Amazon Web Services (AWS) Basic Architecture

Learn about the basic architecture of Amazon Web Services (AWS), including EC2, S3, load balancing, CloudFront, security management, and auto-scaling features.

Introduction to AWS EC2 Architecture

In this section, we'll break down the basic structure of AWS EC2, which stands for Elastic Compute Cloud. EC2 is a service that allows you to use virtual machines (VMs) with different configurations depending on your needs. Whether you need more computing power or storage, EC2 provides options to suit your requirements. It also offers different pricing models and configurations, which we'll explore in detail later in the AWS Products section. Below is a simple diagram that represents the basic architecture of AWS.

Key Components of the AWS Architecture

S3 (Simple Storage Service)

In the diagram, you’ll see S3 mentioned. This service is designed for storing and retrieving all kinds of data through API calls. Unlike EC2, S3 doesn't have any computing capabilities. We'll dive deeper into how S3 works in the AWS Products section.

Load Balancing in AWS

Load balancing is a method used to distribute the workload across multiple servers, either through hardware or software. This ensures that no single server gets overwhelmed, leading to better efficiency and performance for your applications. Below is a diagram illustrating how AWS architecture incorporates load balancing.

  • Hardware Load Balancer: Traditionally, hardware load balancers have been used in web applications to distribute traffic across servers.
  • Elastic Load Balancing (AWS): AWS offers its own service called Elastic Load Balancing, which distributes incoming traffic to EC2 instances across multiple sources. It can automatically add or remove EC2 hosts from the load-balancing rotation based on demand. Elastic Load Balancing can also scale up or down to meet traffic demands and supports sticky sessions for advanced routing needs.

Amazon CloudFront Content Delivery

Amazon CloudFront is a content delivery service that helps deliver your website's content, whether it's dynamic, static, or streaming, using a global network of edge locations. When a user requests content, CloudFront routes the request to the nearest edge location, improving the delivery speed.

CloudFront is optimized to work seamlessly with other AWS services like S3 and EC2, but it also works well with non-AWS servers. You only pay for the amount of content you deliver, with no contracts or monthly commitments.

Elastic Load Balancer Overview

As mentioned earlier, Elastic Load Balancing helps distribute traffic among your web servers, enhancing performance. AWS's service distributes traffic to EC2 instances across multiple availability zones and adjusts dynamically to traffic changes.

Security Management in AWS

Security is crucial, and AWS takes it seriously. EC2 offers security groups, which act like inbound network firewalls. Here, you can specify the protocols, ports, and IP addresses that are allowed to access your EC2 instances. Each instance can be assigned one or more security groups, and these can be configured to limit access based on subnets or IP addresses.

Amazon Elastic Cache for Memory Caching

Amazon Elastic Cache is a web service that manages memory caching in the cloud. Caching plays a vital role in reducing the load on your services, boosting performance, and increasing the scalability of your database by storing frequently used information.

Amazon RDS (Relational Database Service) Overview

Amazon RDS offers easy access to database engines like MySQL, Oracle, or Microsoft SQL Server. You can run the same queries, applications, and tools that you're familiar with. RDS also automates tasks like software patching and backups, as per your instructions. It even supports point-in-time recovery, all without requiring any upfront investments—you only pay for the resources you use.

Hosting RDBMS on EC2 Instances

If you prefer, you can install a Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) of your choice, like MySQL, Oracle, or SQL Server, on an EC2 instance and manage it yourself. EC2 uses Amazon EBS (Elastic Block Storage) for persistent storage, ensuring that your data and logs remain intact even if the database host fails. EBS volumes provide redundancy within the availability zone, and you can scale them up as needed for better performance.

Storage & Backups with AWS

AWS offers multiple options for storing, accessing, and backing up your web application data. Amazon S3 provides a simple web interface to store and retrieve data from anywhere on the web. Data in S3 is stored as objects in resources called buckets. You can store as many objects as needed, and easily manage them by reading, writing, or deleting.

For data requiring persistent access, like database partitions or logs, Amazon EBS is a good option. EBS volumes can be scaled up to 1 TB and striped together for larger storage needs and better performance. EBS supports up to 1,000 IOPS (Input/Output Operations Per Second) per volume, making it suitable for database workloads that need consistent and high-performance storage.

Auto Scaling in AWS

One of the key differences between AWS and traditional hosting is the ability to dynamically scale your web application based on demand. In traditional hosting, you usually need to forecast traffic and provision servers in advance. With AWS, you can automatically scale up or down your server capacity based on real-time traffic, thanks to Amazon Auto Scaling. This service allows you to create groups of servers that grow or shrink as needed.

Key Considerations for Web Hosting in AWS

  • No Physical Network Devices Needed: AWS replaces traditional physical network devices like firewalls, routers, and load balancers with software solutions. There are multiple options for software-based load balancing (e.g., Zeus, HAProxy, Nginx, Pound) and VPN connections (e.g., OpenVPN, OpenSwan, Vyatta).
  • No Security Concerns: AWS offers a secure environment where every host is locked down. Security groups are created for each type of host, allowing for simple or complex security models that ensure minimal access between hosts as required.
  • Availability of Data Centers: EC2 instances are available in most availability zones within AWS regions, making it easy to deploy your application across multiple data centers for high availability and reliability.