How Hands-On Lab Training Accelerates Your DevOps Learning Curve
In this article, we’ll explore why hands-on labs are so effective and how they can drastically improve your DevOps skills.
DevOps is a fast-paced, dynamic field where theoretical knowledge alone is rarely enough to succeed. To truly master the skills needed in this industry, hands-on experience is essential.
Hands-on lab training offers a practical, immersive way for DevOps engineers to accelerate their learning curve and become job-ready faster.
In this article, we’ll explore why hands-on labs are so effective and how they can drastically improve your DevOps skills.
1. Real-World Problem Solving
Learning by Doing
In DevOps, engineers face complex, real-world challenges daily. Hands-on labs simulate these real-life tasks, such as configuring a Kubernetes cluster, troubleshooting cloud infrastructure, or setting up CI/CD pipelines. This experience allows engineers to actively solve problems rather than passively learn concepts.
Why It Matters
Theoretical knowledge can only take you so far. Working on actual infrastructure and handling real problems solidifies what you’ve learned, ensuring you can apply those skills when it matters most—on the job.
Example: Many engineers use Brokee’s hands-on labs to practice AWS, Azure, and DevOps tasks that mirror real job environments.
Whether you’re an entry-level engineer or preparing for a new role, Brokee’s labs provide practical experience that accelerates your job readiness.
Brokee offers several labs and tests to practice DevOps and cloud skills, including Azure: Blob Challenge and Azure: Load Balancer
2. Builds Confidence for Day-One Readiness
Hands-On = Confidence
Many engineers struggle with confidence during their first few months on the job because they’ve never had the chance to apply what they learned in real scenarios. Hands-on labs give engineers the opportunity to practice these skills repeatedly until they are fully confident in their abilities.
Why It Matters
Confidence in your DevOps skills from day one can drastically shorten onboarding time and increase your productivity early in your career.
Companies often prefer candidates who have hands-on experience with the tools and technologies they use.
3. Mastering Tools and Platforms
Get Familiar with Industry-Standard Tools
Hands-on labs allow engineers to get comfortable using critical DevOps tools like Terraform, Ansible, Docker, Jenkins, and cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, and GCP.
Lab environments replicate real job tasks, so engineers can focus on mastering specific tools while understanding how they integrate into larger workflows.
Why It Matters
Becoming proficient with tools is crucial for DevOps roles. Hands-on labs provide the chance to not only learn new tools but to also understand how they function in complex environments.
Example: Engineers can practice setting up a continuous integration pipeline using Jenkins, deploy a containerized application with Kubernetes, or automate infrastructure with Terraform in a lab environment before applying these skills in production.
Read More: The Top DevOps Tools in 2024
4. Safe Environment to Make Mistakes
Learning Without the Pressure
One of the greatest advantages of hands-on lab training is the ability to make mistakes without real-world consequences.
In an actual job setting, errors can lead to downtime, security risks, or financial losses. In a lab, engineers can experiment, fail, and learn without the pressure of damaging live environments.
Why It Matters
The freedom to experiment helps engineers learn faster. They can try different approaches, discover what works, and learn from failures—all without impacting actual projects.
Read More: The Best DevOps Bootcamps in 2024
5. Speeds Up the Learning Curve
Accelerating Skill Development
Hands-on labs enable faster learning by giving engineers instant feedback. Instead of reading through documentation and theory, they can immediately see the results of their actions in the lab environment.
This kind of real-time feedback significantly speeds up the learning process, as engineers can adjust their approach on the fly.
Why It Matters
Learning by doing accelerates mastery of concepts and tools. Engineers gain a deep understanding of how different DevOps practices work together, which ultimately helps them become proficient more quickly than with theoretical learning alone.
6. Preparing for Certifications
Practical Experience for Exams
Certifications like AWS DevOps Engineer, Microsoft Azure DevOps, or Google Cloud Professional DevOps Engineer require not just theoretical knowledge, but also practical understanding. Hands-on labs prepare engineers for these exams by allowing them to practice the exact scenarios they’ll be tested on.
