departments or business units. 2. Implementing Reusable Functionality: SOA promotes the creation of self-contained, modular services that can be reused across multiple applications and projects. This reduces development time and costs while also encouraging consistency and standardization within IT systems. Example : Creating a common authentication service used by multiple applications, or a customer data service shared across multiple business processes. Example of SOA : Above diagram shows different layers of SOA.. Mobile & Web Application This layer contains the mobile and web applications. This is the layer from which the consumer or user interacts with our system. Integration Layer The integration layer also known as Enterprise Service Bus(ESB) is the major component of Service Oriented Architecture(SOA). It serves as the hub of communication between different services of application. The concept of Service Mesh or API Gateway also falls under the Integration layer. The primary purpose of using integration layer is to abstract our service layer from consumer reach. In this way we can decouple our services within our system and make our application more robust. Key Responsibilities of the Integration Layer: Service Routing and Mediation: The integration layer serves as a traffic controller, directing incoming requests to the correct service provider. It routes traffic based on a variety of factors, including service capabilities, message types, and security credentials. Protocol Translation and Transformation: The integration layer serves as a link between services that use different protocols or data formats. It converts messages into

Visualizing Data is a delightful process. You collaborate with stakeholders, collect data and create insightful dashboards to help make data driven decisions. Though you enjoy the process, it can also be hectic especially when deadlines are tight. I’ve been there more times than I can count, spending sleepless nights creating dashboards to make it in time. One day, I slept while creating a dashboard and had a dream. In the dream, there was a tool that could generate amazing, informative dashboards within seconds when you ask a question. Few months later, Amazon announced a new feature to the QuickSight Q tool, which worked exactly like my dream. In this blog, I am  going to discuss QuickSight Q, learn to use it to create amazing dashboards for your business. What is Amazon QuickSight Q? In 2015, AWS introduced QuickSight tool, which is a cloud based business intelligence (BI) service to create and share interactive dashboards and reports. In 2020, the Q feature was announced to QuickSight which is a natural language query tool that works like a companion to QuickSight. Q uses machine learning to read the data uploaded and identify patterns and trends that would be difficult to identify manually and turn business questions (NLQs) to visualizations. For example, if you type a question saying – “how much did company x grow in this year?”, QuickSight will provide you with an answer in a visualization format. Why Amazon QuickSight Q? Amazon QuickSight Q emerges as a valuable asset for businesses, offering accessibility, time efficiency, accuracy, and enhanced collaboration. Its strength lies in democratizing data access, enabling users to inquire about their data using plain language, which is particularly beneficial for those without a technical background. By eliminating the need for intricate queries and dashboard building, QuickSight Q saves time, allowing users to concentrate on data analysis and decision-making. The integration of advanced machine learning algorithms enhances accuracy, providing precise answers and minimizing errors. Moreover, QuickSight Q fosters collaboration by simplifying the sharing of insights through generated links to visualizations, promoting teamwork and informed decision-making across teams. Major Sections in AWS QuickSight tool: 1. Datasets: Datasets serve as foundational input for creating Analyses and Dashboards. QuickSight supports a wide range of datasets including Amazon sources such as Athena, Aurora, OpenSearch Service, Redshift, Redshift Spectrum, S3, AWS IOT analytics and Apache spark, MS SQL Server, Databricks, Flat files and more.. In QuickSight, data modeling is done at the dataset level. This means that each dataset can contain data only from a single table. However, we can join multiple tables together to create a single dataset. 2. Topics: A Topic is a collection of data sets representing a particular subject area such as Media, Sales, Marketing, Customer Support etc… on which the Natural Language questions can be asked. Users can build new topics or use the available sample topics based on the requirement. 3. Analyses: Analysis is like a playground where we create all the required visualizations to craft a dashboard. To create an Analysis in QuickSight, we must have a Dataset and a Topic. 