IaC in AWS : The Game Changer!

As cloud computing becomes an increasingly popular choice for businesses, it is important to have tools and techniques in place to manage infrastructure. AWS (Amazon Web Services) is a popular cloud platform that offers a variety of tools to help manage infrastructure, including Infrastructure as Code (IaC). In this article, we will discuss the benefits of using IaC in AWS, the options available, and how to configure one form of IaC in AWS.

Why use IaC in AWS?

IaC is a technique that involves writing code to automate the deployment, management, and scaling of infrastructure. It allows for the creation of consistent and repeatable infrastructure that can be easily managed and updated. IaC provides several benefits, including:

1. Consistency: IaC ensures that infrastructure is created in a consistent manner, reducing the risk of errors and inconsistencies.
2. Automation: IaC allows for the automation of infrastructure deployment and management, saving time and reducing the risk of human error.
3. Scalability: IaC makes it easy to scale infrastructure up or down as needed.
4. Collaboration: IaC allows for collaboration between teams, making it easier to manage infrastructure across different departments or organizations.

Options available in AWS:

AWS provides several options for implementing IaC, including:

1. AWS CloudFormation: This is a fully managed service that allows for the creation and management of AWS resources using templates.
2. AWS Elastic Beanstalk: This service allows for the deployment and management of applications on AWS, using a variety of programming languages.
3. AWS OpsWorks: This is a fully managed configuration management service that allows for the automation of infrastructure deployment and management.
4. AWS CodeDeploy: This service allows for the automated deployment of applications to EC2 instances.
5. AWS Serverless Application Model (SAM): This is an open-source framework for building serverless applications on AWS. SAM extends AWS CloudFormation to provide a simplified way of defining the Amazon API Gateway APIs, AWS Lambda functions, and Amazon DynamoDB tables needed by your serverless application.
6. AWS Cloud Development Kit (CDK): This is an open-source software development framework to define cloud infrastructure in code and provision it through AWS CloudFormation. The CDK uses familiar programming languages such as TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, Java, and C#, which makes it easier for developers to write and maintain infrastructure as code.

Both SAM and CDK offer unique advantages over other IaC options in AWS, such as faster development and simplified management of resources. SAM is an ideal option for those who are building serverless applications on AWS, while CDK is a great choice for those who prefer to write infrastructure as code using familiar programming languages.

Learn more about IaC in AWS here:

Which one is the best?

The choice of which IaC option to use will depend on the specific needs of the organization. AWS CloudFormation is a popular choice due to its ease of use and broad support for AWS resources. However, each option has its own strengths and weaknesses and may be better suited for certain use cases.

Which means, when choosing an IaC option in AWS, it's important to consider the specific needs of your organization and choose the option that best meets those needs. AWS offers several options, including CloudFormation, Elastic Beanstalk, OpsWorks, CodeDeploy, SAM, and CDK, each with their own unique advantages and disadvantages. By selecting the right IaC option and following best practices, organizations can ensure the efficient management and scaling of their cloud infrastructure.

Example use case:

As an example, Let's take SAM for reference:

SAM is an open-source framework for building serverless applications on AWS. It extends AWS CloudFormation to provide a simplified way of defining the Amazon API Gateway APIs, AWS Lambda functions, and Amazon DynamoDB tables needed by your serverless application. SAM provides several advantages, including faster development, simplified management of resources, and a serverless-specific template format that makes it easier to define serverless resources.

Suppose you want to create a serverless application that processes data from a Kinesis stream and stores it in DynamoDB. You can use SAM to define the necessary resources in code. First, you define the Kinesis stream and the Lambda function that processes the data:

Resources
? KinesisStream:
? ? Type: AWS::Kinesis::Stream
? ? Properties:
? ? ? Name: MyKinesisStream
? ? ? ShardCount: 1
? DataProcessorFunction:
? ? Type: AWS::Serverless::Function
? ? Properties:
? ? ? CodeUri: myDataProcessor/
? ? ? Handler: app.lambda_handler
? ? ? Runtime: python3.8
? ? ? Events:
? ? ? ? KinesisEvent:
? ? ? ? ? Type: Kinesis
? ? ? ? ? Properties:
? ? ? ? ? ? Stream: !GetAtt KinesisStream.Arn
? ? ? ? ? ? BatchSize: 100        

Next, you define the DynamoDB table where the processed data will be stored:

? DataStoreTable
? ? Type: AWS::Serverless::SimpleTable
? ? Properties:
? ? ? PrimaryKey:
? ? ? ? Name: id
? ? ? ? Type: String        

Finally, you connect the Lambda function to the DynamoDB table:

? DataProcessorFunction
? ? ...
? ? Properties:
? ? ? ...
? ? ? Environment:
? ? ? ? Variables:
? ? ? ? ? TABLE_NAME: !Ref DataStoreTable
? ? ? Policies:
? ? ? ? - AmazonDynamoDBFullAccess
? DataStoreTable:
? ? ...
? ? Properties:
? ? ? ...
? ? ? DeletionPolicy: Retain        

With this code, you can deploy your serverless application using the sam deploy command. SAM will automatically create the necessary AWS resources and configure them according to your code.

In conclusion, IaC is an essential technique for managing cloud infrastructure, and AWS provides several options for implementing IaC, including CloudFormation, Elastic Beanstalk, OpsWorks, CodeDeploy, SAM, and CDK. By selecting the right IaC option and following best practices, organizations can ensure the efficient management and scaling of their cloud infrastructure.