How is infrastructure as code IaC implemented using AWS?

Infrastructure as code (IaC) is the process of provisioning and managing computer data centers through machine-readable definition files instead of physical hardware configuration. Traditionally, this will be done manually by the assigned team, from the setup of the disk to installing the operating systems and applications. Traditionally, this is time-consuming and high risk as any sort of malfunctions will require the subject matter expert to address the problem.

AWS powered DevOps Infrastructure as a code

NextGen IaC allows automation for the entire infrastructure setup. It will provision and manage the infrastructure through codes and can automate, reproduce the systems. It will make it easier for collaboration between stakeholders, manage repeatable tasks, and automate scaling resources.

Various AWS services help the the automation of Iac. Amazon S3 and Direct Connect helps with The critical aspect of infrastructure is disaster recovery and backup. The traditional backup runs on fixed time intervals. Imagine, if there is a failure or network latency, it could lead to data loss that could affect the productivity and reliability of the organization. Cloud Computing has made it so simple and flexible for organizations to enhance data protection, easy deployment, and cost efficiency.

With the right back up strategy and predefined templates, we can implement cross region backups and recovery through automation. Using reliable AWS services like S3 and Direct Connect we can sync the backup solutions at defined regular intervals. For Business Continuity Planning/Disaster Recovery (BCP/DR), we can implement CloudFormation templates for ease of use to make a highly reliable, available, and scalable or upgradeable AWS infrastructure.

Xtremax has expertise in leveraging various AWS services to implement Next Gen Infrastructure as a code in their projects. Get started on your AWS journey with Xtremax.

Managed Service using Cloud Formation

Nowadays, as a system integrator and an agency Xtremax leverage the traditonal architecture into the cloud ecosystem. It's including the how we manage the current project and upcoming project to build an ecosystem on AWS. There are many AWS features can be used to help the migration and operation process running smoothly. One of them is AWS Cloud Formation.

On the managed service itself, we want to minimize the manual touch on every system to minimize the error caused by the human. In this case, Xtremax use Cloud Formation to execute customer request related to updating the resources on AWS.

How we do it

In order for AWS Cloud Formation to work as shown on the picture above, it is important to create a stack. AWS CloudFormation is effective when resources are provisioned and configured for various use cases. For example, EC2 instances created using CloudFormation require permissions. Similarly, there is a requirement for permissions that limit the creation of instances once a stack is deleted.

Therefore, there is a requirement to use AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) to monitor, control and manage permissions. Hence, it is important to create a template that automates the authority and function of CloudFormation.

Creating Code Infrastructure

We create Infrastructure from the beginning using code by using JSON format.  All of the code will be created by our DevOps engineer following the customer request on particular resources. The Devops usually use their predefined template to make it lot easier then to write from scratch.

Save code into AWS S3

The code then will be uploaded to the S3 bucket, so other DevOps engineer can also access the code when they needed.

AWS CloudFormation

At first, to create Cloud Formation stack Devops will describing the exact location of the template, in this case it uses S3 location. So, they will put the AWS S3 URL as the location of the template.

Secondly, they determine any parameters in the template and specify input values. It will helps them while creating the stack.

Thirdly and most importantly, enable parameters to help pass in values. It allows devops to easily customize resources while creating the stack.

Output of the Process

CloudFormation allocates and configures resources by approaching AWS. The use cases and functions of the AWS CloudFormation are mentioned in the template. Moreover, these use cases and functions arrange the stacks and resources for the template to help operate AWS CloudFormation.

On CWP, the Devops use CloudFormation stack to provision and update customer resources, such as Lambda Node, RDS, EC2 instances, Network Virtual appliance, and many more. Since the DevOps use CloudFormation during the maintenance, they can save enough time to do another task. From the business perspective, it can reduce the estimated waiting time for customers to get their requests finished and increase customer satisfaction.