AWS re:Invent 2022 - A close look at AWS Fargate and AWS App Runner (CON406)

Summary

Archana Srikanta, a principal engineer at AWS, discusses the evolution of AWS container services, from EC2 to App Runner, highlighting the shared responsibility model and the architectural advancements that enable higher abstraction services like Fargate and App Runner. She also delves into the security and availability considerations that underpin these services.

Takeaways

• 😀 Archana Srikanta, a principal engineer at AWS, has been instrumental in the development of container services including founding roles in App Runner and Fargate.
• 🚀 The evolution of AWS services from EC2 to App Runner has been driven by a desire to abstract complexity away from the user, allowing easier deployment and management of applications.
• 💡 AWS services are designed with a shared responsibility model, where the availability and security of applications are a joint responsibility between AWS and the customer.
• 🛠️ Elastic Beanstalk simplified the process of deploying applications by orchestrating various AWS services, reducing the need for customers to manage individual components.
• 📦 The rise of containerization led to the development of ECS, which abstracted the container orchestration control plane, making it easier for customers to run containers without managing the orchestration layer.
• 🌟 Fargate introduced a serverless container offering, removing the need for customers to manage the underlying EC2 instances and base layer software, further simplifying the deployment process.
• 🌐 App Runner is the latest service, focusing on web applications and abstracting even further by managing containers, load balancers, auto-scaling, and deployment pipelines.
• 🔒 Security is a key consideration, with AWS implementing strict controls such as security groups and private service endpoints to ensure multi-tenant isolation and prevent unauthorized access.
• 🔄 Availability is ensured through a cellular architecture within AWS, with multiple copies of services running across different availability zones to minimize the impact of any single point of failure.
• 🛡️ Firecracker, an open-source virtualization software by Amazon, is used in Fargate to create microVMs that provide fast startup times and strong isolation for containers.
• 🔑 AWS encourages the use of the highest abstraction services suitable for an application, leveraging the security and availability measures built into the platform, and only moving down the stack if necessary.

Q & A

What is Archana Srikanta's role and experience at AWS?

Archana Srikanta is a principal engineer at AWS with over 11 years of tenure, a large part of which has been with the container services organization. She has worked on multiple container services and was part of the founding team for App Runner and Fargate.

What is the significance of App Runner and Fargate in AWS's container services?

App Runner and Fargate are significant as they represent the evolution of AWS's container services. App Runner is the newest service offering the highest level of abstraction, while Fargate is a serverless container offering that abstracts away the underlying EC2 instances.

How does the architecture of newer AWS services like App Runner and Fargate build upon the older ones?

The architecture of newer services like App Runner and Fargate has layered on top of the foundations laid by predecessor services. For instance, App Runner is built on top of Fargate, which in turn is built on top of ECS, showing a progression of abstraction and simplification.

What is the shared responsibility model on AWS, and how does it apply to the discussed services?

The shared responsibility model on AWS is a concept where the availability and security posture of an application is a joint responsibility between the customer and AWS. Different aspects of the stack are owned by either party, and this model applies to all discussed services, with the division of responsibilities shifting as abstraction layers increase.

How did the evolution from EC2 to Elastic Beanstalk address customer concerns about managing infrastructure?

The evolution to Elastic Beanstalk addressed customer concerns by providing a central orchestration plane that simplifies the process of managing and stitching together various AWS services. It automated the creation and provisioning of resources, reducing the complexity for customers running applications.

What is the role of Firecracker in the context of Fargate and container services?

Firecracker is an open-source virtualization software project by Amazon that serves as a hypervisor specifically built for containers and functions. It is used in Fargate to spin up micro VMs, which are optimized for fast startup times and provide EC2 instance-level isolation between workloads.

How does App Runner simplify the process of running web applications compared to other services?

App Runner simplifies the process by abstracting away the need to manage containers, load balancers, auto scaling groups, and deployment pipelines. Customers only need to focus on their application image, and App Runner handles the rest, providing a URL endpoint for HTTP requests that scales automatically.

What security measures are in place to ensure multi-tenancy isolation in App Runner and Fargate?

Both App Runner and Fargate implement strict security measures such as using security groups to block task-to-task communication and ensuring that each task runs in its own micro VM with separate network interfaces. This maintains a high level of isolation between tenants and prevents unauthorized access or communication between tasks.

How does the ECS control plane ensure security and availability for its services?

The ECS control plane ensures security through a cellular architecture that runs multiple copies of its stack within a region, with each service spread across different availability zones. This design minimizes the impact of any single point of failure and allows for regional independence, protecting against outages and software deployment errors.

What is the advice given for customers deciding which AWS service to use for their container applications?

The advice given is to start with the highest abstraction service that meets their needs and only move down the stack if there are specific reasons why the higher-level services are not suitable. This approach allows customers to take advantage of the security and availability measures built into the higher abstraction services.