Although this is a theoretical chapter, you will find code snippets in the GitHub repository of this chapter at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/AWS-Cloud-Projects/tree/main/chapter1/code.

To follow along, you will need an AWS account.

Architecting on AWS refers to the process of designing and planning cloud-based solutions using AWS. It involves understanding the various AWS services, their capabilities, and how they can be combined to build scalable, secure, and cost-effective architectures.

When architecting on AWS, the following four aspects should be considered, each detailed later in this chapter:

• Requirements gathering: This is a crucial step in the process of architecting solutions on AWS. It involves understanding the business needs, functional requirements, non-functional requirements, and constraints that will shape the design and implementation of the AWS architecture.
• Architecture patterns: AWS provides various architecture patterns and reference architectures that serve as starting points for common use cases, such as web applications, data processing pipelines, or serverless architectures. You can leverage these patterns and customize them to meet their specific requirements...

The AWS Console is a web-based user interface provided by AWS that allows users to access and manage various AWS services and resources through a Graphical User Interface (GUI).

The AWS Console is designed to be user-friendly and accessible from any web browser, allowing users to manage their AWS resources from anywhere with an internet connection. It provides a visual representation of AWS services and resources, making it easier for users to understand and interact with the AWS ecosystem.

Using the Console

During this section, you will deploy an EC2 instance, which is an AWS virtual machine.

To use the Console, you must have an AWS account. The creation process of an AWS account is outside the scope of this book, but you can find all the necessary information on the AWS website at https://aws.amazon.com/free.

Important note

Every example in this book assumes that you have a standalone AWS account that is not part of AWS Organizations...

The AWS CLI and AWS SDK are programmatic tools to access and manage AWS services. In this section, you will dive deeper into each of these, and execute them in your own environment.

AWS CLI

The AWS CLI is a unified tool by AWS that allows you to interact with and manage AWS services from a command line such as macOS terminal or Windows Command Prompt. It provides a convenient and scriptable way to automate and control various AWS resources and operations.

It’s a CLI tool, so it requires an installation process. This differs per operating system but it is well-documented by AWS (https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/userguide/getting-started-install.html). Besides standalone actions, it can be integrated with other CLI scripts or automation tools you already have. For example, a larger workflow that touches on various components such as local and remote processes.

Using the AWS CLI

In this section, you will create an EC2 instance...

IaC is an approach to provision and manage resources such as cloud infrastructure. It allows you to define and deploy your resources using human-readable definition files or code.

Instead of manually configuring resources through the AWS Console or CLI tools as you saw in previous sections, IaC allows a declarative specification of the desired infrastructure state. In our context, that’s the AWS cloud. This means compute instances, storage, networking, security groups, and other AWS services.

By treating your IaC, you will get multiple benefits:

• Configuration consistency: IaC promotes the concept of immutable infrastructure, whereby infrastructure components are treated as disposable and replaceable rather than being manually modified. This approach ensures consistency, reduces configuration drift, and simplifies the process of scaling or updating infrastructure.
• Version control and collaboration: IaC templates and code can be stored in version...

In this chapter, you learned what it means to architect on AWS. It’s not only about deploying AWS services but also about gathering different types of requirements, contrasting those to known patterns and reference architectures, choosing different services, and documenting it all.

You also explored the various methods and tools available for deploying and interacting with AWS services after you have your design. The AWS Console provides a user-friendly graphical interface, while the AWS CLI and SDKs enable programmatic access and automation. Additionally, you were exposed to various IaC techniques such as Terraform, CloudFormation, and AWS CDK, which allow you to define and manage your AWS infrastructure using code.

By understanding these different approaches, you can choose the most appropriate method based on your requirements and skill level, as well as the complexity of your AWS deployments. Whether you prefer a visual interface, command-line tools, programmatic...