Immutable infrastructure

Definition

Immutable infrastructure is an approach to IT infrastructure management where servers and services are never modified after deployment. Instead, if changes are needed, new versions of the infrastructure are created and deployed, while the old ones are discarded. This model helps ensure consistency and reduces the risk of configuration drift, which can lead to unpredictable behavior in applications.

5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

1. Immutable infrastructure simplifies deployment processes since changes do not affect existing servers; instead, new instances replace the old ones.
2. This approach enhances security by reducing vulnerabilities that can occur through untracked changes and manual updates.
3. Immutable infrastructure works hand-in-hand with containerization technologies like Docker, making it easier to create consistent environments for development, testing, and production.
4. Version control becomes more manageable because each deployment is treated as a new version, allowing teams to easily roll back to previous states if needed.
5. By adopting immutable infrastructure, organizations often see improved scalability and reliability since new instances can be spun up quickly without worrying about legacy configurations.

Review Questions

• How does immutable infrastructure help prevent configuration drift in IT environments?
  • Immutable infrastructure prevents configuration drift by ensuring that once a server or service is deployed, it is not modified. Instead of making changes to existing servers, teams create new instances with the required updates. This means that every deployment is consistent with the original configuration, eliminating discrepancies that can arise from manual updates or alterations over time.
• Discuss the relationship between immutable infrastructure and Infrastructure as Code (IaC). How do they complement each other?
  • Immutable infrastructure and Infrastructure as Code (IaC) work together to improve IT operations. With IaC, infrastructure is defined in code, allowing for automated provisioning and management. Immutable infrastructure leverages this automation by deploying new instances based on defined code rather than modifying existing ones. Together, they enhance reliability, enable version control, and streamline deployment processes by ensuring consistent environments across development and production.
• Evaluate the impact of adopting immutable infrastructure on an organization's overall DevOps practices and software delivery lifecycle.
  • Adopting immutable infrastructure significantly transforms an organization's DevOps practices by promoting a culture of automation and consistency. It facilitates faster software delivery cycles since new versions can be deployed rapidly without concern for lingering issues from previous configurations. This leads to increased collaboration between development and operations teams, as both sides work with predictable and repeatable deployments. Additionally, it enhances system reliability and security by reducing the chances of errors from manual intervention, allowing teams to focus on innovation rather than maintenance.

Related terms

Configuration Drift:

The phenomenon where the configuration of a system changes over time due to manual updates or changes, leading to discrepancies between environments.

Infrastructure as Code (IaC):

A practice that involves managing and provisioning computing infrastructure through machine-readable definition files, rather than physical hardware configuration.

Containers: Lightweight, portable units of software that package up code and all its dependencies so applications can run quickly and reliably in different computing environments.