REL08-BP04: Deploy using immutable infrastructure

Overview

Implement immutable infrastructure deployment patterns where infrastructure components are replaced rather than modified in place. This approach eliminates configuration drift, ensures consistency across environments, and provides reliable rollback capabilities by treating infrastructure as disposable and reproducible.

Implementation Steps

1. Design Immutable Infrastructure Architecture

Implement infrastructure as code with version control
Design stateless application architectures
Establish artifact management and image building pipelines
Configure environment-specific parameter management

2. Implement Container-Based Deployments

Create containerized applications with immutable images
Configure container orchestration and deployment strategies
Implement image scanning and security validation
Establish container registry management and versioning

3. Configure Infrastructure Provisioning

Implement automated infrastructure provisioning
Design blue-green and canary deployment strategies
Configure load balancer and traffic routing automation
Establish resource cleanup and lifecycle management

4. Establish Configuration Management

Implement externalized configuration management
Configure secrets and credential management
Design environment-specific configuration injection
Establish configuration validation and compliance

5. Implement Deployment Automation

Configure automated deployment pipelines
Implement deployment validation and health checks
Design rollback automation and recovery procedures
Establish deployment monitoring and alerting

6. Monitor and Optimize Deployment Performance

Track deployment frequency and success rates
Monitor infrastructure consistency and drift detection
Implement cost optimization for immutable deployments
Establish performance benchmarking and optimization

Implementation Examples

Example 1: Comprehensive Immutable Infrastructure System

AWS Services Used

AWS CloudFormation: Infrastructure as code and immutable stack management
Amazon ECS/Fargate: Container orchestration and immutable container deployments
Amazon ECR: Container image registry and version management
Elastic Load Balancing: Traffic routing and blue-green deployment support
Amazon Route 53: DNS-based traffic switching and weighted routing
AWS CodeDeploy: Automated deployment orchestration and rollback
AWS Lambda: Custom deployment logic and automation functions
Amazon S3: Template storage and deployment artifact management
Amazon DynamoDB: Deployment state and execution history storage
AWS Systems Manager: Configuration management and parameter storage
Amazon CloudWatch: Deployment monitoring and health checks
AWS Auto Scaling: Immutable scaling group replacements
Amazon API Gateway: API versioning and traffic management
AWS Step Functions: Complex deployment workflow orchestration
AWS Secrets Manager: Secure configuration and credential management

Benefits

Consistency: Identical infrastructure across all environments eliminates configuration drift
Reliability: Immutable deployments reduce deployment-related failures and inconsistencies
Rollback Speed: Quick rollback to previous known-good state without complex recovery procedures
Auditability: Complete deployment history and infrastructure versioning for compliance
Scalability: Automated provisioning supports rapid scaling and environment creation
Security: Fresh infrastructure reduces security vulnerabilities from long-running systems
Testing: Identical environments enable reliable testing and validation
Disaster Recovery: Rapid environment recreation from code and artifacts
Cost Optimization: Efficient resource utilization through automated lifecycle management
Team Confidence: Predictable deployments increase team confidence and deployment frequency