Description

About

SRE, although it deals with complex technical systems, is ultimately a cul‐
tural practice. Culture is the product of people, and that inspired us to orga‐
nize this book into sections based on the number of SREs you have in your
organization—what you specifically tackle and how your day looks like
depends on how many SREs there are. We’ve broken the book’s essays into
“New to SRE,” 0-1 SRE, 1-10 SREs, 10-100 SREs, and the “Future of SRE.”
Readers looking for guidance on where to start first can jump right to the
section that applies most to them; however, you will still find value in read‐
ing essays from sections that don’t currently apply to your day-to-day.
At 0 to 1 SRE, no one has been designated an SRE yet, or you have found
your very first one, a role that can seem almost lonely.
At 1 to 10 SREs, you are forming a team, and there is sharing of knowledge
and the ability to divvy up work.
At 10 to 100 SREs, you have become an organization, and you need to think
not just about the systems you’re working on, but also about how you orga‐
nize that many SREs.
“New to SRE” covers foundational topics (although not exhaustively!) and is
helpful both for those just starting their SRE journeys as well as a refresher
for even the most seasoned SRE. “Future of SRE” contains essays that look
into where SRE is potentially headed, or are (for the moment) sitting on the
zeitgeist.
There’s no need to read the book in any particular order. You can read it
from cover to cover. Or, if you are curious about a particular topic, flip to the
index where you can find all the essays on that topic. Use this as a reference
guide, or a source of inspiration—one that can provide a jolt as needed. Or,
maybe create a reading club, where once a week you pick an essay to discuss
with your coworkers. This is the beauty of a collection of essays. We hope
you enjoy reading them as much as we did.