A gentle introduction to Infrastructure as Code (IaC)

In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, efficiently managing your cloud resources is more important than ever, and that’s where Infrastructure as Code (short IaC) comes into play. It’s a transformative approach that helps simplify and streamline the management of infrastructure. Whether you’re a seasoned Cloud Engineer or just beginning your cloud journey, understanding IaC can significantly enhance your ability to deploy and manage infrastructure through code.

In this series, we’re excited to start by defining what Infrastructure as Code is all about. We’ll explore its core principles, the benefits it offers, and how it’s revolutionizing the way organizations manage their infrastructure. Additionally, we’ll take a closer look at two popular IaC tools: Terraform and Bicep, both of which have become essential for automating cloud resource management.

We’ll also discuss key considerations for choosing the best Infrastructure as Code tool tailored to your automation needs, focusing on Bicep and Terraform in combination with Azure DevOps. With the right information and criteria in hand, you’ll be well-equipped to make informed decisions that align with your company’s goals.

Feel free to explore the tabs above to quickly access the topics that interest you most. We’re looking forward to having you join us on this exciting journey into the world of Infrastructure as Code (IaC)!

Introduction to Infrastructure as Code

With the broad shift of infrastructures to the cloud by many companies, traditional manual provisioning methods are rapidly becoming impractical. The shorter lifespan of resources combined with the adoption of modern frameworks underscores the limitations of manual approaches. To ensure the elasticity of resources while optimizing costs, a more efficient and automated strategy is essential. This new approach not only enhances resource management but also allows organizations to swiftly adapt to evolving business needs, making the most of their cloud investments.

Infrastructure as Code (short IaC) addresses these challenges and serves as a tool that uses code instead of graphical representations and manual inputs to manage infrastructures. Infrastructure provisioning via IaC is automated, versioned and reproducible. This enables efficient scaling, improves standardization and reduces human error. Versioning also provides transparency and a documented history of infrastructure changes, which is often lacking with manual infrastructure provisioning.

The code can be interpreted in different languages with various IaC tools and looks more like a script than program code. The most common IaC tools are Bicep, Terraform, Ansible and many more.

Source: Infrastructure as Code: What Is It? Why Is It Important?

Differences Bicep & Terraform

In the evolving landscape of cloud infrastructure management, IaC tools have become essential for almost everyone. Among the notable IaC tools for Azure automation are Azure Bicep and Terraform. Both tools share similarities in their declarative nature, allowing users to define, deploy, and manage cloud resources through code. However, they are tailored for distinct use cases and offer unique features for specific environments.

Bicep

Azure Bicep, developed by Microsoft, is, like Terraform, a declarative IaC code language designed specifically for provisioning Azure resources. When an Azure resource is deployed via the GUI or the Azure CLI, an Azure Resource Manager (short ARM) template is created in the background. This ARM template is represented in JavaScript Object Notation format (short JSON) and can be reused for subsequent deployments. However, the handling and development of ARM templates proved to be time-consuming for members of the Microsoft community and the JSON format was confusing for some too. To simplify and improve the creation and management of these ARM templates, the IaC tool Azure Bicep was developed.

One of the main features of Bicep is that the infrastructure is declared using readable and simple code. Bicep code is transparently converted into ARM templates (JSON format), which means that all functions and resources of ARM templates are also available in Bicep. Other key features include direct integration in PowerShell or Azure CLI as well as continuous further development by Microsoft and its community.

Bicep is a domain-specific language and the code is organized in .bicep files. The structure of a Bicep script is similar to that of a Terraform script. The main Bicep script to be executed is always called “main.bicep”.

The basic structure of a Bicep script is explained in more detail below using the example of creating a storage account in Azure:

  • Parameters: Defines input parameters for the script. In this example, these are the location and the name of the resource group. In addition, the data type (in this example “string”) of the parameters must be defined when using Bicep.
  • Resource: Defines the infrastructure components that are to be created. This requires the API versions and the standard ARM templates from Microsoft as well as a unique name. In this example, these are the API version from 1. of April 2021 and the APIs for storage accounts and resource groups.
  • Output: Defines the output to be displayed after provisioning. In this example, it is the storage account name as a “string” data type.