Why It Matters
While studying for certifications is important, real-world practice is what truly prepares you to pass the exams and apply the knowledge in the workplace. Hands-on labs give you the confidence and experience to tackle even the most challenging certification questions.
Example: In an AWS hands-on lab, engineers can set up auto-scaling groups, configure CloudWatch for monitoring, and use Lambda for automation—real-world tasks that they’ll likely face on the AWS DevOps Engineer certification exam.
Read More: AWS DevOps Interview Questions and Answers for 2024
7. Gaining Practical Job Experience
Simulate the Job Environment
Hands-on labs not only prepare engineers for exams but also simulate day-to-day job tasks.
These labs mirror the exact work you’ll do in a DevOps role, such as deploying cloud infrastructure, setting up monitoring systems, or configuring secure environments. The more practice you get, the more comfortable you’ll be when performing these tasks in a live environment.
Why It Matters
This kind of real-world experience is what hiring managers look for. By practicing in labs, engineers can demonstrate they are ready to step into a role without needing extensive on-the-job training.
Brokee’s live labs
Conclusion
Hands-on lab training is an invaluable tool for accelerating the DevOps learning curve.
Whether you're mastering tools, preparing for certifications, or gaining real-world job experience, these labs provide the perfect environment to learn by doing.
We currently offer 3 free labs for engineers (no credit card needed!), and after that, you can have access to our unlimited testing library for only $9 per month. Try Brokee risk-free today!
The practical experience gained from our labs will significantly boost your confidence, shorten onboarding time, and make you job-ready from day one.
Mastering Azure DevOps: Top Training Resources and Certifications to Kickstart Your Career
As businesses increasingly move to cloud-native solutions, mastering Azure DevOps has become essential for engineers aiming to boost their careers.
Whether you're starting your journey or looking to advance your skills, here’s a guide to the best Azure DevOps training resources and certifications that will help you stand out in this fast-growing field.
As businesses increasingly move to cloud-native solutions, mastering Azure DevOps has become essential for engineers aiming to boost their careers.
Whether you're starting your journey or looking to advance your skills, here’s a guide to the best Azure DevOps training resources and certifications that will help you stand out in this fast-growing field.
1. Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert
What It Is
The Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert certification is one of the most recognized credentials for Azure DevOps engineers. It validates your ability to combine people, processes, and technologies to deliver continuously improved products and services.
What You’ll Learn
How to design and implement DevOps processes
Using version control systems like Git
Implementing CI/CD pipelines
Managing infrastructure using Azure DevOps and tools like Terraform and Ansible
Why It’s Important
This certification proves you can create and implement strategies that improve software development lifecycles, a critical skill for Azure DevOps engineers.
Recommended Resources:
Microsoft Learning Path: Free modules on the official Microsoft site provide a structured learning path to pass the certification.
Whizlabs and Udemy Courses: These platforms offer in-depth preparation courses for this certification.
2. AZ-400: Designing and Implementing Microsoft DevOps Solutions
What It Is
AZ-400 is the exam required to earn the Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert certification. It covers designing and implementing DevOps practices for infrastructure, CI/CD, security, and compliance.
What You’ll Learn
How to integrate source control and implement continuous integration
Strategies for automating deployments and scaling infrastructure
Monitoring cloud environments and managing incidents effectively
Why It’s Important
Passing this exam is crucial for anyone aiming to specialize in Azure DevOps. It showcases your ability to manage full lifecycle DevOps processes in Azure environments.
Recommended Resources:
Microsoft Learn: This free resource offers structured modules and practice tests.
Udemy: The AZ-400 Exam Preparation Course is a highly rated resource for detailed exam preparation.
