Book Image

Infrastructure as Code for Beginners

By : Russ McKendrick
4 (1)
Book Image

Infrastructure as Code for Beginners

4 (1)
By: Russ McKendrick

Overview of this book

The Infrastructure as Code (IaC) approach ensures consistent and repeatable deployment of cloud-based IaaS/PaaS services, saving you time while delivering impeccable results. Infrastructure as Code for Beginners is a practical implementation guide that helps you gain a clear understanding of the foundations of Infrastructure as Code and make informed decisions when implementing it. With this book, you’ll uncover essential IaC concepts, including planning, selecting, and implementing the right tools for your project. With step-by-step explanations and real-world examples, you'll gain a solid understanding of the benefits of IaC and the scope of application in your projects. You'll learn about the pros, cons, and best practices of different IaC tools such as Terraform and Ansible, and their use at different stages of the deployment process along with GitHub Actions. Using these tools, you'll be able to design, deploy, and secure your infrastructure on two major cloud platforms, Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services. In addition, you'll explore other IaC tools such as Pulumi, AWS CloudFormation, and Azure Bicep. By the end of this book, you’ll be well equipped to approach your IaC projects confidently.
Table of Contents (15 chapters)
1
Part 1: The Foundations – An Introduction to Infrastructure as Code
5
Part 2: Getting Hands-On with the Deployment
9
Part 3: CI/CD and Best Practices

Introducing and preparing our cloud environment

In 2008, Microsoft unveiled Windows Azure, a cloud-based data center service that had been in development under the internal project name Project Red Dog. This service included five core components:

  • Microsoft SQL Data Services, a cloud version of the SQL database, which aimed to simplify hosting
  • Microsoft .NET Services, a Platform as a Service (PaaS), allowed developers to deploy their .NET-based applications in a Microsoft-managed runtime
  • Microsoft SharePoint and Dynamics, Software as a Service (SaaS) versions of the company’s intranet and customer relationship management products
  • Windows Azure is an Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) offering that enables users to create virtual machines, storage, and networking services for their compute workloads

All the services provided by Microsoft as part of Windows Azure were built upon the Red Dog operating system, a specialized version of their Windows NT operating...