DevOps, Day - 54
Understanding Infrastructure as Code and Configuration Management
What's the difference?
When it comes to the cloud, Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and Configuration Management (CM) are inseparable. With IaC, a descriptive model is used for infrastructure management. To name a few examples of infrastructure: networks, virtual computers, and load balancers. Using an IaC model always results in the same setting.
Throughout the lifecycle of a product, Configuration Management (CM) ensures that the performance, functional and physical inputs, requirements, design, and operations of that product remain consistent.
Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Infrastructure as Code is a practice of managing and provisioning infrastructure using code, typically in a declarative manner. This approach helps automate the process of infrastructure deployment and management, making it more efficient, repeatable, and consistent.
Configuration Management Tools: Configuration management tools, on the other hand, focus on the configuration and state of software running on servers and ensure that the desired state is maintained. These tools are responsible for configuring and maintaining the software and applications running on servers.
The key differences between Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and Configuration Management Tools:
| Aspect | Infrastructure as Code (IaC) | Configuration Management Tools |
| Scope | Defines and provisions entire infrastructure, including servers, networks, and storage. | Focuses on managing software and application configurations on existing infrastructure. |
| Approach | Typically declarative - specifying the desired end-state and letting the tool figure out how to achieve it. | Often imperative - specifying step-by-step instructions for configuring the system. |
| Primary Use | Provisioning, scaling, and managing infrastructure. | Maintaining and configuring software on servers. |
| Examples | Terraform, AWS CloudFormation, Azure ARM Templates, Google Cloud Deployment Manager. | Chef, Puppet, Ansible, SaltStack. |
Common IaC and Configuration Management Tools:
IaC Tools:
Terraform: A popular IaC tool that supports multiple cloud providers and can manage infrastructure as code using its declarative HCL language.
AWS CloudFormation: A native AWS IaC service for defining AWS infrastructure using templates.
Azure Resource Manager (ARM) Templates: Microsoft Azure's equivalent to CloudFormation.
Google Cloud Deployment Manager: Google Cloud's IaC tool.
Configuration Management Tools:
Chef: An open-source configuration management tool that automates the deployment and management of software and configurations.
Puppet: A configuration management tool known for its agent-based approach to configuration management.
Ansible: An agentless automation tool that can be used for configuration management, application deployment, and more.
SaltStack: An open-source configuration management and automation tool designed for speed and scalability.
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