Have you updated your application on a VPS server and then had concerns it could break? I’ve experienced that many times. It only takes a single small mistake to take down the whole application. Hence, I really enjoy canary deployments. They reduce your risk of making updates while testing.
Think of it like one bite of food before eating the whole plate. Let us see if it even tastes good to you first.
Thus, you may easily monitor areas such as:
1. When Your Update Is High-Risk
If the updates affect critical components such as login systems, databases, and APIs, you should update gradually.
Ask yourself: Am I really convinced I trust this update completely? If "yes" is not 100%, utilize a canary deployment.
2. When You Need Real User Testing
Testing in staging environments is never truly the same as having actual traffic. A canary deployment includes a real user base, only in small increments or batch sizes.
3. When You Want Cutover Without Downtime
Instead of dreading a late night rollout after users leave work, you can perform multiple staged updates any time during the day. If issues do arise, you can quickly rollback.
4. When Your App Is Growing Quickly
With every user that subscribes, small mistakes begin to magnify. The canary will enable you to test whether your new update will support a larger load.
If that update had been rolled out to our entire user base, it would have been awful.
Canary deployment method helped me (or at least my prioritization) live to recover another day.
What Is a Canary Deployment?
A canary deployment means you push an update to a small portion of your users to test how it is going. Once you confirm no red flags exist, you push the update to all users.Think of it like one bite of food before eating the whole plate. Let us see if it even tastes good to you first.
Why Canaries Work Well On VPS Servers
A VPS gives you control, and enough resources to run at least two versions of your application. OLD (safe) and NEW (beta).Thus, you may easily monitor areas such as:
- CPU usage
- Errors
- Speed
- User responses
When Should You Implement a Canary Deployment?
Consider a canary deployment during these times:1. When Your Update Is High-Risk
If the updates affect critical components such as login systems, databases, and APIs, you should update gradually.
Ask yourself: Am I really convinced I trust this update completely? If "yes" is not 100%, utilize a canary deployment.
2. When You Need Real User Testing
Testing in staging environments is never truly the same as having actual traffic. A canary deployment includes a real user base, only in small increments or batch sizes.
3. When You Want Cutover Without Downtime
Instead of dreading a late night rollout after users leave work, you can perform multiple staged updates any time during the day. If issues do arise, you can quickly rollback.
4. When Your App Is Growing Quickly
With every user that subscribes, small mistakes begin to magnify. The canary will enable you to test whether your new update will support a larger load.
Reasons I Have Confidence in Using Canary Deployments
I had previously thought I had deployed a perfect update because it was perfect in testing. Then came the canary and within a few minutes, I had 500 errors to show for it.If that update had been rolled out to our entire user base, it would have been awful.
Canary deployment method helped me (or at least my prioritization) live to recover another day.