Day 21: AWS Well-Architected Framework

Day 21: AWS Well-Architected Framework

AWS Cloud Practitioner With Neel Patel

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3 min read

AWS Well-Architected Framework

  • The AWS Well-Architected Framework provides a structured approach for building secure, high-performing, resilient, and efficient infrastructure for applications. It is divided into five pillars, each addressing different aspects of a cloud workload. Each pillar also has its own detailed whitepaper.

    6 Pillars:

    1. Operational Excellence

    2. Security

    3. Reliability

    4. Performance Efficiency

    5. Cost Optimization

    6. Sustainibility

AWS Well-Architected - General Definitions

  • Component: Code, Configuration, and AWS Resources that meet a requirement.

  • Workload: A set of components working together to deliver business value.

  • Milestones: Key changes in architecture throughout the product lifecycle.

  • Architecture: How components work together within a workload.

  • Technology Portfolio: A collection of workloads required for business operations.

AWS Well-Architected - On Architecture

  • On-Premise Enterprise: Typically has centralized teams with defined roles.

  • AWS: Utilizes distributed teams with flexible roles, addressing new risks with Practices, Mechanisms, and Leadership Principles.

Centralized Teams:

  • Technical Architecture

  • Solution Architecture

  • Data Architect

  • Networking Architect

  • Security Architecture

Distributed Teams:

  • Practice

  • Team Experts

  • Mechanism

  • Automated Checks for Standards

  • Amazon Leadership Principles

Leadership Principles:

  • Customer Obsession

  • Ownership

  • Invent and Simplify

  • Are Right, A Lot

  • Learn and Be Curious

  • Hire and Develop the Best

  • Insist on the Highest Standards

  • Think Big

  • Bias for Action

  • Frugality

  • Earn Trust

  • Dive Deep

  • Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit

  • Deliver Results

  • Strive to be Earth's Best Employer

  • Success and Scale Bring Broad Responsibility

AWS Well-Architected - General Design Principles

  1. Stop guessing capacity needs: Utilize cloud computing to scale as needed.

  2. Test systems at production scale: Clone production environments for testing.

  3. Automate architectural experimentation: Use tools like CloudFormation for easier experimentation.

  4. Allow evolutionary architectures: Embrace CI/CD and rapid evolution.

  5. Drive architecture with data: Leverage data from CloudWatch and CloudTrail.

  6. Improve through game days: Simulate traffic or failures to test recovery.

AWS Well-Architected - Anatomy of a Pillar

Each Pillar includes:

  • Design Principles: Key principles to consider during implementation.

  • Definition: Overview of best practice categories.

  • Best Practices: Detailed information on practices with AWS Services.

  • Resources: Additional documentation, whitepapers, and videos.

Design Principles by Pillar

Operational Excellence:

  • Perform operations as code

  • Make frequent, small, reversible changes

  • Refine operations procedures frequently

  • Anticipate failure

  • Learn from operational failures

Security:

  • Implement a strong identity foundation

  • Enable traceability

  • Apply security at all layers

  • Automate security best practices

  • Protect data in transit and at rest

  • Prepare for security events

Reliability:

  • Automatically recover from failure

  • Test recovery procedures

  • Scale horizontally

  • Stop guessing capacity

  • Manage change in automation

Performance Efficiency:

  • Democratize advanced technologies

  • Go global in minutes

  • Use serverless architectures

  • Experiment more often

  • Consider mechanical sympathy

Cost Optimization:

  • Implement Cloud Financial Management

  • Adopt a consumption model

  • Measure overall efficiency

  • Stop spending money on undifferentiated heavy lifting

  • Analyze and attribute expenditure

Sustainability:

  • Optimize resource usage

  • Choose energy-efficient services

  • Design for longevity

  • Monitor and measure impact

  • Promote renewable energy

    Additional Resources

    AWS Well-Architected Tool: An auditing tool for assessing cloud workloads against the AWS Well-Architected Framework. It provides a checklist to create a report for stakeholders.

    AWS Architecture Center: A portal with best practices and reference architectures for various workloads.