Infrastructure as Code: faster, cheaper, and better

What is Infrastructure as Code (IaC)?

When developing software, infrastructure often needs to be created for testing or deployment purposes. Without IaC, teams must manually create this infrastructure each time, which can be time costly and can result in unique configurations. The settings aren’t always replicated exactly, even if the functions are similar. Managing these environments can be error prone and time consuming.

Let’s first clarify what we mean by infrastructure. In IT, infrastructure includes networks, virtual machines, and load balancers; all elements that are necessary to test or run software.

By programming infrastructure as code, you avoid creating dozens or even hundreds of unique environments. Instead, each environment follows the rules of its code, is automatically set up, and is identical each time. This brings several key advantages.

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Benefits of Infrastructure as Code

As we mentioned earlier, the main advantages of IaC include reduced costs, faster processes, and improved reliability.

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Speed and ease

With IaC, you can deploy an entire infrastructure just by running a script. This can include virtual servers, pre-configured databases, load balancers, and more, all of which can be used during development, staging, or production. Another advantage is that you can effortlessly replicate this infrastructure in a different data center, making it easier to back up your work.

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Reduced risk, increased consistency

Not every developer is skilled at setting up a good infrastructure. Maybe only one or two developers know exactly how to configure it. But what happens if they get sick or leave the company? With IaC, you not only automate the process, but also ensure that the process is documented properly. This makes rolling out infrastructure much easier. Since you use code to set up your infrastructure, version control becomes a natural part of the process, making it easier to troubleshoot any issues.

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Lower costs

You want your developers to focus on tasks where they add the most value. Of course this is not at manually creating infrastructure. Automating this process with IaC frees up your developers' time to work on the software itself. As a result, developers become more productive, and personnel costs can be saved. Infrastructure as code also allows you to automatically deactivate infrastructure when it’s no longer in use, helping you save on cloud hosting costs.

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Where to start?

IaC is closely tied to DevOps, so if you're not already working on DevOps, that’s a good first step. If your DevOps process is already running smoothly, you can start exploring tools for implementing IaC. Consider looking into tools like Docker, Juju, or Terraform. The Udemy platform offers a great starting point with courses on IaC!