2014-07-16 23:51:48 +02:00
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---
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layout: "intro"
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page_title: "Terraform vs. Custom Solutions"
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sidebar_current: "vs-other-custom"
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---
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# Terraform vs. Custom Solutions
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2014-07-28 20:37:33 +02:00
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Most organizations start by manually managing infrastructure through
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2014-07-25 18:53:06 +02:00
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simple scripts or web based interfaces. As the infrastructure grows,
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any manual approach to management becomes both error prone and tedious.
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As a result, many organizations begin to home-roll tooling to help
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automate the mechanical processes involved.
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2014-07-16 23:51:48 +02:00
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2014-07-25 18:53:06 +02:00
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These tools require time and resources to build and maintain.
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As tools of necessity, they represent the minimum viable
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2014-07-27 21:30:25 +02:00
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features needed by an organization, being built to handle only
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2014-07-25 18:53:06 +02:00
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the immediate needs. As a result they are often hard
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to extend and difficult to maintain. Because the tooling must be
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updated in lock step with any new features or infrastructure,
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it becomes the limiting factor for how fast infrastructure
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can evolve.
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2014-07-16 23:51:48 +02:00
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2014-07-25 18:53:06 +02:00
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Terraform is designed to tackle these challenges. It provides a simple
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unified syntax, allowing almost any resource to be managed without
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learning new tooling. By capturing all the resources required, the
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dependencies between them can be resolved automatically so that operators
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do not need to remember and reason about them. Removing the burden
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of building the tool allows operators to focus on their infrastructure
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and not the tooling.
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Additionally, Terraform is an open source tool. In addition to
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2014-07-28 22:09:32 +02:00
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HashiCorp, the community around it helps to extend its features,
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fix bugs and document new use cases. Terraform helps solve a problem
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that exists in every organization and provides a standard that can
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be adopted to avoid re-inventing the wheel between and within organizations.
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It's open source nature ensures it will be around in the long term.
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2014-07-16 23:51:48 +02:00
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