Why Infrastructure-as-Code is a way to go
Tags: aws, cloud, terraform, devops
Published: 2023-07-03 23:16:02

Picture this: You and your friend just launched an amazing SaaS web app. The response is overwhelming, with customers flocking to your platform from all corners of the globe. But here's the challenge: the surge in traffic is pushing your app to its limits, and you fear it might crash. As resourceful, albeit inexperienced, engineers, you scramble to provision additional instances to keep up with the demand. The plot thickens when you realise your customers are now spread across the world, requiring instances in various locations. It's like a wild adventure, searching high and low for server space to cater to their needs.

With a sense of urgency, you dash to the dashboard, determined to handle the mounting traffic. Region after region, you tirelessly replicate the same architecture, but it hits you: the repetition is daunting. A flicker of curiosity sparks within you, and you ponder if there's a better way to conquer this challenge.


## Behold: Infrastructure as Code tools 

In the pre-IaC era, deploying resources meant embarking on an endless clicking spree across multiple regions on the dashboard—a phenomenon aptly dubbed ClickOps. While ClickOps had its charm, human errors were always lurking around the corner.

But fear not! Engineers came to the rescue with the ingenious concept of Infrastructure as Code. This approach treats infrastructure provisioning, configuration, and management as code. Think of it as software engineering meets infrastructure magic, where programming languages (like the mighty Python, but not limited to it) and declarative configuration files or scripting languages take centre stage. These tools automate the creation and management of infrastructure resources such as servers, networks, and storage.

Enter the stages of the Development lifecycle. Day 0 marks the grand planning phase, where the architecture's foundation takes shape and high-level overviews come to life. Day 1 witnesses the successful deployment of apps, with the Board of Directors applauding the team's performance. But the true challenge lies in Day 2 and beyond—the maintenance and patching of the infrastructure resources while ensuring reliability, stability, and top-notch performance.

![devops lifecycle](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/jhsuo9awbfwj1euagqpx.png)

Here's where the Operations team realizes that manually clicking through tens of thousands of deployed resources is simply impractical. Enter the superhero IaC tools, ready to save the day from Day 0 itself.

## Provisioning

Now, let's dive into two resource provisioning tools: Terraform and AWS CDK.

### Terraform

![Terraform Hashicorp](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/bhwv1fpaxd4m2l0gwj73.png)

Terraform, developed by HashiCorp, is an open-source infrastructure provisioning tool. With its simple and readable syntax, you can define your infrastructure resources in code, creating an execution plan that automates the provisioning and management process. It's versatile, supporting multiple cloud providers like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform.

### AWS CDK

![Amazon Web Services Cloud Development Kit](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/mzoues6qkz697j1etzk5.png)

AWS CDK, on the other hand, is Amazon Web Services' Cloud Development Kit. This open-source framework lets you define your cloud infrastructure using familiar programming languages such as TypeScript, Python, or Java. By writing code that represents your resources, you can leverage programming language features to manage complex setups effortlessly. Under the hood, CDK uses AWS CloudFormation to create and manage your defined resources.

Both Terraform and AWS CDK provide powerful options for infrastructure provisioning. The choice between them ultimately depends on factors like your coding preferences and the complexity of your infrastructure setup. No matter which tool you choose, embracing infrastructure as code will unlock automation, scalability, and efficient resource management for your applications.

## Configuration Management

In the realm of IaC tools, configuration management tools are also superheroes when it comes to managing your resources. Now, let's explore two of them: Ansible and Puppet, each with its own unique approach.

### Ansible

Ansible, my personal favorite, is an open-source automation tool that focuses on simplicity and ease of use. It empowers you to define and manage infrastructure configurations through "playbooks" written in YAML. With Ansible, tasks like package installation, configuration file management, and service deployments can be effortlessly automated across multiple servers.

![Ansible playbook nodes and agents](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/m9mk7wmotwxl2sixwfs8.png)

One of Ansible's standout features is its agentless architecture. By leveraging SSH connections, it eliminates the need for additional software or agents on the managed nodes. Ansible playbooks are designed to be idempotent, ensuring you can safely run them multiple times without unintended side effects.

### Puppet

Puppet, on the other hand, provides a robust configuration management solution. Using a declarative language, either Puppet DSL or Ruby code, you describe the desired state of your infrastructure. Puppet's client-server architecture involves a central Puppet master server and Puppet agent nodes on managed servers. This setup allows for centralized management and consistent enforcement of configurations across your infrastructure.

![Puppet Infrastructure automation](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/2d8n8l9harnmre80o7sa.png)

Puppet boasts an extensive ecosystem of pre-built modules and resources, enabling you to manage various aspects of your infrastructure. From users and packages to services and files, Puppet covers a wide range of configuration needs. It also offers reporting and auditing capabilities to track changes and ensure compliance.

Whether you lean towards Ansible's simplicity or Puppet's scalable architecture, both tools are invaluable for automating configuration management. By embracing these tools, you can streamline operations, achieve consistency, and simplify the maintenance of your infrastructure. It's time to bid farewell to manual configurations and welcome the efficiency of configuration management tools like Ansible and Puppet.

## What now?

The world of infrastructure management has been revolutionised by Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools. With the rise of platform engineering practices, engineers realised that manual configurations and repetitive tasks were holding them back. By embracing IaC tools, such as Terraform, AWS CDK, Ansible, and Puppet, teams can automate resource provisioning, simplify configuration management, and ensure the stability and scalability of their infrastructure.

Gone are the days of ClickOps, where clicking through endless dashboards was the norm. With IaC, engineers can define their infrastructure resources in code, leveraging the power of programming languages and declarative configuration files. This shift brings software engineering principles to infrastructure management, enabling teams to treat infrastructure as software.

By adopting IaC tools, teams can tackle the challenges of scaling their applications, managing resources across multiple regions, and maintaining consistency and reliability. Whether it's provisioning instances, automating configuration tasks, or ensuring the desired state of infrastructure, IaC tools provide the means to navigate the dynamic landscape of IT operations.

So, in your quest for seamless infrastructure management, remember to harness the power of Infrastructure as Code. Embrace the automation, scalability, and efficiency it brings to your operations. Say goodbye to manual configurations and repetitive tasks, and welcome a world where infrastructure is as agile and adaptable as the applications it supports.

In my next blog, I'll explain how to use Terraform to provision resources on AWS and also another blog on Kubernetes. So please leave some feedback, or follow for more Cloud content.