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In the past, IT infrastructure management was challenging. Hardware and software had to be managed and configured manually. Recently, a tool, that allows you to simplify and automate these actions, has appeared. This tool is called infrastructure as code (IaC).
In this article, we will discuss what infrastructure as code is, the best providers that allow you to implement IaC, IaC best practices, examples, and possible challenges.
Infrastructure as Code (IaC) is the process of managing and configuring an infrastructure using configuration files, rather than manually editing configurations on servers or using interactive configuration tools. The IaC model creates the same environment every time it is applied. IaC is used in infrastructure as a service (IaaS), but they should not be confused. The main idea of IaC is to describe the infrastructure using code.
Without IaC, teams must maintain customization of individual deployment environments. Over time, this leads to each environment having a unique configuration that cannot be reproduced automatically, which in turn leads to problems during deployment. In such a case, infrastructure administration and maintenance involve manual processes that are difficult to track and which can lead to errors. IaC allows you to always set the same configuration for the target environment, regardless of the initial state of the environment.
Let’s take a look at the most popular IaC providers and the main features they provide.
The
AWS CDK allows you to automatically create a CloudFormation template based on your source code and deploy this template to your AWS account.
Let’s look at a simple scenario for provisioning an AWS EC2 instance. In the following example, we can see how Terraform code is used for this requirement.
terraform {
required_providers {
aws = {
source = "hashicorp/aws"
version = "~> 3.27"
}
}
}
provider "aws" {
access_key = "aws_access_key"
secret_key = "aws_secret_key"
region = "us-west-1"
}
resource "aws_instance" "web_server" {
ami = "ami-0123456"
instance_type = "t3.small"
subnet_id = "subnet-a000111x"
vpc_security_group_ids = "sg-dfdd00011"
key_name = "web_server_test_key"
tags = {
Name = "Web_Server"
}
}
Some of the best IaC practices to consider when developing it are listed below.
Configuration files should be versioned so that you can easily track, manage, and recover any potential changes. Version control is also very helpful in diagnosing problems.
When using IaC, the code is the infrastructure documentation and will always be up-to-date, so your employees don’t need to write a lot of additional instructions.
IaC can be used to develop, manage and maintain applications as many deployable modules. It also allows you to split your infrastructure into multiple modular components and then use automation to combine them in the most appropriate way.
Errors in IaC files can be a serious problem if they are not detected prior to deploying IaC definitions. Therefore, it is recommended to automatically and continuously scan IaC files, ensuring that verification occurs whenever an IaC definition is created or updated. You can do it using such tools as
While there is a list of IaC advantages, there are certain issues with this model that need to be understood and solved before the IaC implementation process.
In the long run, a configuration shift can occur, no matter how consistently or often you configure your servers. Therefore, every time you need to change your infrastructure, you must ensure that it is done in accordance with a predefined maintenance workflow.
In the process of implementing IaC, there are certain processes that must be done manually. One of these processes is writing the code that generates your IaC architecture, during which there is always the possibility of error.
The IaC model requires a high level of technical expertise, so teams must continually invest in people and skills. For some teams, this may be too costly.
IaC fully frees developers and other professionals from manual, error-prone tasks. In addition, it lowers costs and increases efficiency throughout the entire software development lifecycle.
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