Apply Infrastructure as Code (IaC) for Consistency & Automation

This standard focuses on the implementation of Infrastructure as Code (IaC) to achieve consistency, automation, and repeatability in infrastructure management, ensuring robust and efficient deployment lifecycles.

1. Apply Infrastructure as Code (IaC) for Consistency & Automation:

Infrastructure should be managed declaratively, using code, to eliminate manual configuration errors and ensure consistent, repeatable environments across the entire software development lifecycle.

• 1.1 Declarative Infrastructure Definition:
  • 1.1.1 Technology Selection:
    • Define infrastructure using industry-standard IaC tools such as Terraform, AWS CloudFormation, Azure Bicep, or similar declarative configuration languages.
    • Standardise on a single IaC tool within the organisation for consistency and ease of maintenance.
  • 1.1.2 Version Control:
    • Store IaC code in version control systems (e.g., Git) to track changes, enable collaboration, and facilitate rollbacks.
    • Treat infrastructure code with the same rigour as application code, ensuring proper code reviews and testing.
  • 1.1.3 Modular Design:
    • Design infrastructure as modular, reusable components to promote consistency and reduce duplication.
    • Employ abstractions and templates to manage complex infrastructure configurations.
• 1.2 Automated Infrastructure Management:
  • 1.2.1 Automated Provisioning:
    • Automate the provisioning of infrastructure resources (e.g., servers, databases, networks) using CI/CD pipelines.
    • Implement automated resource tagging and naming conventions for efficient management.
  • 1.2.2 Automated Scaling & Recovery:
    • Automate scaling and recovery processes to ensure system resilience and responsiveness to changing demands.
    • Implement auto-scaling policies based on performance metrics and resource utilisation.
  • 1.2.3 Configuration Management:
    • Utilise configuration management tools (e.g., Ansible, Chef, Puppet) to automate the configuration of infrastructure resources.
    • Ensure configurations are idempotent, meaning they produce the same result regardless of the initial state.
• 1.3 Environment Parity & Consistency:
  • 1.3.1 Environment Definitions:
    • Define infrastructure configurations for development, staging, and production environments as code.
    • Ensure environment parity by using the same IaC code across all environments.
  • 1.3.2 Automated Environment Deployment:
    • Automate the deployment of infrastructure changes to all environments using CI/CD pipelines.
    • Implement automated testing to validate infrastructure changes before deployment to production.
  • 1.3.3 Drift Detection & Remediation:
    • Implement automated drift detection to identify discrepancies between the defined infrastructure and the actual state.
    • Automate remediation processes to correct infrastructure drift and maintain consistency.
• 1.4 Security & Compliance:
  • 1.4.1 Security as Code:
    • Define security policies and configurations as code, ensuring consistent security posture across environments.
    • Integrate security scanning tools into IaC pipelines to identify vulnerabilities.
  • 1.4.2 Compliance Automation:
    • Automate compliance checks and audits using IaC and configuration management tools.
    • Generate compliance reports automatically to demonstrate adherence to regulatory requirements.
• 1.5 Documentation & Knowledge Sharing:
  • 1.5.1 Automated Documentation:
    • Generate infrastructure documentation automatically from IaC code.
    • Utilise tools to visualise infrastructure dependencies and configurations.
  • 1.5.2 Knowledge Sharing & Collaboration:
    • Promote knowledge sharing and collaboration among infrastructure engineers through code reviews and documentation.
    • Establish a central repository for IaC code and documentation.

By adopting IaC, organisations can achieve greater efficiency, consistency, and reliability in infrastructure management, enabling faster deployment cycles and improved system stability.