Infrastructure automation has evolved through several generations: manual configuration, imperative scripts, configuration management tools, infrastructure-as-code. Each generation abstracted away some complexity. But we're still too close to the metal.
infraPatterns represents the next step: declarative infrastructure intent.
The Abstraction Gap
Current infrastructure-as-code tools like Terraform and Pulumi are powerful, but they still require you to think in terms of resources. You define VPCs, subnets, security groups, instances, load balancers—the building blocks of infrastructure.
This creates problems:
- Teams reinvent the same patterns across projects
- Knowledge is locked in complex, brittle configurations
- Changing providers means rewriting everything
- New team members face steep learning curves
- Audit and compliance require understanding implementation details
What if you could express intent instead of implementation?
Patterns as First-Class Citizens
infraPatterns treats infrastructure patterns as composable, reusable abstractions. Instead of defining resources, you define intent:
- "I need a secure web application with database backend"
- "I need an isolated processing environment with controlled ingress"
- "I need a multi-region deployment with automatic failover"
The patterns encode best practices, security controls, and operational requirements. They wire together into complete infrastructure definitions that can deploy to any target environment.
Compose Once, Deploy Anywhere
The same pattern definitions work across environments:
- Connected cloud environments
- On-premises data centres
- Air-gapped networks
- Hybrid configurations
This isn't about lowest-common-denominator abstractions. Patterns are provider-aware and can leverage native capabilities where available. But the intent—what you're trying to achieve—remains consistent.
Why This Matters for Critical Infrastructure
Critical infrastructure operators face unique challenges:
- Strict change control requirements
- Long approval cycles
- Air-gapped deployment targets
- Compliance and audit requirements
- Diverse technology environments
Declarative patterns address these challenges directly:
Reviewable Intent: Auditors and approvers can understand what a pattern does without parsing implementation details. The abstraction becomes the documentation.
Portable Definitions: The same approved patterns work across environments. Pass security review once, deploy everywhere.
Controlled Composition: Patterns can enforce constraints—security boundaries, resource limits, required components. Composition doesn't mean unlimited flexibility.
Versioned Evolution: Patterns evolve independently of deployments. Update a pattern, understand the impact, roll out changes systematically.
The infraPatterns Architecture
The system has three layers:
Pattern Library: Curated, versioned patterns that encode infrastructure intent. Some provided, some organisation-specific, all composable.
Composition Engine: Wire patterns together, resolve dependencies, validate constraints, generate deployment artifacts.
Deployment Targets: Adapters for different environments—cloud providers, on-premises systems, air-gapped networks. The same composition deploys to any supported target.
Beyond Infrastructure
The pattern approach extends beyond infrastructure to application intent:
- Service mesh configurations
- Observability stacks
- Security controls
- Compliance frameworks
When patterns compose cleanly, the boundary between "infrastructure" and "application" becomes less relevant. You're expressing intent about your entire operational environment.
The Path Forward
We're building infraPatterns for organisations that need to manage complex infrastructure across diverse environments. The initial focus is critical infrastructure—government, defence, energy, industrial—where the constraints are strictest and the need is clearest.
But the principle applies broadly: infrastructure automation should express intent, not implementation. Patterns should compose and deploy anywhere. Complexity should be managed through abstraction, not heroic engineering.
That's what infraPatterns delivers.