“If someone asks me what cloud computing is, I try not to get bogged down with definitions. I tell them that, simply put, cloud computing is a better way to run your business.”

                                                                             – Marc Benioff, Founder, CEO and Chairman, Salesforce

 

That’s just about it in a nutshell. Cloud computing is a better way to run your business. But while you gain easy scalability and increased productivity from cloud computing, one of the biggest challenges is cost. And this is where cloud optimization comes in.

What is cloud optimization?

Cloud optimization is the process of eliminating cloud resource waste by right-sizing resources spent on specific cloud features. In a DevOps environment, cloud optimization is defined as the most efficient way to allocate cloud resources. Cloud optimization boosts cloud utilization, and can saves you a considerable amount of money in the process.

With tools that leverage automation in cloud optimization, you can save more, with less time investment. Among the most popular Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools today is Hashicorp Terraform. Its human-readable configuration files allow you to define cloud and on-prem resources. Terraform can manage low-level components like compute, storage, and networking resources, as well as high-level components like DNS entries and SaaS features that can be reused and shared.

How does Terraform do it?

Terraform creates and manages resources on cloud platforms through application programming interfaces. There are three stages:

Write: This is where resources are defined across multiple cloud providers and services.

Plan: Here, Terraform creates an execution plan describing the infrastructure it will create, update, or destroy based on the configuration.

Apply: Terraform performs the proposed operations.

Who uses Terraform?

Terraform manages external resources (such as public cloud infrastructure, private cloud infrastructure, software as a service, and platform as a service) with “providers”. Amazon Web Services (AWS), Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Kubernetes, GitHub, and DataDog are some examples. According to available data, more than 8,716 companies use Hashicorp Terraform and this number continues to grow.

Why should you consider using it as well?

1. With IaC tools like Terraform, you can save more money on cloud computing by optimizing your resource allocation and costs, automatically.
2. Terraform manages infrastructure on different cloud platforms.
3. Infrastructure code can be written quickly as Terraform has a human-readable configuration language. It is also simple to use when it comes to executing the code.
4. Terraform also allows you to track resource changes throughout your deployments.
5. Terraform can be scaled in an organized manner.
6. Terraform allows you to automatically delete an entire development environment along with its associated resources, which can result in cost reductions. Some users for instance unintentionally keep AWS resources active, generating high expenses due to services not being properly disabled.
7. Terraform is also flexible, using a plugin-based model to support providers and provisioners.

 Cloud optimization is key to getting the most out of your tech assets, but the complexity of the cloud can make selecting the right services and managing app requirements difficult. Allow us to help. CloudNow offers a range of Terraform cloud and DevOps Services for businesses spanning different sizes, industries, and geographies. So if you need help on cloud cost optimization, do get in touch with our specialists at CloudNow.