Terraform

Developed by HashiCorp, Terraform is an open source tool that can be used to implement IaC. With Terraform, it is possible to define, deploy and manage entire infrastructures (servers, databases, networks, etc.) through code. Terraform supports a variety of cloud providers (AWS, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure) as well as on-premises solutions, enabling resources to be managed across different platforms. The main features of Terraform are its cross-platform support, declarative code, modularity, and reproducibility.

Terraform uses a declarative configuration language called HashiCorp-Configuration-Language (short HCL). The code is organized using .tf files and consists of various blocks. These blocks define resources, data sources, variables, and outputs. The main Terraform script to be executed is always called “main.tf”.

To better illustrate the structure of a Terraform script, this is explained using the example of creating a storage account in Azure.

  • Provider: Defines which cloud provider or service is used. In this example, the Azure Resource Manager (syntax: azurerm) is required.
  • Resource: Defines the infrastructure components that are to be created. Each resource declaration must have a unique name. This allows the names to be uniquely referenced when using variables and outputs. In this example, both the resource group (syntax: azurerm_resource_group) and the storage account (syntax: azurerm_storage_account) are defined as resources.
  • Variable: Enables the definition of input variables. In the example of the storage account, for example, the name, the resource group (reference to the name of the resource azurerm_resource_group) and other variables are declared.
  • Output: Defines the output that is to be displayed after provisioning. In the example of the storage account, the name of the created storage account is output.

How to determine your IaC tool

“Terraform versus Bicep, which tool is better?” This question has sparked considerable debate within the IaC community and does not have an easy answer. Various well-known experts have attempted to determine a clear winner through numerous analyses and comparisons, yet a definitive conclusion remains elusive. Therefore, the aim of this blog post is to perform a SWOT analysis to evaluate and select the most suitable IaC tool—either Terraform or Bicep—specifically for deployment in an Azure Cloud-only environment, in conjunction with Azure DevOps.

Why Use SWOT Analysis?

SWOT analysis is a strategic planning tool used to identify and analyse the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of a tool or project. For organizations deciding between Terraform and Bicep, a SWOT analysis can provide valuable insights and help make an informed decision.

Comparing Terraform and Bicep with SWOT Analysis

Here’s a table representation for the SWOT analysis of both Terraform and Bicep:

IaC Tool Internal Analysis External Analysis
Terraform Strengths Opportunities
– Multi-cloud scenarios – Large community
– Multi-service provider support – Wide market acceptance for other use cases
– Scalability
Weaknesses Risks
– Error messages are not always understandable – Acquisition by IBM
– Performance – Rapid innovations in cloud technology
Bicep Strengths Opportunities
– Deep Azure integration – Actively improved by Microsoft
– Simple syntax – Integration in the Microsoft ecosystem
– Speed compared to Terraform for deployment
Weaknesses Risks
– Vendor lock-in – Competition with other IaC tools (Terraform)
– “Relatively” small community – Limitations with multi-cloud providers

Terraform

Terraform stands out for several strengths, including its ability to support multi-cloud scenarios and various cloud service providers. Additionally, Terraform offers high scalability through declarative and modular code. This facilitates the management of large and complex infrastructures.

However, despite these strengths, there are also some weaknesses in using Terraform. Error messages are not always easy to understand, which makes code troubleshooting challenging. Furthermore, executing the code takes some time, which can impact the efficiency of automated deployments.

Bicep

In comparison to Terraform, Bicep offers seamless integration with Azure, which is a particular strength of the tool for Azure infrastructure deployments. Bicep’s simple syntax makes code creation and management easier, especially for newcomers to the IaC topic. Additionally, the high speed of infrastructure deployment is a key strength.

However, Bicep also has its weaknesses. A significant drawback is the vendor lock-in. Bicep was specifically developed for Azure and thus offers less flexibility than Terraform. Moreover, Bicep’s community is currently still small, which limits the exchange of knowledge and resources.

Choosing the Right Tool

The decision of which tool is “better” largely depends on the specific use case and individual requirements. Based on our Azure cloud-only use case, we would always favour Bicep. The seamless integration with Azure, the simple syntax for newcomers, and the integration into Microsoft’s ecosystem were the decisive points for this decision.

However, it is emphasized that there is no universally applicable answer to the question of which of the two tools is superior, as both tools have their respective advantages and disadvantages depending on the context and needs!

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Tags: Azure DevOps, Bicep, Microsoft, Terraform

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