Infrastructure as Code (IaC)

What is Infrastructure as Code (IaC)?

Infrastructure as Code is a practice of managing and provisioning your computing infrastructure like servers, networks, storage, and other resources through machine readable configuration file rather than through manual procedure or go with the interactive configuration tools or command line.

What is the basic difference between Ansible and Terraform?

If you have 100 servers you can manage it by Ansible, if you need to create 100 servers then we need to use Terraform.

Key Points about IaC:

• Automation: IaC automates the setup, configuration, and management of infrastructure, reducing manual effort.
• Consistency: Using code ensures environments are created consistently and reproducibly, avoiding configuration drift.
• Version Control: Infrastructure configurations can be stored in version control systems (like Git), enabling tracking of changes, collaboration, and rollbacks.
• Scalability: Makes it easier to scale infrastructure up or down by reapplying or modifying code
• Speed: Accelerates the deployment process by automating repetitive infrastructure tasks

Common IaC Tools:

• Terraform
• AWS CloudFormation
• Ansible
• Puppet
• Chef

What makes Terraform special?

• Declarative Language: In Terraform, a declarative language means you describe what you want your infrastructure to look like, rather than how to achieve it. Terraform then takes care of the steps needed to reach that state.
• Multi-Cloud & Provider Support: A provider is a plugin that allows Terraform to manage resources on a specific platform. Terraform interacts with the provider’s API to create, update, or delete resources. Terraform can manage resources across different clouds simultaneously. This means you can define AWS, Azure, and GCP resources in a single configuration file.
• State Management: Terraform keeps track of your infrastructure’s current state, enabling it to make incremental updates safely.
• Plan & Apply: In Terraform, Plan and Apply are the two main steps in managing your infrastructure. They work together with the state to ensure your infrastructure matches your desired configuration.
• Idempotency: In Terraform, idempotency is a core concept that ensures repeated executions produce the same result without creating duplicate resources or unintended changes. Running the same Terraform configuration multiple times will always bring the infrastructure to the desired state, regardless of how many times you execute it.