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Comprehensive Guide to Internal Developer Platform (IDP) Tools Based on PlatformEngineering.org Reference Architecture

· 6 min read
Victor Ikeme
Victor Ikeme
Platform Engineer | Kubernetes | Cloud-Native Advocate | OSS | Technical Writer

Internal Developer Platforms (IDPs) are essential for modern software development, offering a centralized toolkit to streamline the software lifecycle from code to production. IDP tools help with version control, CI/CD pipelines, observability, and resource management, making development processes more efficient and less complex. PlatformEngineering.org provides a reference architecture to structure and select these tools effectively. Here’s a breakdown of the tools based on each plane within the architecture.

title image reading "platform-tooling-landscape-by-platformengineering.org"

1. Developer Control Plane​

The Developer Control Plane includes tools that facilitate the coding, configuration, and management of development environments, empowering developers to build and deploy applications efficiently.

IDE​

  • Visual Studio Code - A popular code editor with extensive plugin support, making it ideal for collaborative development within an IDP.

Developer Portal​

Developer portals centralize access to resources, documentation, and tools, enhancing the developer experience within an organization.

  • Backstage - An open-source platform for building developer portals, allowing teams to manage microservices, APIs, and resources.
  • Atlassian Compass - Connects all development tools and projects in a single portal, aiding in team collaboration and service ownership.
  • Configur8, Cycloid, Port, OpsLevel, LeanIX, Cortex, Humanitec Portal, Red Hat Developer Hub - These platforms provide varying degrees of service management, visibility, and developer self-service capabilities to enhance team productivity.

Version Control​

Version control systems (VCS) are essential for tracking changes in codebases, supporting collaboration, and ensuring reliable deployment processes.

  • GitHub, Bitbucket, GitLab - These widely-used platforms offer VCS along with collaboration and integration capabilities with CI/CD tools.

Platform Source Code​

Infrastructure as Code (IaC)​

IaC tools automate infrastructure provisioning, enabling developers to define resources in a version-controlled manner.

  • Terraform - Automates cloud infrastructure management with reusable and shareable configurations.
  • Crossplane - Extends Kubernetes with cloud service provisioning capabilities, offering Kubernetes-native IaC.
  • OpenTofu - An open-source alternative to Terraform, enabling multi-cloud IaC with an emphasis on transparency.
  • Pulumi - Enables IaC in common programming languages, integrating well with CI/CD for streamlined deployments.
Automations​

Automation tools streamline operational tasks, reducing the manual overhead associated with infrastructure and deployment.

Application Source Code / Workload Specification​

  • Score, Workloads - Workload specification tools that simplify the process of defining and managing application environments.

2. Integration & Delivery Plane​

This plane focuses on CI/CD pipelines and orchestration tools to automate the building, testing, and deployment of applications.

CI Pipeline​

Continuous Integration (CI) tools automate the testing and building of code changes, ensuring quick feedback and high-quality releases.

  • GitHub Actions, Circle CI, GitLab CI, Jenkins, Travis CI, Azure DevOps, Google Cloud Build - These tools support CI processes and integrate with various VCS, making them adaptable to multiple workflows.

Platform Orchestrator​

Orchestrators manage the deployment and lifecycle of applications across environments.

  • Humanitec Platform Orchestrator, Kratix, KusionStack - These orchestrators allow developers to define and manage deployments while abstracting away infrastructure complexity.

Image Registry​

Container image registries store and manage Docker images, supporting easy retrieval and deployment.

  • Docker Hub, Harbor, JFrog Artifactory, Azure Container Registry, Google Artifact Registry, AWS ECR Registry, Quay - These registries support image versioning and secure storage of containerized applications.

Infrastructure Control Plane​

Infrastructure control tools help manage infrastructure changes, provisioning, and versioning, promoting consistent and reliable deployments.

  • Atlantis, Spacelift, Terramate, Radius - These tools automate Terraform workflows, providing enhanced control and governance over IaC deployments.