3. LinkedIn Learning: Azure DevOps for Beginners
What It Is
This LinkedIn Learning course is an excellent introduction for beginners to Azure DevOps, covering the basics of using the platform for continuous delivery, infrastructure management, and monitoring.
What You’ll Learn
Setting up an Azure DevOps environment
Managing code repositories with Git
Implementing CI/CD pipelines using Azure Pipelines
Why It’s Important
If you’re new to DevOps or just getting started with Azure, this course provides a solid foundation for understanding the tools and practices needed to succeed.
Recommended Resources:
LinkedIn Learning Subscription: Offers access to this and thousands of other related courses.
4. Pluralsight: Azure DevOps Fundamentals
What It Is
Pluralsight offers an in-depth course that covers core Azure DevOps concepts, including project management, version control, and pipeline automation.
What You’ll Learn
How to manage Azure DevOps organizations, projects, and teams
Configuring CI/CD pipelines for automated builds and deployments
Automating infrastructure with Terraform and Azure Resource Manager
Why It’s Important
For those who already have a basic understanding of DevOps, this course dives deeper into Azure-specific functionalities, preparing you for hands-on work with Azure projects.
Recommended Resources:
Pluralsight Subscription: Provides unlimited access to this course and other DevOps-related content.
5. Azure DevOps Hands-On Labs
What It Is
Hands-on labs offer practical, real-world experience by simulating real tasks and challenges within Azure DevOps environments. Labs allow engineers to practice and test their knowledge in controlled scenarios that mirror actual job tasks.
Why It’s Important
Nothing beats hands-on experience when learning new tools. Labs allow engineers to practice and refine their skills by working on real-world problems, making them invaluable for both beginners and those preparing for certifications.
Recommended Resources:
Brokee DevOps Assessments: Brokee offers real-world cloud-based assessments that simulate job environments, helping engineers practice hands-on Azure DevOps tasks and allowing companies to assess candidates' proficiency in real-time.
6. GitHub Learning Lab: CI/CD with GitHub Actions and Azure
What It Is
GitHub Learning Lab provides an interactive guide to integrating GitHub Actions with Azure for CI/CD pipelines. It's a great way to learn how to automate workflows and deployments using GitHub alongside Azure DevOps.
What You’ll Learn
Automating code builds and deployments with GitHub Actions
Integrating GitHub repositories with Azure environments
Best practices for implementing automated workflows in cloud environments
Why It’s Important
With many organizations using GitHub for code management, this course equips you with the skills to merge GitHub's powerful automation tools with Azure's cloud infrastructure.
Recommended Resources:
GitHub Learning Lab: Free access to interactive, self-paced courses.
Conclusion
Azure DevOps is a critical skill set for anyone entering the cloud engineering space, and mastering it requires both theoretical knowledge and practical experience.
By leveraging the right training resources and certifications, you can position yourself for success in a competitive job market.
Top 10 SRE Tools Every DevOps Engineer Should Know About
As a DevOps engineer, knowing the right tools for the job is essential to managing and optimizing complex infrastructures.
Let's explore the top 10 SRE tools every DevOps engineer should be familiar with.
Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) plays a crucial role in ensuring systems are reliable, scalable, and performant.
As a DevOps engineer, knowing the right tools for the job is essential to managing and optimizing complex infrastructures.
Below are the top 10 SRE tools every DevOps engineer should be familiar with, whether they’re focused on monitoring, automation, or incident management.
1. Prometheus
What is Prometheus?
Prometheus is an open-source monitoring and alerting toolkit designed for reliability. It collects metrics from various sources, stores them in a time-series database, and allows engineers to set up powerful alerting based on predefined thresholds.
Why You Need It
Prometheus is widely adopted for system monitoring due to its scalability and flexibility. It integrates seamlessly with Kubernetes and other cloud-native environments, making it an essential tool for SREs and DevOps engineers alike.
Displaying Prometheus Metrics in Grafana
2. Grafana
What is Grafana?
