What is infrastructure as code and how do you implement it?
Theme: Infrastructure as Code Role: Dev Ops Engineer Function: Technology
Interview Question for DevOps Engineer: See sample answers, motivations & red flags for this common interview question. About DevOps Engineer: Manages and automates software deployment and infrastructure. This role falls within the Technology function of a firm. See other interview questions & further information for this role here
Sample Answer
Example response for question delving into Infrastructure as Code with the key points that need to be covered in an effective response. Customize this to your own experience with concrete examples and evidence
- Definition of Infrastructure as Code: Infrastructure as Code (IaC) is the practice of managing and provisioning infrastructure resources using machine-readable configuration files or scripts, rather than manually configuring hardware or virtual machines
- Benefits of Infrastructure as Code: 1. Version control: Infrastructure configurations can be stored in a version control system, enabling easy tracking of changes and rollbacks. 2. Reproducibility: Infrastructure can be easily replicated across environments, ensuring consistency and reducing errors. 3. Scalability: IaC allows for automated scaling of infrastructure resources based on demand. 4. Collaboration: Multiple team members can work on infrastructure configurations simultaneously, promoting collaboration and knowledge sharing
- Implementing Infrastructure as Code: 1. Choose an IaC tool: Select a tool like Terraform, AWS CloudFormation, or Ansible that aligns with your infrastructure requirements. 2. Define infrastructure as code: Write configuration files or scripts that describe the desired state of your infrastructure resources. 3. Version control: Store the configuration files in a version control system to track changes and facilitate collaboration. 4. Automate provisioning: Use the chosen IaC tool to automate the provisioning of infrastructure resources based on the defined configuration. 5. Test and validate: Validate the infrastructure deployment by running automated tests and verifying the desired state is achieved. 6. Continuous integration and deployment: Integrate IaC into your CI/CD pipeline to ensure infrastructure changes are automatically deployed and tested
- Best Practices for Infrastructure as Code: 1. Modularity: Break down infrastructure configurations into reusable modules to promote code reusability and maintainability. 2. Documentation: Document the purpose and usage of infrastructure configurations to facilitate understanding and troubleshooting. 3. Immutable infrastructure: Treat infrastructure as immutable, avoiding manual changes and instead recreating resources when updates are needed. 4. Security and compliance: Implement security best practices and ensure compliance requirements are met within the infrastructure code. 5. Testing: Regularly test infrastructure deployments to identify and fix issues early on. 6. Continuous improvement: Continuously review and optimize infrastructure configurations to enhance performance and cost efficiency
Underlying Motivations
What the Interviewer is trying to find out about you and your experiences through this question
- Knowledge of DevOps principles: Understanding infrastructure as code is a fundamental concept in DevOps and demonstrates familiarity with the principles of automating infrastructure management
- Technical expertise: Implementing infrastructure as code requires knowledge of scripting languages, configuration management tools, and cloud platforms. The question aims to assess your technical skills in these areas
- Problem-solving abilities: Implementing infrastructure as code involves designing and maintaining scalable, reliable, and efficient infrastructure. The interviewer wants to gauge your ability to solve complex infrastructure challenges
- Collaboration & communication skills: Implementing infrastructure as code often involves working with cross-functional teams. The question may be asked to evaluate your ability to collaborate and communicate effectively with different stakeholders
Potential Minefields
How to avoid some common minefields when answering this question in order to not raise any red flags
- Lack of understanding: Not being able to explain what infrastructure as code is and its benefits
- Vague or incomplete answer: Providing a general or unclear explanation without mentioning specific tools or practices
- No implementation knowledge: Not being able to explain how infrastructure as code is implemented or lacking knowledge of relevant tools like Terraform or Ansible
- Limited experience: Not being able to provide examples or real-world scenarios where infrastructure as code was used effectively
- Inability to discuss challenges: Not being able to discuss potential challenges or drawbacks of implementing infrastructure as code
- Lack of automation knowledge: Not understanding the importance of automation in infrastructure as code or not mentioning tools like Jenkins or Git for version control