Building a secure and scalable web application in AWS requires a well-architected infrastructure. In this guide, we will walk through the step-by-step process of setting up a robust AWS environment.
Architecture Diagram
Before diving into the steps, let's take a look at the overall architecture of our web application setup.
This diagram represents how different AWS services interact to create a highly available and scalable web application.
Step 1: Setup Networking (VPC)
Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) provides a logically isolated network within AWS, allowing secure deployment of resources. We will use the VPC wizard to create our networking environment, including subnets, routing, and internet gateways.
Step 2: Resource Security (Security Groups)
Security Groups (SGs) control inbound and outbound traffic for resources. We'll create two security groups:
- One for public-facing resources, allowing only necessary traffic.
- One specifically for securing our web server instance.
Step 3: Access Management (IAM)
AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) ensures controlled access to AWS services. We will configure IAM roles and policies to grant only the necessary permissions to our web server.
Step 4: Deploy Compute (EC2)
Amazon EC2 provides scalable virtual machines in the cloud. We will launch an EC2 instance to serve as our web server, configuring security, networking, and storage settings.
Step 5: Administer Web Server (SSM)
AWS Systems Manager's Session Manager allows secure, password-free access to EC2 instances for administrative tasks. This eliminates the need for SSH keys and enhances security.
Step 6: Load Balancing (ALB)
An Application Load Balancer (ALB) distributes traffic across multiple targets to improve fault tolerance. We will configure an ALB to handle incoming traffic securely and efficiently.
Step 7: Test Web Server
After configuring the ALB, we can test the web server by browsing to the public URL.
Step 8: Storage (S3)
Amazon S3 provides scalable object storage. We will store static files in an S3 bucket, allowing users to access them from the website.
Step 9: Scaling (Auto Scaling Group - ASG)
An Auto Scaling Group (ASG) ensures high availability by automatically adjusting the number of EC2 instances based on traffic demands. We will configure an ASG to eliminate single points of failure.
Conclusion
By following these steps, we have built a secure and scalable web application architecture on AWS. This setup ensures reliability, security, and performance for modern cloud-based applications.