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Infrastructure as Code (IaC) is the practice of managing and provisioning infrastructure using code or script, applying software development principles like version control, automation, and collaboration to infrastructure management. IaC allows infrastructure to be defined declaratively or imperatively, stored in version control systems, and deployed through automated pipelines. This approach promotes consistency, repeatability, and agility, transforming infrastructure into a programmable asset that can be tested, shared, and scaled. Tools like Terraform, AWS CloudFormation, and Azure Resource Manager support IaC, enabling infrastructure as part of CI/CD processes and supporting modern, dynamic, and cloud-native architectures.

Use Cases

Environment Standardization and Replication:

  • Objective: Ensure consistency across development, staging, and production environments.
  • Workflow: Leverage code templates to automate the provisioning of identical environments.
  • Tools: Terraform, AWS CloudFormationDisaster Recovery:
  • Objective: Minimize downtime and data loss during system failures.
  • Workflow: Utilize IaC scripts to quickly replicate infrastructure, including databases and application servers, to recover from disasters.
  • Tools: Ansible, Terraform, Azure Resource Manager

Auto-Scaling and Load Balancing:

  • Objective: Dynamically adjust resource allocation based on workload demands.
  • Workflow: IaC can be configured to automatically scale resources vertically or horizontally based on predefined metrics.
  • Tools: AWS Auto Scaling, Google Cloud Autoscaler, Terraform

Compliance and Governance:

  • Objective: Ensure infrastructure meets regulatory and policy requirements.
  • Workflow: Incorporate compliance checks into IaC templates. Automate reporting and audits through the CI/CD pipeline.
  • Tools: Chef InSpec, Puppet, Sentinel (Terraform)

Version Control for Infrastructure:

  • Objective: Enable versioning, collaboration, and rollback for infrastructure changes.
  • Workflow: Infrastructure configurations are stored in version control systems. Any changes are reviewed and applied through pull requests, enabling rollback if needed.
  • Tools: Git, Bitbucket, SVN

 

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