4. Dashboards: Dashboard is the final craft where we can explore and analyze our data. An interactive Dashboard is created when an Analysis is published. Note: The main difference between Analyses and Dashboards is that developers work on the “Analyses” section, while end-users consume the final product in the form of a “Dashboard.” Step-by-Step Procedure for Creating a Dashboard in QuickSight Step 1: Importing a new Dataset Login and navigate  to the QuickSight tool Home Page. Go to the Datasets section, you can see the Sample datasets there. Click on New Dataset on the top, Select the Dataset type. Navigate and Select the required dataset into QuickSight. Use QuickSight Data editor to clean and prepare the data if needed. The newly imported dataset will appear in the Datasets section along with the existing Sample datasets. Step 2: Setting up a Topic related to the Subject Go to Topics Section and Click on Create new Topic button Enter Name and Description of the Topic and assign the Dataset to the Topic. Under the Data Section of the Topic, We can review and edit the Data Fields like excluding the data fields, adding synonyms, semantic type of data. Once Data reviews are done, we can train the Q by asking the questions (prompts) related to the data and check whether it is giving the accurate visuals. If the generated visuals are accurate, we can mark them as reviewed. If the generated visuals are not appropriate, we need to modify the prompts in a better way. Note: While Asking the questions, it is very important to use effective and relevant prompts to get the desired results. Step 3: Create new Analysis. Go to Analysis , click on ‘New Analysis’. Select the Dataset, click on Use in Analysis. Select the sheet layout for dashboard size and click on create. Enable Topic to the analysis and Assign the Topic. Ask relevant questions and get desired visuals. Align and format the visuals to create a perfect Analysis. Click on Share button on the top, publish the Dashboard with a name. Step 4: Publish the analysis as a Dashboard. Published Analysis will appear in the Dashboards Section. Click on the Dashboard to view all the insights generated from the data. Dashboards can be shared with users and user groups. Sample Dashboard: Airline Passenger Satisfaction Dashboard Created using QuickSight Q is shown below: Video Here’s a video to take you through the step-by-step process of creating a dashboard using QuickSight Q feature – Link Challenges Limited Data Modeling Capabilities: QuickSight makes it difficult to create relationships between datasets which makes it hard to handle complex data models and advanced data analytics. Absence of Dimension Hierarchies: QuickSight doesn’t allow users to create hierarchies in dimensions which makes it difficult to analyze visualizations such as Tree maps, Waterfall charts limiting the data to desired depth and granularity. Limited Visualizations Customization: QuickSight allows a wide range of in-built

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has been a game-changer in the IT industry, revolutionizing the way we work. From humble beginnings with a small EC2 instance, AWS has evolved to offer powerful solutions like AWS IoT Greengrass for building IoT solutions. Throughout this incredible journey, AWS has consistently been the best friend of Computer Science Engineers, offering Elastic Beanstalk Servers, RDS, DynamoDB, Sagemaker for ML Engineers, and Glue, Glue Crawlers, Athena for Data Engineers. And now, AWS is here to support frontend developers too, with the amazing AWS Amplify—a one-step solution for deploying and hosting your frontend applications. Traditional Approach vs. AWS Amplify: A Refreshing Change Previously, when a frontend developer wanted to release their application on AWS, they had to go through a series of steps. For example, let’s consider the process of releasing a React project: Step 1: Create the project build. Step 2: Push the build code to S3. Step 3: Set up static web hosting in the S3 bucket and configure AWS bucket policies. Step 4: Configure a CloudFront Distribution. And if DNS mapping was required, one would need to worry about setting up aliases in Route53. Clearly, the process of setting up a frontend application on AWS involved numerous steps. But that’s not all—every time changes were made, developers had to rebuild the project and push the new build to S3. Now, enter AWS Amplify—a breath of fresh air for frontend developers. Simplifying Deployment with AWS Amplify Deploying with AWS Amplify is a breeze compared to the traditional approach of setting up S3 buckets and CloudFront Distributions. AWS Amplify acts as a convenient wrapper for S3 and CloudFront. With this powerful tool, all you need to do is push your code to GitHub branches, and it automatically syncs across different environments such as staging and production. The AWS Amplify console allows you to effortlessly manage these environments. Here’s how you can set up your project using AWS Amplify: Open your AWS account and navigate to the AWS Amplify service. Click on “Getting started with Amplify hosting.” Connect your version control tool (e.g., GitHub) from the provided screen. Next, you’ll be redirected to authorize AWS Amplify to access your GitHub account. Select the repository you want to integrate Choose the branch for deployment; currently we have two branches, “Main” and “Stage” Set up the IAM role on the subsequent screen Finally, review and deploy your project on the last screen. Voila! Your project is created, and you’ll receive your project URL. Advantages of AWS Amplify: No need to worry about CloudFront distributions or complex configurations. Eliminate the hassle of creating project builds—AWS Amplify automatically handles it for you. Effortlessly set up and release different environments, such as staging and production. Enjoy DNS management features as part of the package. Say goodbye to creating S3 buckets; AWS Amplify takes care of it. Enjoy a user-friendly console that simplifies your development workflow. Seamless integration with popular version control tools like GitHub and Bitbucket. So why spend precious time dealing with CloudFront validations or struggling with S3 bucket policies on weekends? Give AWS Amplify a try for your code deployment and hosting needs. It’s a surefire way to lighten the burden on frontend developers while automating key processes—an absolute bonus for DevOps. Unleash the power of AWS Amplify and let your creativity flourish as you build outstanding frontend applications. It’s time to have fun while deploying with confidence!

