DevOps is a methodology that aims to make the software development life cycle more efficient, faster, and reliable. The traditional distinction between the development and operations teams has blurred with the advent of cloud computing. Infrastructure as Code (IAC) is a practice of creating, editing, updating, and deleting resources related to infrastructure through code.
5 Ways to Achieve IAC
Ad hoc scripts: A naive approach that is prone to clutter and lacks idempotence.
Configuration management tools: Enforces specific coding conventions and guarantees idempotency, making it easier to tackle multiple servers.
Server templating tools: An image is built, which is a snapshot of OS, software and packages required, files, network details, etc. This image is then pulled into the server while creating or after creation. This gives all the necessary things to run the application on either VM or container consistently.
Orchestration tools: Monitors, rolls updates, distributes traffic, and scales the infrastructure created using server templating tools.
Provisioning tools: Used to create infrastructure like servers, databases, load balancers, certificates, users, etc., in the cloud.
Benefits of IAC
Not limited to the Ops team anymore, as every developer who can write code can contribute and provision their own infra.
Version control: Since we are defining the infrastructure as code, we can version control it using tools like Git.
Reusability: Modules of infrastructure in code can be reused in multiple environments without having to write code for each one separately.
Efficiency: We get efficiency in two folds. One is the speed at which we can provide the infra. The other one is safety. We can run tests and run an automated deployment process which is less prone to errors.
Reviews: Multiple automated static code-checking tools and manual peer reviews which help reduce human errors.
Working of Terraform
Terraform is an open-source tool from Hashicorp and written in the Go programming language. It is an executable file available for all operating systems. The clouds or other tools where we provision using Terraform are called Providers. We just need to mention that we use these providers in our code. Terraform automatically calls their APIs as needed to provide whatever we mentioned in the code.
Terraform parses the code you write in HCL (Hashicorp Configuration Language) and makes the API calls as required depending on the code.
Why Infrastructure as Code is Important
Infrastructure as Code is important because it helps in making the infrastructure consistent, scalable, and reliable. It is also important because it makes the process of deploying and updating infrastructure faster and more efficient. Using IAC, we can create, update, and delete infrastructure from the code itself, which helps in automating the process and reducing manual effort. We can also version control the infrastructure, which helps in keeping track of changes and reverting to previous versions if needed.
Another important aspect of IAC is that it enables teams to work more collaboratively. With IAC, developers can contribute to infrastructure code, which means that they can take ownership of the infrastructure they are deploying. This helps in bridging the gap between the development and operations teams and enables them to work together towards a common goal.
Conclusion
Infrastructure as Code is a powerful concept that has revolutionized the way we deploy and manage infrastructure. It helps in making the infrastructure consistent, scalable, and reliable, and enables teams to work collaboratively towards a common goal. Terraform is an excellent tool for implementing IAC and can help teams in achieving their infrastructure goals efficiently and effectively.