In deployment planning, which statement best describes immutable infrastructure?

In deployment planning, which statement best describes immutable infrastructure?

• A. It modifies running components during updates.
• B. It requires no versioning.
• C. It increases drift and complicates rollback.
• D. It replaces components on update.

Answer: (D)

Immutable infrastructure means you don’t tweak or patch running components. Instead, you produce a new version of the component (like a fresh image or artifact) and deploy that new instance, then retire the old one. This way every deployment is a known, tested snapshot, and rollback becomes simply switching back to the previous version. Replacing components on update captures this idea best: you swap out the old item for its updated, versioned successor rather than changing it in place. In-place modifications describe mutability, not immutability; claiming no versioning ignores the essential practice of using versioned artifacts; and saying updates increase drift and complicate rollback is the opposite of what immutable infrastructure aims to achieve, which is to reduce drift and make rollbacks straightforward.

Immutable infrastructure means you don’t tweak or patch running components. Instead, you produce a new version of the component (like a fresh image or artifact) and deploy that new instance, then retire the old one. This way every deployment is a known, tested snapshot, and rollback becomes simply switching back to the previous version. Replacing components on update captures this idea best: you swap out the old item for its updated, versioned successor rather than changing it in place. In-place modifications describe mutability, not immutability; claiming no versioning ignores the essential practice of using versioned artifacts; and saying updates increase drift and complicate rollback is the opposite of what immutable infrastructure aims to achieve, which is to reduce drift and make rollbacks straightforward.