multi-cloud-architecture

Vendor lock-in occurs when your architecture tightly couples to one cloud provider's proprietary services, making migration costly. Design cloud-agnostic systems using infrastructure-as-code (Terraform) and service abstractions that map equivalent compute, storage, and database offerings across AWS, Azure, and GCP. This lets you switch providers or distribute workloads without rewriting core application logic.

Map functionally equivalent services across providers: AWS EC2 to Azure VMs to GCP Compute Engine for compute; S3 to Blob Storage to Cloud Storage for object storage; RDS to SQL Database to Cloud SQL for relational databases. Compare pricing, performance, regional availability, and compliance requirements to select the best fit for each component, then standardize via IaC templates.

Multi-cloud migration uses a decision framework to evaluate each workload: assess lock-in risk, map services to target providers, implement disaster recovery patterns, and validate security controls. Use infrastructure-as-code to abstract provider-specific details, enable parallel deployment, and minimize cutover risk. Prioritize workloads by criticality and migration complexity.

Yes. Terraform supports providers for AWS, Azure, and GCP through a unified configuration language. Define cloud-agnostic abstraction layers using modules and variables to deploy identical architectures across providers, manage service mappings, and enforce consistent naming and tagging conventions without rewriting infrastructure code per cloud.

Multi-cloud cost optimization compares per-service pricing tiers, regional rates, and commitment discounts (reserved instances, savings plans) across AWS, Azure, and GCP. Route workloads to the lowest-cost provider for each service type, consolidate usage within a single provider where economies of scale apply, and use FinOps tooling to monitor cross-cloud spend.

Multi-cloud DR patterns include geographic distribution (active-active across regions in different providers), best-of-breed selection (each provider for its strengths), and failover automation via IaC. Replicate data across providers, enforce consistent security controls, and test recovery procedures regularly to minimize RTO and RPO.