AWS CloudFormation

An AWS CloudFormation is an infrastructure as code (IaC) software platform that enables AWS resource orchestration (for AWS infrastructure automation).

• AKA: CloudFormation, AWS CFN, AWS Infrastructure as Code Service.
• Context:
  • It can typically define AWS CloudFormation Template through AWS CloudFormation JSON format or AWS CloudFormation YAML format.
  • It can typically provision AWS CloudFormation Resource through AWS CloudFormation stack creation process.
  • It can typically manage AWS CloudFormation Stack through AWS CloudFormation lifecycle operation.
  • It can typically organize AWS CloudFormation Resource Dependency through AWS CloudFormation reference architecture.
  • It can typically enforce AWS CloudFormation Resource Compliance through AWS CloudFormation drift detection mechanism.
  • ...
  • It can often implement AWS CloudFormation Change Set through AWS CloudFormation preview capability.
  • It can often support AWS CloudFormation Custom Resource through AWS CloudFormation Lambda integration.
  • It can often facilitate AWS CloudFormation Nested Stack through AWS CloudFormation modular template design.
  • It can often enable AWS CloudFormation Cross-Region Deployment through AWS CloudFormation multi-region orchestration.
  • It can often deliver AWS CloudFormation Template Validation through AWS CloudFormation linting mechanism.
  • ...
  • It can range from being a Simple AWS CloudFormation to being a Complex AWS CloudFormation, depending on its AWS CloudFormation template complexity.
  • It can range from being a Single-Region AWS CloudFormation to being a Multi-Region AWS CloudFormation, depending on its AWS CloudFormation geographical scope.
  • It can range from being a Development AWS CloudFormation to being an Enterprise AWS CloudFormation, depending on its AWS CloudFormation organizational scale.
  • ...
  • It can integrate with AWS CloudFormation Registry for AWS CloudFormation extension management.
  • It can connect to AWS CloudFormation StackSets for AWS CloudFormation multi-account deployment.
  • It can support AWS CloudFormation Guard for AWS CloudFormation policy validation.
  • It can complement AWS CloudFormation Designer for AWS CloudFormation visual modeling.
  • ...
• Examples:
  • AWS CloudFormation Evolutions, such as:
    • Early AWS CloudFormation (2011-2015), characterized by AWS CloudFormation fundamental capability establishment.
      • AWS CloudFormation (2011), with AWS CloudFormation initial release introducing AWS CloudFormation JSON template support.
      • AWS CloudFormation (2013), with AWS CloudFormation update stack capability and AWS CloudFormation expanded resource type coverage.
      • AWS CloudFormation (2015), with AWS CloudFormation change set introduction for AWS CloudFormation deployment preview.
    • Expanding AWS CloudFormation (2016-2019), characterized by AWS CloudFormation template enhancement.
      • AWS CloudFormation (2016), with AWS CloudFormation YAML support and AWS CloudFormation cross-stack reference.
      • AWS CloudFormation (2017), with AWS CloudFormation drift detection for AWS CloudFormation consistency enforcement.
      • AWS CloudFormation (2018), with AWS CloudFormation macro functionality enabling AWS CloudFormation template transformation and AWS CloudFormation dynamic template generation.
      • AWS CloudFormation (2019), with AWS CloudFormation registry introduction for AWS CloudFormation third-party resource integration.
    • Advanced AWS CloudFormation (2020-present), characterized by AWS CloudFormation ecosystem expansion.
      • AWS CloudFormation (2020), with AWS CloudFormation StackSets regional concurrency for AWS CloudFormation parallel deployment.
      • AWS CloudFormation (2021), with AWS CloudFormation modules facilitating AWS CloudFormation reusable component creation.
      • AWS CloudFormation (2022), with AWS CloudFormation hook support for AWS CloudFormation provisioning lifecycle customization.
      • AWS CloudFormation (2023), with AWS CloudFormation Guard 2.0 providing AWS CloudFormation policy-as-code capability.
      • AWS CloudFormation (2024), with AWS CloudFormation AI integration enabling AWS CloudFormation natural language template generation.
  • AWS CloudFormation Deployment Patterns, such as:
    • AWS CloudFormation Infrastructure Patterns, such as:
      • AWS CloudFormation Network Pattern for AWS CloudFormation VPC orchestration.
      • AWS CloudFormation Compute Pattern for AWS CloudFormation EC2 instance management.
      • AWS CloudFormation Storage Pattern for AWS CloudFormation S3 bucket provisioning.
      • AWS CloudFormation Database Pattern for AWS CloudFormation RDS deployment.
    • AWS CloudFormation Architecture Patterns, such as:
      • AWS CloudFormation Microservices Pattern for AWS CloudFormation containerized application deployment.
      • AWS CloudFormation Serverless Pattern for AWS CloudFormation Lambda function orchestration.
      • AWS CloudFormation Multi-Tier Pattern for AWS CloudFormation layered architecture implementation.
  • AWS CloudFormation Industry Implementations, such as:
    • Enterprise AWS CloudFormation Implementations, such as:
      • Financial Services AWS CloudFormation Implementation for AWS CloudFormation regulated infrastructure automation.
      • Healthcare AWS CloudFormation Implementation for AWS CloudFormation HIPAA-compliant resource provisioning.
    • Software AWS CloudFormation Implementations, such as:
      • SaaS AWS CloudFormation Implementation for AWS CloudFormation multi-tenant infrastructure orchestration.
      • E-commerce AWS CloudFormation Implementation for AWS CloudFormation scalable shopping platform deployment.
  • ...
• Counter-Examples:
  • Google Cloud Deployment Manager, which provides GCP-specific infrastructure as code capability rather than AWS CloudFormation AWS resource management.
  • Azure Resource Manager, which focuses on Azure-specific resource provisioning instead of AWS CloudFormation AWS infrastructure orchestration.
  • AWS Management Console, which enables manual AWS resource configuration without AWS CloudFormation declarative template definition.
  • AWS Cloud Development Kit (CDK), which uses programmatic infrastructure definition approach rather than AWS CloudFormation declarative template syntax.
  • Terraform AWS Provider, which implements multi-cloud infrastructure as code capability instead of AWS CloudFormation native AWS integration.
• See: AWS Infrastructure as Code Tool, AWS Cloud Development Kit (CDK), AWS SAM (Serverless Application Model), AWS Resource Orchestration Service, AWS DevOps Automation Tool.

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References

2023

• https://aws.amazon.com/cloudformation/faqs/
  • QUOTE: ... Cloud Formation is a service provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS) that enables users to model and manage infrastructure resources in an automated and secure manner. Using CloudFormation, developers can define and provision AWS infrastructure resources using a JSON or YAML formatted Infrastructure as Code: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrastructure_as_code template.

    CloudFormation templates describe the resources that you want to create, such as EC2 instances, RDS databases, and S3 buckets. You can also use templates to define complex resource relationships, such as dependencies between resources.

    Once you have created a template, you can use CloudFormation to create a stack. A stack is a collection of AWS resources that are created and managed together. When you create a stack, CloudFormation creates all of the resources that are defined in your template. ...

2018

• https://aws.amazon.com/cloudformation/
  • QUOTE: AWS CloudFormation provides a common language for you to describe and provision all the infrastructure resources in your cloud environment. CloudFormation allows you to use a simple text file to model and provision, in an automated and secure manner, all the resources needed for your applications across all regions and accounts. This file serves as the single source of truth for your cloud environment.

     AWS CloudFormation is available at no additional charge, and you pay only for the AWS resources needed to run your applications.

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