Mastering the Basics: Terraform and Infrastructure as Code in Azure

Introduction Managing cloud infrastructure manually is slow, error-prone, and impossible to scale. Infrastructure as Code (IaC) solves these problems by allowing infrastructure to be defined, deployed, and maintained with code. Terraform has become the go-to IaC tool because of its declarative approach, multi-cloud support, and ability to track infrastructure changes over time. This article will walk through the fundamentals of Terraform, covering why manual provisioning causes problems, how Terraform improves cloud management, and key best practices to ensure scalable and secure deployments. Continue reading

Terraform State Management in Azure: Don’t Let Your Backend Bite You

🥇 Your Terraform state file is the source of truth for your infrastructure. Lose it, and you might as well be deploying blindfolded. But how could you manage it properly in Azure? ⛈️ Why Terraform State Matters (And Why It Can Ruin Your Day) Terraform needs a state file to track the real-world infrastructure vs what your code says should exist. If that state file disappears, gets corrupted, or is being fought over by multiple deployments, you’re in for a world of pain. Continue reading

Why-aC | Why infrastructure as code?

Most companies today are already using some elements of cloud computing—whether that’s through a trusted partner, a service, or directly with one of the major cloud providers like Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud. However, despite this very few are leveraging ‘Infrastructure as Code’ (IaC). IaC was once seen as a gold standard of platform management, something only accessible to the largest enterprises with deep pockets and large developer teams dedicated to managing sprawling infrastructure. Continue reading

What’s the best IaC tool for Azure?

Many of you will already be using Infrastructure as Code (IaC) day to day but for some choosing the right tool to ensure success is the real first stumbling block. So with so many options, how should you go about choosing the one that’s right? In the Microsoft corner there’s; PowerShell, Azure Resource Manager (ARM), Bicep and in the 3rd party corner HashiCorp Terraform each offer benefits and drawbacks. The choice comes down to your team’s skills, the complexity of your environment, and your cloud strategy. Continue reading

Why Terraform?

Intro I’m often asked if Microsoft provides the ability the deploy resources into Azure using Azure Resource Manager templates (ARM Templates) then why would I use Terraform for CI/CD deployments? In this post, I’ll try to answer this and provide an understanding of the differences and why, in my opinion, Terraform is the most versatile and agile tool available for IaC deployments. Why Infrastructure as code? Anyone who’s spent anytime deploying to Azure knows that the user interface is intuitive and that it guides you through the creation of deploying resources really well, prompting you for missing information and providing handy tooltips. Continue reading