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Build5Nines Newsletter

Thank you for subscribing! I look forward to sharing with you the latest cloud news, technical help, and other thoughts around DevOps and SRE topics.

— Chris Pietschmann, Microsoft MVP, HashiCorp Ambassador

Benefits of Convention over Configuration for IaC Deployment Projects

With Infrastructure as Code (IaC), every aspect of an organization’s infrastructure is defined and managed through code. This infrastructure deployment and configuration automation makes managing the organizations infrastructure much easier over time. Also, by committing the IaC code that configurations the infrastructure into source control, there are change tracking and other benefits for the organizations infrastructure management process. However, infrastructure deployments can suffer from configuration bloat that makes things much more difficult to maintain over time. This is where the concept of “Convention over Configuration” becomes extremely useful for simplifying the IaC code, creating infrastructure standards, and making the IaC code for large scale infrastructure deployments much easier to maintain.

Let’s look at what “Convention over Configuration” is, and how it can be applied towards small and large scale Infrastructure as Code (IaC) deployments.

What is “Convention over Configuration”?

“Convention over Configuration” (CoC) is a design paradigm that prioritizes sensible defaults and standardized conventions over explicit configuration. This means that a framework or tool will make assumptions about the best way to accomplish tasks, reducing the need for developers to specify every detail explicitly.

At its core, the main goal of CoC is to minimize the amount of configuration required, allowing developers to focus more on writing application logic rather than spending time configuring settings. Developers can achieve faster development cycles by establishing conventions and standards to be followed.

Analyzing IBM’s Acquisition of HashiCorp: A Game-Changer in Hybrid Cloud Management

IBM has announced its acquisition of HashiCorp Inc., a leading multi-cloud infrastructure automation company, for $6.4 billion! This acquisition is poised to revolutionize the hybrid cloud landscape, offering enterprises a comprehensive end-to-end solution to navigate the complexities of today’s AI-driven application growth. Let’s look at the details of this cloud changing acquisition and its implications for the industry.

AISecOps: Applying DevSecOps to AI and ML Security

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) have emerged as transformative technologies, driving innovation across many industries. However, in addition to their benefits, AI and ML systems bring unique security challenges that demand a proactive and comprehensive approach. A new methodology that applies the principles of DevSecOps to AI and ML security, called AISecOps, ensures that these advanced systems are robust, resilient, and trustworthy in the face of constantly evolving threats.

Why do Azure Resource Groups have an Azure Region association?

All resources within Microsoft Azure are created within an Azure Resource Group. While every resource has an Azure Region (aka location) specified as to where the resource will be hosted, so do Azure Resource Groups. This may be confusing at first, since Azure Resource Groups are a “global” resource. This means they are just an organization container within Microsoft Azure to put other Azure resources within.

This is a question I’ve gotten a lot over the years as an Azure trainer and consultant. This article will explain the answer to that, as well as give you more information so you can better understand the functions and purpose of Azure Resource Groups.