Episode 405: Yevgeniy Brikman on Infrastructure as Code Best Practices

Microservices

Microservices architecture offers significant benefits in managing infrastructure as code, particularly in terms of scalability and risk management. Yevgeniy Brikman explains that microservices allow teams to work independently, reducing the risk of conflicts and enabling them to adopt their own coding practices 1. This separation is crucial for handling different scalability requirements and minimizing the impact of failures in one service on others. Brikman highlights the importance of balancing the costs and benefits of microservices, noting:

Microservices have a cost and it's actually a very, very significant cost. And similarly, having a ton of terraform modules also has a cost.

--- Yevgeniy Brikman

This approach ensures that infrastructure code remains manageable and adaptable to various needs 2.

   

Scaling

Scaling microservices effectively requires careful consideration of update strategies and risk management. Yevgeniy Brikman discusses the challenges of synchronizing updates across multiple services, emphasizing the need to balance technical debt with product delivery 3. He advises against automatic updates for infrastructure as code due to the high stakes involved, such as potential data loss or service outages. Instead, regular checks and manual interventions are recommended to ensure stability. Brikman states:

The cost of getting it wrong there is a lot higher. So the trade offs are different.

--- Yevgeniy Brikman

This approach helps maintain the integrity of the infrastructure while allowing for necessary updates 4.