AWS Acad Lab Cloud Web Application Builder | Building a Highly Available, Scalable Web Application

Summary

This video script walks through the process of setting up a scalable cloud infrastructure on AWS. It covers creating a VPC, configuring private and public subnets, setting up EC2 instances, databases, and load balancing. The steps include configuring security groups, using auto-scaling, managing EC2 instance profiles, and ensuring smooth database migration. The script also highlights troubleshooting, testing the setup, and finalizing auto-scaling and load balancing to handle web traffic effectively. It's a comprehensive guide for building a reliable and efficient cloud architecture using AWS services.

Takeaways

• 😀 VPC is created with a private subnet and internet gateway for secure access to the internet, while keeping certain services isolated.
• 😀 EC2 instance is configured with SSH, security groups, and HTTP access to host a local database and test web applications.
• 😀 RDS (Relational Database Service) is used for centralized database management, with strict security settings to prevent unauthorized access.
• 😀 AWS Secret Manager is leveraged for securely storing and accessing database credentials, eliminating the need for hardcoded passwords.
• 😀 A SQL dump from the local EC2 database is migrated into the RDS, ensuring data is properly transferred and accessible.
• 😀 Load balancer is set up to distribute traffic between multiple EC2 instances, ensuring high availability and better resource utilization.
• 😀 Auto-scaling is configured to dynamically adjust the number of EC2 instances based on traffic and load, improving cost-efficiency and scalability.
• 😀 EC2 instances are placed in private subnets to restrict public access, with load balancers handling incoming traffic through a public-facing subnet.
• 😀 The security group settings ensure that only authorized traffic (HTTP from the internet, private access from EC2) can reach the necessary resources.
• 😀 CloudWatch monitoring is enabled to track the performance of EC2 instances and auto-scaling, providing insights into system health and usage.
• 😀 The entire setup undergoes rigorous testing, including load testing and verification of database connections, to ensure everything works as expected.

Q & A

What is the primary purpose of creating a VPC in this script?

The VPC is created to set up a secure network environment for EC2 instances, databases, and load balancers, while ensuring proper subnet and gateway configurations for internet access and communication between services.

Why is a net gateway necessary in this setup?

A net gateway is required for private subnets to access the internet. Without it, EC2 instances and databases in private subnets would not be able to interact with external resources.

How are the EC2 instances configured to ensure connectivity in the network?

EC2 instances are configured with public IP addresses, security groups for access control, and SSH connections for remote access, with necessary firewall rules for HTTP and SQL access.

Why is the database isolated in a separate security group?

The database is placed in a separate security group to restrict access, ensuring that only specific EC2 instances (like the ones running the server) can communicate with the database while blocking other external traffic.

What role does the load balancer play in this setup?

The load balancer distributes incoming traffic across multiple EC2 instances, ensuring high availability and efficient scaling by forwarding requests to the available targets in different availability zones.

How does auto-scaling work in this architecture?

Auto-scaling ensures that the system can scale the number of EC2 instances based on demand. By using an EC2 launch template, the configuration can be duplicated automatically, creating more instances as needed to handle traffic.

What is the significance of using an AMI (Amazon Machine Image) in this context?

An AMI is used to create a snapshot of an EC2 instance, which includes the operating system and its configurations. This image is then used in the auto-scaling group to ensure that new instances are identical to the original configuration.

How is data migration handled in this setup?

Data migration is performed by dumping data from the original database in an EC2 instance using its private IP address, then importing the data into the RDS instance. AWS Secret Manager is used to securely manage database credentials.

Why is CloudWatch monitoring enabled for auto-scaling?

CloudWatch monitoring is enabled to track the performance and health of EC2 instances in the auto-scaling group. It ensures that scaling decisions are based on real-time metrics and helps maintain system performance.

What is the process for testing the setup once the load balancer is configured?

Once the load balancer is set up, testing involves accessing the website through the load balancer’s DNS to ensure it properly routes traffic to EC2 instances. The load balancer’s effectiveness is verified by checking if requests are being distributed evenly across instances.