We recently took over a project for a client that uses—Terraform. The platform has earned a reputation as the go-to tool for simplifying infrastructure management. Terraform allows us to manage infrastructure as code (IaC), which brings automation and repeatability to setting up cloud environments. It’s the perfect tool for projects with complex cloud needs.
At its core, Terraform is a DevOps tool, part of a field combining software development and IT operations (hence “DevOps”). DevOps is all about creating a smooth, continuous workflow for building, testing, deploying, and maintaining software between developers and operations teams.
Whether your infrastructure is in a public or private cloud, IaC tools let you manage and provision computing infrastructure using code rather than physical or manual configurations. With an IaC tool like Terraform, you can define cloud resources like servers and databases in a script, making it easy to deploy, replicate, and scale environments without ever logging into a cloud console.
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How We’re Using Terraform in Our Project
Terraform made it easier for us to recreate and manage the project’s production environment by setting up new staging and production accounts on Amazon Web Services (AWS).
For example, we could use Terraform to create essential cloud components like S3 buckets for storage, ECS clusters for container management, and even a database on DigitalOcean for specific database needs.
One great thing about Terraform is its modular structure. We could break down configurations into different files, each representing a specific cloud resource. This modular approach lets us cherry-pick what we need for each deployment, which saves time.
Terraform also has a planning feature that previews the changes to the environment before we deploy, helping us catch any potential issues ahead of time. The tool flags modifications or deletions, giving us a chance to confirm changes or cancel actions, which is a huge asset in avoiding mistakes in production.
What I’ve Learned Using Terraform
As a beginner with Terraform, I can say the learning curve is real, but worth it. One of the standout lessons has been understanding how Terraform organizes and automates infrastructure, reducing the time it takes to replicate environments. I had to dig into Terraform's extensive documentation, which was challenging but helped me see how to leverage Terraform to create reliable and scalable infrastructure. While this project was complex, it demonstrated the value of IaC and solidified my understanding of DevOps workflows.
Terraform also showed me the importance of documentation and consistency. Because Terraform scripts are reusable, we can quickly replicate environments without needing extensive manual setup each time, and any DevOps team member can jump in and understand the setup based on the existing scripts. It’s a tool I’d now be confident using on other projects, particularly for setting up multiple-component cloud environments.
We’re Here to Help with Your Next Project
At BitBakery, we’re always expanding our toolkit to bring the best tools and practices to our client projects. Whether your project involves complex cloud infrastructure or something simpler, our team is ready to support you. Contact us today to learn how we can help streamline your infrastructure and DevOps needs.
Photo by Taylor Vick on Unsplash