CD Pipeline​

Continuous Deployment (CD) tools automate the release of software, minimizing manual intervention for deploying to production.

  • ArgoCD, Humanitec Pipelines, Codefresh, GitHub Actions, GitLab CD, Flux CD, Octopus Deploy - These tools support automated deployment pipelines, monitoring, and rollback functionality.

3. Monitoring & Logging Plane​

Observability and logging tools provide insights into system health, application performance, and errors, enabling teams to monitor, debug, and optimize deployments.

Observability​

Observability tools allow teams to track and analyze system behavior in real time.

  • Datadog, Fluentbit, Jaeger, Google Cloud Operation Suite, ELK Stack, Logs, Grafana, Prometheus, Splunk, New Relic - These platforms monitor various metrics, including application performance, system health, and network activity.

Analytics​

Analytics tools provide visibility into developer workflows, application usage, and operational performance.

  • Logilica - An analytics platform that supports software delivery intelligence, optimizing development workflows and CI/CD processes.

4. Security Plane​

The Security Plane encompasses tools for managing secrets, enforcing policies, and identifying vulnerabilities, ensuring that applications and infrastructure meet security standards.

Secrets Management​

Secrets management tools securely store sensitive information, such as passwords, keys, and tokens, protecting applications from unauthorized access.

  • HCP Vault, Google Secrets Manager, Azure Key Vault, AWS Secrets Manager - These tools provide encrypted storage and controlled access to sensitive information.

Security​

Security tools support compliance, vulnerability scanning, and incident detection, safeguarding systems and data.

  • Tigera, Styra, Snyk, Azure Sentinel, Gremlin, Nirmata, Armo, Cilium, Aqua Security, Orca Security, Teleport, Anchore, Sysdig, Tetrate, Calico, Fossa - These tools offer a range of security functionalities, from policy enforcement to runtime protection.

5. Resource Plane​

The Resource Plane includes tools for managing infrastructure components like compute, storage, networking, and messaging, forming the backbone of the IDP.

Compute​

Compute tools provision and manage computing resources for running applications.

  • Amazon EKS, Google Kubernetes Engine, Azure Kubernetes Service - These managed Kubernetes services offer scalability and container orchestration for deploying applications.

Cluster Management​

Cluster management tools help administer and monitor Kubernetes clusters, enhancing operational efficiency.

  • Rancher, Kubermatic, Rafay, Ambassador, Capsule - These tools facilitate Kubernetes management, offering multi-cluster support, observability, and automation.

Data​

Data management tools handle database and storage requirements for applications.

  • Amazon S3, Aiven, PostgresSQL, RDS MySQL, Cloud SQL, Azure SQL, Redis, MongoDB, MariaDB, MySQL - These tools provide reliable storage and database services for applications of all scales.

Networking​

Networking tools enable traffic routing, load balancing, and DNS management, connecting applications across environments.

  • Route 53, Cilium, Solo.io, Cloudflare, Envoy, Cloud DNS, Azure DNS, Google Public DNS - These solutions support domain management, service meshes, and traffic routing across distributed applications.

Services​

Service tools facilitate communication, event handling, and messaging within distributed systems.

  • Amazon SQS, Amazon Service Bus, Google PubSub, Elasticsearch, Kafka, Azure Service Bus - These tools provide message queuing, event streaming, and search capabilities.

Messaging​

Messaging tools support asynchronous communication within microservices architectures.

  • RabbitMQ, ActiveMQ - These tools offer message brokering services, enabling reliable inter-service communication.

Conclusion: Building a Resilient IDP with the Right Tools​

Selecting the right tools for an IDP is crucial for fostering productivity, ensuring reliability, and improving scalability. With the PlatformEngineering.org reference architecture as a guide, organizations can design an IDP tailored to their operational needs and developer workflows. By leveraging the best tools across each plane—Developer Control, Integration & Delivery, Monitoring & Logging, Security, and Resource—teams can build an effective and efficient platform that streamlines development and empowers innovation.