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Infrastructure as code is the automation of IT infrastructure. Historically, infrastructure such as servers were deployed and managed by specialists who configured things manually. This doesn't work in a cloud environment where servers have to be configured and deployed on the fly. Infrastructure as code evolved as a way to manage large scale infrastructure resources in an environment of constant change that requires operational stability. The following are illustrative examples of infrastructure as code designed to show why manual infrastructure configuration is prohibitively inefficient for a modern IT platform.
DeploymentDeploying a change to a platform that is currently running on 400 production servers.MonitoringMonitoring user experience such as response times across a cloud platform where users are connecting to different machines in different data centers.Identifying a production problem and correlating it to a server, set of servers or a particular type of configuration.
Configuration ManagementKeeping an accurate history of configurations across complex environments. RollbackReverting a large number of servers back to a historical configuration.Applying a security fix to a device driver on thousands of servers running different systems and applications sponsored by different business units.
AdministrationAutomating cumbersome administrative tasks such as daily backups across a large number of devices.AlertsGenerating and handling alerts. For example, a large telecom company might receive thousands of alerts every few minutes and they need to automatically figure out which indicate a problem that actually impacts customers or end-users.ProvisioningA data center needs to quickly change the linux version on 50 physical machines to meet customer demand.
CapacityAn internet service needs to balance load across 7 data centers.ResilienceA cloud service has an average of 7 servers fail in various ways each day. This needs to be immediately detected and handled by redirecting load to working servers.A cold backup site needs to be continuously synced with production. |
Type | | Definition | The automation of IT infrastructure deployment, monitoring and management. | Notes | In the past, infrastructure teams were mostly specialists in hardware and operating systems who focused on connecting and configuring things. Infrastructure as code represents a shift towards having infrastructure managed by developers. | Related Concepts | |
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