Day 21: AWS Well-Architected Framework

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.