What is the purpose of AWS CloudFormation in data engineering?

AWS CloudFormation is a service that allows users to define and provision AWS infrastructure using code, which is a key aspect of the infrastructure as code paradigm. This approach enables data engineers to create, update, and manage a collection of related AWS resources in a consistent and repeatable manner. By using templates written in JSON or YAML, users can describe the specific resources they need, such as databases, servers, and networking components, along with their configurations.

This capability is particularly valuable in data engineering, where complex architectures may involve various data storage services, processing frameworks, and analytics tools. By utilizing CloudFormation, data engineers can streamline the deployment process, maintain version control of infrastructure changes, and ensure that environments are reproducible. This automation not only speeds up development cycles but also enhances collaboration across teams by providing a clear and shareable resource definition.

Other options do not align with the primary function of CloudFormation. Automating data backups, monitoring data usage, and running serverless applications are relevant tasks but are not the core purpose of CloudFormation in the context of infrastructure management.