With the rise of automation, everyone is shifting from monolithic architecture to microservice architecture. Microservice architectures are more flexible and robust when it comes to security, development and deployment cycles. [Do check out our previous blog on Microservices to understand more about microservices] For establishing a microservice architecture, one needs to automate the entire integration and deployment process. Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment mechanisms are required while setting up the code structures. An entire CICD flow looks like as follows: There are 3 steps in this cycle: Code Commit : In this phase, the developer pushes the code from the local system to a centralized storage space where other team members can do code review. Github, Bitbucket or AWS Code Commit can be used for this purpose Code Integration : In this phase, the fresh changes that the user has pushed into the code commit phase, are integrated with the existing code running on the server.This involves updating the docker file and pushing the code to deployment phase. There are multiple code integration tools available such as; Jenkins, CircleCI, Gitlab CI etc Code Deployment : This phase is responsible for updating the latest docker build inside the Kubernetes cluster. Various CD tools are; ArgoCD, Jenkins, Gitlab CD etc. For one of our projects related to microservices, we automated the entire deployment process and created a CICD pipeline using Github, CircleCI and ArgoCD tools. Next , I will take you through the steps followed for creating a CICD pipeline: (hopefully my experiences and learnings can help you in creating your first CICD pipeline1) Let’s get started.. CircleCI For configuring CircleCI, we need to create a CircleCI account and then link our github projects into CircleCI. Steps involved in configuring CircleCI: One can also sign-in to CircleCI using the github credentials, which will by default allow CircleCI to get access to all your github repositories. Then you need to create a project inside CircleCI with necessary information about your github project code and all the environment variables(if any) Next, you one needs to create a “.circleci” folder inside the project source code and create a “config.yaml” file inside it for defining the entire CircleCI process like limiting steps, running the integration steps then creating a build file and updating the docker build file. Also, before moving to the Continuous Deployment phase, one needs to create a github repository, which will contain the deployment packages. These deployment packages are useful for deploying code to K8S(Kubernetes) machines. The final step of the CircleCI process is responsible for updating the docker image version inside the deployment yaml files stored inside deploy repositories, so that the latest changes get deployed to our K8S. ArgoCD Once we pass the CircleCI process and have our latest docker image version inside the deployment yaml files in deploy repositories, we can start our deployment process. Steps to configure and setup ArgoCD inside our K8S cluster are as follows: Download argocd inside the K8S cluster using: https://argo-cd.readthedocs.io/en/stable/getting_started/ This will set up argocd inside the k8s cluster. Configure argocd inside the k8s, for this, apply ConfigMaps including the github repository settings. Check fo argocd default password inside EKS only using the following command: kubectl -n argocd get secret argocd-initial-admin-secret -o jsonpath=”{.data.password}” | base64 -d; echo The default username is : admin Login to the argocd console using : argocd login <ARGOCD_SERVER> Create your first project inside the ArgoCD console using Create App, after defining all parameters like cluster namespace, repository name, sync settings etc. Once the settings are completed, click on SUBMIT and the app will start getting created and you will be able to see your first app getting deployed to the K8S cluster Easy, isnt it? Once this flow is automated, you can save a lot of your time from solving unwanted merge conflicts or if in any case the developer has accidentally pushed a commit to PROD, ArgoCD will allow for an easy rollback. I hope this blog has helped you understand the process of creating your CCID pipeline!

