1.8: IaC & IPv6 Addressing

IaC

The process of defining your cloud architecture programmatically

Modify infra and create new versions; use same docs to build other app instances; change config with single line of code

Create Dynamic Inventories to query devices in real time, manage and make changes based on results

AWS CloudFormation, Terraform, etc.

Playbook

IaC property where you document conditional steps to follow for broad processes

A reusable template that can be used to create automated actions

Often integrated with SOAR platforms; integrate third party tools and data sources

For instance, detect and remediate drift, enact Upgrades, create Dynamic Inventories

Source Control

IaC property where you manage changes to your code

Version Control to manage ongoing changes and ensure no changes create conflict with existing code or other changes

Establish a Central Repository where all changes are tracked and merged, so everyone can contribute without conflict

Conflict

IaC property where some code cannot be merged, like when multiple versions modify the same lines of code

Versions can be determined automatically, and can require manual intervention

Branch to move away from prod, work without making changes to main code base, then merge after review

IPv6

Internet Protocol version that uses 128-bit addresses, consisting of eight, 16-bit sections; shown using hexadecimal

Created to address the IPv4 exhaustion issue; NAT is a workaround, but can be challenging with certain protocols

Groups of zeroes can be abbreviated with double colons ::, only once per address; leading zeroes are optional

Not all devices can speak with this protocol; use Tunneling, Dual Stack, or Translation to enable comms with IPv4

Tunnel

IPv6 communication method designed for temporary use

6to4: send IPv6 over an existing IPv4 address; creates IPv6 address from IPv4; requires relay routers and no NAT support

4in6: send IPv4 traffic over an IPv6 network

Dual-Stack

IPv6 communication method where both IPv4 and IPv6 are used at the same time

Maintains separate routing tables and dynamic routing protocols for both IP versions

NAT64

IPv6 communication method for network address translation between IPv4 and IPv6

Use a router that can perform this translation, IPv6 is not backwards compatible with IPv4

Works with DNS64 to translate DNS requests