Comparing CloudFormation vs. Azure Resource Manager vs. Google Cloud Deployment Manager

CloudFormation, Azure Resource Manager, and Google Cloud Deployment Manager are all infrastructure as code tools that allow you to manage and provision your application infrastructure using code. In this post, we'll compare these three tools and discuss their strengths and weaknesses.

CloudFormation

CloudFormation is Amazon Web Services' (AWS) infrastructure as code tool that allows you to define and provision your AWS resources using a JSON or YAML template. CloudFormation supports a wide range of AWS resources, and you can use it to automate the creation of custom resources that are not natively supported by AWS. One of the main benefits of using CloudFormation is that it provides a visual representation of your infrastructure, which makes it easy to understand and troubleshoot any issues that may arise.

However, one of the main limitations of CloudFormation is that it is tightly coupled to AWS. This means that if you decide to switch to another cloud provider, you will need to re-write your templates in the new provider's format.

Azure Resource Manager

Azure Resource Manager is Microsoft Azure's infrastructure as code tool that allows you to define and provision your Azure resources using a JSON or YAML template. Azure Resource Manager supports a wide range of Azure resources, and you can use it to automate the creation of custom resources that are not natively supported by Azure. One of the main benefits of using Azure Resource Manager is that it allows you to create a resource group, which is a collection of Azure resources that you can manage as a single unit.

However, one of the main limitations of Azure Resource Manager is that it is tightly coupled to Azure. This means that if you decide to switch to another cloud provider, you will need to re-write your templates in the new provider's format.

Google Cloud Deployment Manager

Google Cloud Deployment Manager is Google Cloud Platform's (GCP) infrastructure as code tool that allows you to define and provision your GCP resources using a YAML or Python template. Google Cloud Deployment Manager supports a wide range of GCP resources, and you can use it to automate the creation of custom resources that are not natively supported by GCP. One of the main benefits of using Google Cloud Deployment Manager is that it allows you to create a deployment, which is a collection of GCP resources that you can manage as a single unit.

However, one of the main limitations of Google Cloud Deployment Manager is that it is tightly coupled to GCP. This means that if you decide to switch to another cloud provider, you will need to re-write your templates in the new provider's format.

Comparison

Here's a comparison table of the three infrastructure as code tools:

Conclusion

CloudFormation, Azure Resource Manager, and Google Cloud Deployment Manager are all powerful infrastructure as code tools that allow you to manage and provision your application infrastructure using code. Each tool has its own strengths and weaknesses, and the decision of which tool to use will depend on your specific needs and the cloud provider you are using. If you're already using one of these tools, we recommend sticking with it, as switching to another tool can be time-consuming and require significant effort.