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:
- ...
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.

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.