What is Infrastructure as Code (IaC)

“Infrastructure as Code automates provisioning and management of cloud resources”

Creating modern cloud applications requires us to provision, configure and manage several cloud resources. Rather than configuring resources manually, we use descriptive templates, source code and Devops to eliminate manual configuration. IaC and Devops allows us to deploy and scale cloud applications with greater speed, less risk and with reduced cost.

“In IaC Infrastructure is treated with the same principles and practices as any other source code”

IaC generates the same environment every time it is applied and allows us to deliver stable environments rapidly and at scale. We can use all the same principles and practices that we use with any other source code (version control, automated testing, pull requests, code reviews).

“IaC removes the risk associated with human error, like manual misconfigurations”

Accidents happen, human error happens. Even experts make some once in a while. This is even more so if you have large teams and multiple people setting up and cofiguring your infrastructure. With IaC and devops practices we can reduce risks and deliver stable environments faster.

9 reasons to use IaC?

• You can fully automate provisioning and management of cloud resources and entire environments
• You can miminize risks by creating the same environment every time without user made mistakes
• You can significantly improve productivity in large-scale environments
• You can enforce consistency by representing the desired state of the environments
• You can provision multiple environments reliably, at scale and on demand
• You can validate and test the IaC code to prevent deployment issues
• You can manage infrastructure via source control and provide a detailed audit trail for changes
• You can use same quality gates that are used with source code (code reviews, versioning, pull requests, automated testing)
• You can increase productivity and allow developers to spend more time executing higher-value tasks