Infrastructure from Code a New Trend?
Wait! I know Infrastructure as Code (IaC), that's Terraform. Terraform has been a cornerstone of IaC, providing developers with the ability to manage and automate infrastructure efficiently. However, recent events have made me concerned about its future, especially following HashiCorp's decision to switch Terraform's licensing to the Business Source License (BSL) and IBM’s intention to acquire HashiCorp.
However, as the complexity of cloud environments and microservices architectures grows, there's an increasing need for even more dynamic, context-aware infrastructure that can adapt to changes in real-time. This is where "Infrastructure from Code" comes in - it takes the principles of IaC a step further by directly linking infrastructure creation and management to the application code itself.
What is Infrastructure from Code ?
Infrastructure as Code (IaC) like Terraform allows you to define your infrastructure using code, but Infrastructure from Code (IfC) takes it a step further by generating infrastructure directly from the application code itself.
In simpler terms, IfC automates the creation of infrastructure resources based on the requirements defined within your application code without requiring a separate infrastructure definition file. This concept bridges the gap between application development and infrastructure management by analyzing the application code, understanding its dependencies, and then automatically generating the necessary infrastructure.
Why is it a New Trend?
Yes, Infrastructure from Code (IfC) is an emerging trend, particularly in the context of modern DevOps practices and cloud-native development. As organizations increasingly adopt microservices, serverless architectures, and continuous delivery pipelines, the need for more streamlined and automated infrastructure management has grown. IfC addresses this need by making infrastructure provisioning a more integrated part of the development process.
refer - https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/5519995
Automation and Efficiency: Developers and operations teams are always looking for ways to reduce manual effort and increase efficiency. IfC automates the infrastructure provisioning process directly from the application code, reducing the need for separate infrastructure scripts.
Tight Integration: As applications become more complex, there's a growing need for infrastructure that is tightly integrated with the application itself. IfC ensures that the infrastructure is directly aligned with the codebase, reducing issues related to infrastructure drift and misconfiguration.
Context Aware: Based on the code requirements and available cloud resources, infrastructure is provisioned with security and application requirements covered.
Serverless and Microservices: These architectures naturally lend themselves to Infrastructure from Code. In serverless, for instance, the boundaries between application code and infrastructure are often blurred. IfC fits well in these environments by allowing infrastructure to be defined and provisioned in a way that is tightly coupled with the application logic.
Tooling and Ecosystem: The trend is supported by new tools and frameworks that enable Infrastructure from Code. These tools are becoming more sophisticated, allowing for more complex infrastructure to be automatically generated from code. Examples include StackGen, AWS CDK (Cloud Development Kit) and Pulumi, which enable developers to define cloud infrastructure using familiar programming languages.
DevOps and GitOps: As DevOps practices evolve, there is a push towards making all aspects of development and operations code-centric. GitOps, for instance, emphasizes the use of Git as the single source of truth for both application code and infrastructure. IfC aligns with this philosophy by embedding infrastructure definitions within the application code itself.
Infrastructure from Code is indeed a new trend, driven by the need for more efficient, integrated, and automated infrastructure management in modern cloud-native development environments. It represents a natural evolution of DevOps practices, pushing towards even tighter integration between code and infrastructure with security best practices included by default.
