Terraform Platform

A Terraform Platform is an infrastructure-as-code software platform that enables infrastructure resource orchestration (for cloud resource management).

• AKA: HashiCorp Terraform, Terraform IaC Platform, Terraform Orchestration Engine.
• Context:
  • It can typically provide Terraform Configuration Language through terraform HashiCorp Configuration Language (HCL) implementation.
  • It can typically orchestrate Terraform Infrastructure Resource through terraform declarative specification.
  • It can typically manage Terraform Resource State through terraform state tracking mechanism.
  • It can typically execute Terraform Deployment Plan through terraform execution planning algorithm.
  • It can typically enforce Terraform Resource Consistency through terraform drift detection system.
  • It can typically enable Terraform Infrastructure Modularity through terraform module composition.
  • ...
  • It can often implement Terraform Multi-Cloud Strategy through terraform provider architecture.
  • It can often support Terraform Workflow Automation through terraform continuous integration pipeline.
  • It can often facilitate Terraform Team Collaboration through terraform remote state management.
  • It can often enhance Terraform Deployment Security through terraform security scanning integration.
  • It can often deliver Terraform Infrastructure Compliance through terraform policy-as-code implementation.
  • ...
  • It can range from being a Simple Terraform Platform to being an Enterprise Terraform Platform, depending on its terraform deployment scale.
  • It can range from being an Open-Source Terraform Platform to being a Commercial Terraform Platform, depending on its terraform licensing model.
  • It can range from being a Local Terraform Platform to being a Cloud-Based Terraform Platform, depending on its terraform execution environment.
  • ...
  • It can integrate with Terraform Provider Ecosystem for terraform resource type implementation.
  • It can connect to Terraform Remote Backend for terraform collaborative state management.
  • It can support Terraform Security Tool for terraform security posture management.
  • It can complement Terraform Continuous Delivery Pipeline for terraform automated deployment process.
  • ...
• Examples:
  • Terraform Platform Evolutions, such as:
    • Early Terraform Platform (2014-2016), characterized by terraform core functionality establishment.
      • Terraform Platform (2014), with terraform initial release and terraform basic AWS provider support.
      • Terraform Platform (2015), with terraform module system introduction and terraform expanded cloud provider support.
      • Terraform Platform (2016), with terraform multi-provider capability supporting over 30 providers including terraform AWS integration, terraform Azure integration, and terraform Google Cloud integration.
    • Growth Terraform Platform (2017-2019), characterized by terraform enterprise feature development.
      • Terraform Platform (2017), with terraform provider versioning system for terraform API dependency management.
      • Terraform Platform (2018), with terraform 0.12 release featuring terraform improved HCL syntax.
      • Terraform Platform (2019), with terraform cloud introduction offering terraform managed service capability.
    • Mature Terraform Platform (2020-present), characterized by terraform ecosystem expansion.
      • Terraform Platform (2020), with terraform language improvements and terraform enhanced workflow capabilities.
      • Terraform Platform (2021), with terraform CDK integration enabling terraform configuration definition in terraform programming language such as terraform TypeScript support and terraform Python support.
      • Terraform Platform (2022), with terraform 0.15 release featuring terraform improved error handling and terraform upgrade tooling.
      • Terraform Platform (2023), with terraform advanced policy enforcement and terraform expanded enterprise capabilities.
      • Terraform Platform (2024), with terraform AI-assisted configuration and terraform expanded security scanning.
  • Terraform Platform Deployment Models, such as:
    • Terraform CLI Platforms, such as:
      • Terraform Open Source Platform for terraform individual practitioner workflow.
      • Terraform Enterprise CLI Platform for terraform enhanced command-line capability.
    • Terraform Managed Platforms, such as:
      • Terraform Cloud Platform for terraform team-based infrastructure management.
      • Terraform Enterprise Platform for terraform organization-wide governance.
  • Terraform Platform Implementations in terraform industry sectors, such as:
    • Financial Services Terraform Platforms, such as:
      • Banking Terraform Platform for terraform financial infrastructure compliance.
      • Insurance Terraform Platform for terraform regulated data environment.
    • Healthcare Terraform Platforms, such as:
      • Hospital Terraform Platform for terraform HIPAA-compliant infrastructure.
      • Pharmaceutical Terraform Platform for terraform validated systems management.
    • E-commerce Terraform Platforms, such as:
      • Retail Terraform Platform for terraform scalable shopping infrastructure.
      • Marketplace Terraform Platform for terraform multi-tenant architecture.
  • ...
• Counter-Examples:
  • Ansible Platform, which focuses on configuration management workflow rather than terraform infrastructure provisioning.
  • Puppet Platform, which emphasizes agent-based configuration approach instead of terraform declarative state management.
  • AWS CloudFormation Platform, which provides AWS-specific infrastructure orchestration without terraform multi-cloud capability.
  • Kubernetes Platform, which specializes in container orchestration system rather than terraform underlying infrastructure provisioning.
  • Terraform Configuration, which is a terraform resource definition without the terraform execution capability.
• See: Infrastructure-as-Code Platform, HashiCorp Technology Ecosystem, Cloud Resource Management System, Multi-Cloud Orchestration Tool, Infrastructure Automation Platform.

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References

2022

• (Wikipedia, 2022) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terraform_(software) Retrieved:2022-4-4.
  • Terraform is an open-source infrastructure as code software tool created by HashiCorp. Users define and provide data center infrastructure using a declarative configuration language known as HashiCorp Configuration Language (HCL), or optionally JSON.

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