Deployment Case Studies in Infrastructure as Code

1. Introduction

Deployment case studies illustrate how organizations implement Infrastructure as Code (IaC) to streamline their deployment processes. This lesson covers two prominent case studies and their respective tools.

2. Case Study 1: AWS with Terraform

Overview

This case study explores a company that adopted Terraform for managing AWS infrastructure.

Key Steps

Define infrastructure using HCL (HashiCorp Configuration Language).
Initialize Terraform workspace.
Run terraform plan to review changes.
Execute terraform apply to provision resources.

Code Example


resource "aws_instance" "example" {
  ami           = "ami-12345678"
  instance_type = "t2.micro"
}

3. Case Study 2: Azure with ARM Templates

Overview

This section discusses a company that leverages Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates for their Azure deployments.

Key Steps

Create an ARM template in JSON format.
Deploy using Azure CLI or Azure Portal.
Monitor deployment status and troubleshoot if necessary.

Code Example


{
  "$schema": "http://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2019-04-01/deploymentTemplate.json#",
  "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
  "resources": [
    {
      "type": "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines",
      "apiVersion": "2020-06-01",
      "name": "[parameters('vmName')]",
      "location": "[parameters('location')]",
      "properties": {
        "hardwareProfile": {
          "vmSize": "Standard_DS1_v2"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

4. Best Practices

Key Takeaways

Use version control for infrastructure code.
Implement automated testing for IaC scripts.
Document all infrastructure changes.
Regularly audit and optimize infrastructure.

Note: Always backup your IaC configurations and state files.

5. FAQ

What is Infrastructure as Code?

Infrastructure as Code (IaC) is the practice of managing and provisioning computing infrastructure through machine-readable scripts, rather than through physical hardware configuration.

Why use IaC?

IaC allows for repeatable and consistent infrastructure deployments, reduces manual errors, and improves collaboration among teams.