Grafana is an open-source data visualization and analytics tool that integrates with Prometheus and other data sources to provide real-time dashboards.
Why You Need It
Grafana’s customizable dashboards give teams a clear visual overview of system health, performance metrics, and potential bottlenecks. This allows SREs to spot issues quickly and maintain system reliability.
Grafana Dashboard
3. Terraform
What is Terraform?
Terraform by HashiCorp is a powerful tool for Infrastructure as Code (IaC). It enables engineers to define cloud infrastructure resources using declarative code, which can be version-controlled and automated.
Why You Need It
Automating infrastructure provisioning with Terraform reduces human error and ensures consistency across environments. For SREs, this means more reliable deployments and faster recovery from incidents.
High-Level Idea of Terraform
4. Kubernetes
What is Kubernetes?
Kubernetes is the most popular container orchestration platform, used to manage and scale containerized applications across clusters.
Why You Need It
Kubernetes automates the deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications. Its self-healing capabilities, auto-scaling, and robust ecosystem make it an indispensable tool for any SRE or DevOps engineer focused on maintaining reliability.
Kubernetes in a Nutshell
5. PagerDuty
What is PagerDuty?
PagerDuty is an incident management platform designed to help DevOps and SRE teams respond to incidents in real-time.
Why You Need It
PagerDuty integrates with monitoring tools and alerts teams when something goes wrong. It helps organize and escalate incidents, ensuring that the right people respond promptly to minimize downtime and system impact.
The PagerDuty Suite of Tools
6. Ansible
What is Ansible?
Ansible is an open-source tool for automation and configuration management. It allows for the automation of application deployment, cloud provisioning, and system configurations.
Why You Need It
SREs use Ansible to automate repetitive tasks, reducing manual intervention and minimizing configuration drift across environments. It’s essential for maintaining consistent and reliable infrastructure.
Ansible Automation Platform
7. ELK Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana)
What is the ELK Stack?
The ELK Stack is a combination of three tools: Elasticsearch (search and analytics engine), Logstash (log pipeline), and Kibana (visualization).
Why You Need It
This stack is perfect for log management, allowing SREs to collect, analyze, and visualize logs in real-time. With ELK, you can identify and troubleshoot issues across distributed systems, improving reliability and system observability.
Logs Web Traffic and More
8. Jenkins
What is Jenkins?
Jenkins is a popular open-source automation server used to build and manage CI/CD pipelines.
Why You Need It
SREs rely on Jenkins to automate the building, testing, and deployment of code. With its broad plugin ecosystem, Jenkins integrates with many tools and platforms, making it a key player in ensuring smooth and reliable software delivery.
Jenkins Dashboard
9. Datadog
What is Datadog?
Datadog is a monitoring and analytics platform for cloud applications, offering real-time insights into system performance.
Why You Need It
Datadog combines metrics, traces, and logs into a single platform, enabling SREs to monitor cloud infrastructures, troubleshoot issues quickly, and maintain system performance with greater clarity.
DataDog Performance Overview
10. Runbook Automation (Rundeck)
What is Rundeck?
Rundeck is a runbook automation tool that helps SREs create and execute automated procedures to handle system operations and incidents.
Why You Need It
Automating routine tasks and operational procedures with Rundeck reduces human error, speeds up incident resolution, and allows SREs to focus on more strategic tasks, all while maintaining system reliability.
Rundeck Automation Platform Layout
Conclusion
Mastering these tools will equip any DevOps engineer or SRE to manage and scale infrastructures with confidence.
From monitoring and observability with Prometheus and Grafana, to automating infrastructure and workflows with Terraform and Ansible, each tool plays a pivotal role in ensuring system reliability and efficiency.
Want to hone your ability to use SRE tools? Brokee’s assessments incorporate real-world tasks using these essential SRE tools, helping engineers hone their skills and allowing companies to evaluate candidates’ hands-on proficiency.