Enterprises using monolithic systems to support large applications find it increasingly difficult to respond to evolving business priorities and rising customer expectations. Each functionality is built together as one single block, and it’s almost impossible to change or update a portion of it, without overhauling the complete monolith. Due to this, enterprises are rapidly exploring the advantages of microservices. Let’s take a closer look. What is a Microservices Architecture? The microservice architectural style is an approach to developing a single application as a suite of small services, each running in its own process and communicating with lightweight mechanisms, often an HTTP resource API. These services are built around business capabilities and independently deployable by fully automated deployment machinery. There is a bare minimum of centralised management of these services, which may be written in different programming languages and use different data storage technologies. Microservices vs Monolith With monolithic architectures, all processes are tightly coupled and run as a single service. This means that if one process of the application experiences a spike in demand, the entire architecture must be scaled. Adding or improving a monolithic application’s features becomes more complex as the code base grows. This complexity limits experimentation and makes it difficult to implement new ideas. Monolithic architectures add risk for application availability because many dependent and tightly coupled processes increase the impact of a single process failure. With a microservices architecture, an application is built as independent components that run each application process as a service. These services communicate via a well-defined interface using lightweight APIs. Services are built for business capabilities and each service performs a single function. Because they are independently run, each service can be updated, deployed, and scaled to meet demand for specific functions of an application. What are the advantages associated with microservices? Strong Module Boundaries: Microservices reinforce modular architecture, which is much needed for larger teams. Independent Deployment: Simple services are easier to deploy and since they are autonomous, they are less likely to cause failures when they go wrong. Technology Deployment: With microservices you can mix multiple languages, development frameworks and data storage technologies. Reusable Code: Microservices are individually deployed which makes it easier to connect a microservice with other applications as well. What are the disadvantages? Complexity: Microservices follow the concept of distributed systems, hence, they offer all the complexities of distributed systems. Managing microservices is a critical task. There is a higher possibility of system failure due to communication between different microservices. Regression analysis and testing are difficult tasks in microservices. Developer needs to cater load balancing and network latency. Debugging issues in a microservice architecture is a hectic challenge, as each service has its own set of logs. So due to multiple services a developer may face difficulty to identify the log track. However, you be happy to know that these drawbacks can be addressed well, if you make use of the right set of tools and services Automated Deployment of Microservices: Error Handling Mechanisms: When we want to automate the process of deployment of microservices we need to ensure that our code is using proper error handling techniques. Unit Testing: Proper unit testing should be done at application level for each functionality and feature. Developers should write individual test cases for each functional component. Developers can also set the threshold limit for the code coverage which the code should follow for passing the Unit Tests in deployment process. CI/CD Integration: Use of CI/CD tools is a must when it comes to DevOps Engineering. Testing tools like; Jenkins, CircleCI can be used for CI/CD. Automated Build of Docker/Kubernetes Containers: With integration of CI/CD pipelines, these tools also manage the automatic build of containers for setting up code on container images. Project Case Study One of our clients from Neo Banking Domain, explained the need to use Microservice Architecture in their Project. Client demanded all the functionality of the application to be organized separately and the solution to be scalable and robust. This was required to ensure that in case infrastructural or business changes were implemented in one service, other services would not be affected. Hence, the solution was nothing, but, Microservices! The project’s core services were organised into different micro services: Financial Service: responsible for addressing all communications related to Payment Client. Account Service: responsible for keeping all customer’s data. Card Services: responsible for providing various digital and virtual card services. Statistics Services: responsible for providing all statistical information related to a customer’s account like Net Debited/Credited Amount, Category Wise Spend, Balance etc. All these services were organized into an individual microservice. These were orchestrated using AWS Step Functions inside Kubernetes clusters. With growing demand for Microservices, developers are moving towards different Managed AWS Microservices like AWS Stepfunctions, AWS Simple Workflows(SWF). We will be discussing AWS Stepfunctions and AWS Simple Workflows in our next blog. Stay tuned! References: https://martinfowler.com/microservices/https://docs.aws.amazon.com/whitepapers/latest/microservices-on-aws/microservices-on-aws.html